Originally Posted by Jmblauw

So I have been lurking here for a while, and have read a lot about the pros and cons of going aftermarket vs biting the bullet and going with GKNs for my 2004 e53.

I was hoping someone, or a few of you, could clear up for me the quality of A1 cardones and empis.

The cardones I see are sort of hit and miss especially the remans. There is a huge cardone "nightmare" thread on e30techs about worn threads and damged splines etc etc. Some here I see have been relatively satisfied with the new ones, even though they come from china. So are they worth it or not? Anyone currently running them, can you speak to their reliability and the quality of the boot?

2nd the empis. I almost bought them last night on pelican parts, but then was on a vw forum where someone purchased two, one was good quality in an "empi" box and ready to install, the second was in an "empire by usa industries" box and had fallen apart during shipping, and the boot did not seem to be durable. He did some digging and turns out that empi sold all of there cv joint/axle production and stock to usa industries. Has anyone here compared the two before and after the buy out? I hate it when a decent aftermarket brand gets bought out and the new company starts selling chinese crap with the same logo on it, I would rather not be suckered by this. Since I'm ordering off the web, it won't be an easy return if I decide I don't like the quality of the part.

Thanks in advance. I need to get these changed quick, winter is coming, and both my boots are ripped and passenger side joint has quick a bit of play and rattling going on.