When will you sell your X5?

[bcredliner]

Originally Posted by nick325xit 5spd

I've been buying BMW parts for a couple decades now, and what I can tell you is that there was a definite inflection point about ten years ago when quality started to decline. I've bought a LOT of parts. As in the guys at my preferred parts counter know my voice on the phone levels of a lot of parts, and that doesn't include the other vendors I buy from.

The key is not that BMW is subbing things out to third parties. It's that BMW clearly cares less about what they're subbing out than they used to. BMW just buying known trash Victor Reinz gaskets and selling them as Genuine BMW is a good example. There are also many examples of BMW selling parts for older cars that were clearly never tested on those cars. E30 M3 bumper brackets that didn't fit come to mind. Or the E30 M3 spark plug tool that didn't fit in the spark plug hole. (lol)

How do you conclude based on your individual purchases of parts that BMW cares less about quality when based on one gasket, a bumper bracket and a spark plug socket?

MFGs don't redesign parts for old models. They use the original design specs and purchase from the same sources or one that meets their quality criteria and specifications. Parts are a major profit center for a MFG. Not one MFGs are careless about.

Did you use the gasket and it failed?