Quote:
Originally Posted by upallnight
OEM parts are made by a company that also produce the same parts but does not have the car manufacturer logo on the part.
OE parts are made by a company for a specific car manufacturer and have the car manufacturer logo on the part.
If the part doesn't have the BMW roundel on it, it is not an OE part.
|
I agree with all the above. Expanding a little ...
Different people use these terms differently. Pelican Parts tried to be careful about definitions, and they seem pretty good to me:
Pelican Parts - Frequently Asked Questions about OEM, Genuine and Aftermarket Parts
Briefly, and for BMW:
Genuine / OE - it will have a BMW logo on it, and you buy it from the dealer or through some authorized channel.
OES - Original Equipment Supplier - does not pass through BMW. Sourced from the brand (e.g., Lemfoerder) that either originally or currently supplied this exact part (e.g., 31-12-6-756-491) for BMW. Sometimes this is more than one brand, e.g., the alternator on my '01 3.0i was originally supplied by either Bosch or Valeo, interchangeably, same part number, different designs.
OEM - Original Equipment Manufacturer - same as OES, except looser - they just need to have manufactured a related component. So if Febi Bilstein were OES for some of the control arms, but not those lower ball joints, they can now be called OEM for the lower ball joints (but not OES).
Aftermarket - attempt to copy the above
Also, since I generally have older cars, I additionally use the term "
original" to mean the actual part that came on the car when it was built. The actual one, decades old by now, maybe higher quality than even new Genuine parts.