Quality of Genuine Parts vs Febi/Merle/Lemforder

[LGK6D]

I've found that the support for genuine parts from BMW is very good. There's not much that can't be bought to keep these old things going forever. It does pose another question though. A friend recently said that just because you can buy the parts, it doesn't mean that they're necessarily like the originals, the suggestion being that many of the parts are restocked from external suppliers. This will have always been the case as I realise car manufacturers source pretty much everything from external suppliers. If for example I buy a new pair of front wishbones from BMW they'll be £150ish per side, if I buy Febi Bilstien (who probably supply them to BMW in the first place?) they're £60 each. Are they likely to be exactly the same or not? Same goes for rubber bushes, ARB drop links and other consumable parts. What's the general thinking?

[TurtleDesignTech]

BMW's are mostly made from the best stuff in the BOSCH parts bin at the time.

I believe one of the other large original parts manufactures was Lemforder, particularly for bushings.

If you can not find parts from these OE manufactures or afford the BMW dealer parts look for other reputable names, which will likely be German: Bilstien, Pierburg, Meyle HD, etc.

It is worth paying extra for something that is going to last another 25 years.

[Brianmoooore]

In some cases, you will find marks on the 'aftermarket' part where the BMW roundel has been ground off.
This was the case on the electric thermostat and housing that I fitted to my E39 a couple of weeks ago.

[BHadley]

^ same as the rear drop links I bought from cp4l

[reggid]

for control arms lemforder are the go, infact anything rubber suspension they are the one to look for. forget about the other scrap brands like febi, meyle they are not what they used to be although sometimes it depends on which exact part.

if you have other parts we can tell you which brand to get if you cant ford to be raped by BMW

[magpie]

lemforder, bilsstein, febi, victor reinze, elring =

[paultv]

Recent experiences take Febi out of the running, I reckon they've gone to seed.
I've also been surprised by the quality of Stark products, I used their discs on my Polo and the BMW, excellent, coated and not expensive.

Paul

[B5234FT]

As said above, in many cases you'll find the marlins ground off, for instance E90 M3 subframe bushes from lemforder, but it's not reliable, I had a set of lemforder e90 droplinks fail in 10k miles and the genuine BMW ones were of a different design.

Febi aren't great if I'm honest but actual bilsteins dampers are. Jurid friction make a lot of the original brake parts too.

[LGK6D]

Thanks for the feedback everyone. It's not a case of not being able to afford genuine BMW parts, I'm happy to spend the extra IF there's a benefit in reliability/quality. I don't think any of us necessarily run our BMW's on a budget these days, maybe 10 years ago, but not now. There are numerous cheap cars to buy for transport if that's what you want. I don't think anyone is a fan of wasting money if BMW have our pants down and they're the same parts directly from the manufacturer or worse than that fitting poor quality parts replacement that won't last or fit very well.

So is the view to continue buying genuine parts from BMW?

[M3KUK]

Always use Lemforder, Pagid etc. etc, OE Suppliers to BMW.

[flybynite]

In the days when these were a bit newer and mine were still on the road the likes of ECP used to make it easy, They had OEM, whitebox OEM (from the oem manufacturer) and pattern parts. Sticking to the first two was fine, and you could get genuine OEM-quality parts at a decent price

These days even I'm finding it a bit of a minefield having been out of it for a decade or two. Half the OEM manufacturers aren't around, the likes of ECP don't do much for the E30 any more and the choice is non existent.

The German based (.co.uk) web sites are hit and miss and you need to know the manufacturer you trust even before you make an attempt to get the bit you ordered.

[kieran325]

At least you can still get the majority of parts through the dealer.

[reggid]

As said above, in many cases you'll find the marlins ground off, for instance E90 M3 subframe bushes from lemforder, but it's not reliable, I had a set of lemforder e90 droplinks fail in 10k miles and the genuine BMW ones were of a different design.

Febi aren't great if I'm honest but actual bilsteins dampers are. Jurid friction make a lot of the original brake parts too.

textar fronts and jurid rear pads are OE. they work better than the aftermarket junk but you pay the price with dust. not a bad tradeoff though

[MattTheHat325]

There are more factors at play now that a lot of these cars are starting to become collectible. People are spending a lot of money on a GOOD e30 now, as well as other models. I personally like to see genuine stampings on parts when I’m poking around under a potential purchase, that along with the invoices to back it up would carry a fair bit of weight with me if I was on the verge of handing over a wad of hard earned.