Buying new bits

[Charlie314]

I’m new on here currently restoring an e30 just wondering were would be the best place to buy new parts..good brands at reasonable money.. Geniune bmw dealer,eBay.. thoughts a knowledge please an thanks

[Cloggy Saint]

The good people at Cotswolds
viewforum.php?f=39

[Brianmoooore]

As above for obscure parts that are only sold in small quantities, but BMW buys in many of their parts from other manufacturers, so, with a bit of knowledge, OEM parts can be bought in a box without BMW written on it for a fraction of the dealer price.
One such example is Febi suspension bushes, where often the Febi part will be found to have burr marks on it where the BMW roundel has been ground off.

[kdevitt]

shop.bmw-classic.com is BMW's own portal for parts for older models - generally cheaper than the dealer, and free shipping if you spend €75 or more.

[ChrisHC]

Cotswold are both helpful and highly efficient in my dealings with them.

[flybynite]

As above for obscure parts that are only sold in small quantities, but BMW buys in many of their parts from other manufacturers, so, with a bit of knowledge, OEM parts can be bought in a box without BMW written on it for a fraction of the dealer price.
One such example is Febi suspension bushes, where often the Febi part will be found to have burr marks on it where the BMW roundel has been ground off.

I agree Brian, but the "bit of knowledge is" the trick It is sorting out OEM quality stuff from the dross. It is not the same as ECP 20 years ago where things were marked Genuine, OEM or aftermarket.

I was in a quandary recently when Lemforder stopped making some E30 parts, who to get?. I dropped on to Metzger as they are OEM and never had a problem with their stuff in the past. Was that right, who knows, time will tell I guess.

I did think it would be a useful resource on here if there was a list of known good manufacturers for major parts and commonly used bits.

[chatstar123]

As above for obscure parts that are only sold in small quantities, but BMW buys in many of their parts from other manufacturers, so, with a bit of knowledge, OEM parts can be bought in a box without BMW written on it for a fraction of the dealer price.
One such example is Febi suspension bushes, where often the Febi part will be found to have burr marks on it where the BMW roundel has been ground off.

I agree Brian, but the "bit of knowledge is" the trick It is sorting out OEM quality stuff from the dross. It is not the same as ECP 20 years ago where things were marked Genuine, OEM or aftermarket.

I was in a quandary recently when Lemforder stopped making some E30 parts, who to get?. I dropped on to Metzger as they are OEM and never had a problem with their stuff in the past. Was that right, who knows, time will tell I guess.

I did think it would be a useful resource on here if there was a list of known good manufacturers for major parts and commonly used bits.

This sounds like a good idea to me.

[Brianmoooore]

I thought we already had such a thread?

[JackCornick]

I’m doing a build at the moment. I am using a mix of branded aftermarket (Meyle, febi, Lemfeorder) products for big parts, but for small silly little things like odd bolts, clips, connectors etc the main dealers are useful to use.

I use realoem.com to find the part number in the diagrams, then call my dealer and give them the number to order in. It sometimes helps to google the part number too.