Thermostat, OE BMW or other brand?

RFaber · #1 01-03-2015, 02:35 AM

I have a rather urgent need to change the thermostat in my X5, it appears to be stuck closed (lower rad hose cool to the touch, and the temp guage says its barely out of the blue even after 5 min of highway driving. then POW! it rolls over to red. So i pulled over, waited 10 seconds, started her up and drove away with the temp guage in the blue! then as i was nearing my house, i noticed the temp warm up a bit, still not in the middle of the guage, but about 11 oclock, I suspect that the thermostat cooked in there for a bit until its fail safe seized it open, once i got home, i checked the hoses and they were quite hot, consistent with normal operating temps, i also had alot of heat output from the vents in the truck as well. (this was not the case 20 minutes to getting home!!)
I want to order a proper BMW thermostat, but they are pricey! and there is an aftermarket one ,Wahlye (spelling slips me at this point), from Napa thats close by, and a fair bit cheaper!
my question is, would any of you use an aftermarket supplier, or would you go to the BMW part, (purchased from an online source) or would you bite the bullet, and pay twice as much for the BMW original part from the stealership!?? The urgency of the job is whats wracking me at the moment, i have to get it done tommorrow morning, so my wife can take it out in the afternoon!!!! failing that i would order the bmw one online, and have it shipped in a few days!!
thanx,