I think that you're overestimating the benefit of Genuine vs. OE. Especially today. The quality of Genuine BMW for older cars is spotty at best ever since BMW decided to squeeze parts for profits. (There's a reason why parts prices have gone up so much while quality has gone down.)

+1

After learning the hard way a couple times, it became apparent what parts to use.

I have to agree to disagree. Just saying I have never had to return a Genuine BMW part ever, I did however have to do this water pump again after 3 years due to a Saleri pump.

https://xoutpost.com/attachments/x5-...824_110248.jpg

I've had plenty of Genuine BMW parts that failed, outright did not fit, or were garbage quality.

Does not fit example: E30 M3 front wheel hub. BMW sells FAG and SKF. The SKF hub literally does not fit correctly. If I think hard, I could come up with a lot more. (Edit: And lest you think that this is a me issue, I'm not the only one with issues with this part. And it's a blatant dimensional error - the hubcentric ring is too large for the *stock* wheels to seat.)

Failed: Too many to count.

Garbage quality: "Genuine BMW" gaskets sourced from Victor Reinz.

Regarding your water pump, I've had numerous Genuine BMW water pumps fail. I don't see how one example of an OE pump failing is meaningful?

Just telling you my experience with Genuine BMW parts and my E46 and E53. Not here to argue with you. I got nearly 200,000 miles out of my BMWs before needing any real service and parts replacements. Those were BMW Genuine parts as they came from the factory. No need to change the recipe IMHO.

And yes, my Genuine BMW water pump failed at 150,000 miles on my E46. I can't really complain. :dunno:

Sorry. You’re getting the backwash from how pissed off I am about the decline in the quality of “Genuine BMW Parts” over the last decade or so.

I either buy genuine BMW parts which I call OE parts or OEM parts that I refer to as the mfg of that particular part for BMW. In some cases there are more than one mfg for BMW. Many here have advised those buying a part who the mfgs were for BMW so members know the risks they may be making buying an aftermarket part that had nothing to do with BMW.

I can't recall anytime I have had premature failure of either OE or OEM parts for any of the BMWs I have or have had.

There have been several times there have been what I would call questionable price increases from BMW. There are justifiable reasons for some price increases on some parts where cost of materials has increased or demand is so low parts runs are more costly. In this area it has become very difficult to get historic parts discounts as dealers have agreed to standardize pricing so I purchase more parts that are from the original mfg for BMW of that part.

I try my best to get parts that were made by the original supplier of said part to BMW. FCP calls them OE I believe. If it has a BMW roundel on it, they sell it as genuine BMW. If I can't get OE, I'll usually step down to OEM. A maker of parts for BMW, but not necessarily that particular part. I figure if they're good enough to supply some parts to BMW, then they're probably producing a decent part. On very rare occasions I buy genuine BMW because the price is usually three times OE. Just to get a roundel. Not worth it to me. I've had to a few times because I couldn't find anything but genuine part available. I've got 262,000 miles on my X and almost none of the parts I have put on it, and there have been many, have been genuine BMW. They just aren't worth the added cost when compared to OE. One place I will probably make an exception is with the OPG I'm going to be replacing. The job is such a major PITA, and no one makes a viton OPG, that I'll drop the extra money. Especially since in this case it doesn't amount to a large amount.

I can't count how many Hella, Behr, or similar parts that had the Roundel and/or BMW part numbers milled/scratched off. Exact same part, made on the exact same assembly line, as the branded part but significantly less expensive.

TOTALLY AGREE.

FWIW, OE (BMW) service parts are usually the last on my list to purchase. BMW doesn't make the bulk of these parts anyway, so why pay 2x for the same part by Bher, Hella, INA, Pierburg, Bosch, Graf, Delphi, VDO, Contitech, Bilstein, Sachs, Stabilus, Textar, ATE - when you guy buy the OEM often at 1/2 the price (or better) and - as you mentioned - 99% of the time the BMW logo is just scratched off.

Then you have known, very high quality aftermarket parts like Lemforder, Zimmerman, Pagid / Brembo which are also usually 1/2 the price of the BMW part as well. And of course good quality consumables like Mann, Wix, Mahle, Hengst work great.

After that, then it sort of becomes a complex dance in my head of cost/quality/difficulty/potential damage.

For instance, I'm perfectly fine using FEBI or REIN cooling system parts. I've found them to have great fit (I've seen some reports of compatibility problems with OE but I've never experienced it) and have never had a failure. In fact, in only one of all my BMW's have I ever experienced a cooling system failure with aftermarket parts and that was a parts-store Water Pump I needed in an emergency. But those parts are easy to swap so the cost/benefit is pretty easy for me.

Where I will ONLY use BMW parts is in cases where the OEM is not known, and the job is a PITA and I only want to do it once. I pay extra for BMW CCV parts or BMW DISA valves, for instance. I have no problem with REIN but in that case I'll pay extra for BMW.

Or, in the case of the door latch for my e46; the choice was BMW or Dorman... that was an easy call as well to choose the BMW part even at a 30% premium.

So yeah, for the vast majority of service parts there is no reason I can see to use BMW OE parts when the OEM is known and available.