What is your definition of OE, OEM, EOS parts
 

Depending on ones source of information the definition of OE, OEM seems to vary. What is your definition?

I'll repost my definitions, which were in the thread that spawned this discussion:

Edit: I will also repost a link to FCP Euro's definition, which lines up with mine: https://www.fcpeuro.com/page/oe-academy

This is how I learned dealing with parts across multiple platforms and manufacturers and how it was sold to us by the higher ups when I worked the counter at Autozone:

OEM is THE Original Equipment Manufacturer, the company that sold the parts to the assembly line. There could be multiple source companies but all had to sell the exact part to the assembly line to qualify as OEM.

OE is Original EQUIVALENT. Never supplied to the assembly line but of equivalent quality. Hard to judge outside of the known high end brands ie. Brembo making OE replacements for stock pads (if they never sold them to the factory)

EOS - Never heard of her. . .

I have noticed Turner Motorsports uses Original Equipment Supplier (OES). Possibly because OEM sometimes differs depending ones experience or by the industry. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Origin...t_manufacturer https://www.cars.com/articles/what-i...1420696948647/. https://www.automotive-fleet.com/encyclopedia/oem https://www.thestreet.com/markets/co...r-oem-14696882

original equipment- means exact same part made to same spec as the original.
original equipment manufacturer- means the manufacturer who made the original part.

Simple, but of course there can be play on words BS such as an OEM supplying a part but not the part that is being talked about, and sometimes the genuine or aftermarket part can be an improvement on original equipment.

Somewhat contrary to my above post because I feel like the nomenclatures semantics now days since they are not regulated and are therefore up to interpretation. I rarely pay attention to the classification that a vendor places on a part. I buy factory branded unless the cost of factory branded parts is exponentially higher or the factory branded parts are known in the community to be subpar. If buying non factory branded I spend a good chunk of time researching or if time is of the essence I trust the second or third highest in price and carried by all 4 big vendors (ECS, FCP, Turner, AZAH). Another method is buying by source origin. For instance I know that ZKW lights for the E39 are manufactured in Poland (IIRC) and I have through experience confirmed that the stuff coming out of Poland by ZKW is quality. So if I am looking at a ZKW product for another vehicle I make sure its from Poland and buy with confidence. Of course that isn't so easy sometimes so I end up with a crap part and send it back.

All that is to say that if we want to discuss the meanings we will be in an endless loop since the lack of marketing or naming regulation really means I could sell a piece of rawhide and call it OEM shift-boot material as long as I can come up with some fancy sounding meaning for OEM.

OE - Bmw Brand
OEM - Supplier to BMW, Branded by Supplier

Ive read before that OEM suppliers may be under stricter quality control when supplying "BMW" branded parts. Whether this is the case or not, I have no idea. Some suggest the parts that fail to meet BMW's standard, are then sold as OEM if they're "good enough" by the manufactures standards.

In addition, i've also seen products from the original equipment manufactures (OEM) to deviate from the OE product. N62 waterpump for example. Should have plastic impellers, yet all the OEMs ive seen come with metal.

IMO OEM is a safe bet for the most part. Ive used Rein parts before, an OEM to BMW, and they have been complete crap for the most part. Lemforder, another OEM on the other hand is known for its strong reputation. Still, I almost exclusively buy OEM because BMW's upmark is usually absurd.

I line up with most.

OE - Parts stamped BMW and would be sold over their parts counter (I use interchangeable with "genuine")
OEM - OE supplier (I use OES interchangeably, never heard of EOS)

I typically buy OEM/OES but have been known to use some Meyle HD suspension stuff. Individual cases sometimes yield different choices, like viton gaskets for the OFHG.

Made a mistake when I typed EOS. Intention was OES---Turner uses Original Equipment Supplier.

I always go Genuine BMW on almost everything. Costs a little more but one and done. I have tried Lemforder, Mahle, etc and other OE, OEM brands and always get disappointed in the end.

Some things yes, I put a OEM Sekurit Glass in my X5 as the Genuine BMW was almost 4 times as much. Some things make sense to avoid the BMW roundel stamped on the part but 95% of the time, its Genuine BMW from FCP or ECS.

I usually have to wait an additional 2 days for the product to ship as FCP needs to get it from the BMW warehouse and then ship to me. If I ask for expedited shipping, they ship from the BMW warehouse directly.