buying oem or oe parts.............?

[Joshdub]

That's good. I've had poor experiences from our local Audi and BMW dealers. The techs just don't know what they are doing. I get better service at our indies. Most of the time I just do the work myself. Cheaper, the job gets done correctly, and I don't have to bother with bringing it back when they inevitability mess up.

[oldskewel]

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.

[StephenVA]

Now days you have to add the following
OE Manufacturer - Part on the vehicle when it left the factory (maybe more than one version by plant, model, date, etc.

Genuine / OE - Part from the dealer/service channel, maybe different manufacturer/supplier than above. meets/exceeds design/engineering specs, but only found in the OE Parts Distribution side.

Example: Plant "A" has two suppliers building same part. One has the first 6 months of model run, B has the last 6 months.

Gets real confusing at the part level as everyone goes to "World Sourcing" to drive costs down. We haven't even discussed secondary parts suppliers as assemblies may have three to six sub-vendors supplying parts to a Tier One supplier who assembles the unit and ships it in a "on time delivery" point to the plants for install.

To see this in action, come visit any US based plant in action. Doors gets pulled off after paint and is run down a parallel track to have sub vendors add door components (mech, glass, handles, etc) and is re-married to the vehicle further down the line. Serial number tracked and matched.

We (Dana Corp) used to build entire frames, fuel systems, suspension systems, and drive trains - except engine and trans. Then ship the units by auto transport train just across the street to the factory to have the bodies and engines installed . Total work of organizational efficiencies and orchestrations. The trend at Chrysler was to become a final assembly build- engines and trans, body with electrical installed, etc, etc.

Second example: In the BMW SC plant you will see wheels and Michelin tires delivered in complete sets and matched to the vehicle/invoice on the fly.