RE: OEM vs. Original

["Rodney Moore" <m6bigdog@xxxxxxxx>]

Peter,
OEM - refers to an Original Equipment Manufacture of vehicle parts.  They
may or may not have ever manufactured the parts for the vehicle
manufacture(VM).  To be considered an OEM they should be and usually do
manufacture original equipment for some vehicle manufacture.  As such, the
parts are therefore built without the VM authorization and quality assurance
certification process to meets the vehicle design requirements.

OE - refers to Original Equipment for the production and repair of the
vehicle.  Since these parts are only sold over the franchised dealer
counter, as new parts, you are assures of purchasing a part that was
manufactured, inspected and quality assurance certified to meet the VM's
current design requirements.  Since the original vehicle part may have been
redesigned, you will be assured of receiving the newest revision of the part
when you purchase OE parts.

So what does this all mean?
1) Price,  the obvious difference, since the OEM part is more competitively
manufactured by various OEM's and distributed by various aftermarket supply
chains.  You can usually obtain the listed part at a reduced price.
2) Quality, the only way to ensure you will install a part that will
maintain the original fit, form and function is to purchase OE parts.
3) Results, when you purchase an OEM part you are trading the VM's design
authorization, experience and quality control certification to hopefully
obtain a reduced price.  Check the reduced price issue.  I have been able to
purchase OE parts at near OEM prices by shopping the part nation wide for
the best BMW CCA discount.  Some dealers use the BMW retail list price and
discount from there, others charge what feel they can get away with.  I know
my local dealer will charge 300-400% over list on the small parts(>$2.00)
and up to 40% over BMW retail list on the large ticket items.  The trick is
to understand as best as you can the BMW retail list price so you will know
when you are getting screwed and when you are getting a good deal.

So, will the part perform as well or better than the OE part?
Should you install an OEM part your car will become a test platform, much
like the OE tested parts in the vender selection process.  Since venders
like Bilstein, Boge, Bosch, Lemforder are OE manufactures for BMW the
question is whether the OEM part(vendor box) is the latest design revision
and inspected to the same specification as the OE part (VM box).  The gamble
is less significant however none the less the part is out of the VM quality
control process.  I have also had a concern for the accumulation of OEM
parts, the eventual reduction in vehicle quality and/or performance because
the OEM part may reduce the reliability or reduce the tune on the vehicle
design.

I personally, choose OE parts purchased at discounted from the BMW list
price and do the labor myself, unless I have a specific performance upgrade
in mind.  I will often also select performance upgrade parts from the BMW OE
parts bins, such as suspension bushings, sway bars, brake upgrades, etc.
when they are available.
Rod...

- -----------------original message--------------
Date: Fri, 20 Apr 2001 08:17:47 -0400
From: Peter Rossato <rossato@domain.elided>
Subject: OEM vs. Original
This may start up an old discussion thread that has been visited at
length previously, but here it goes.
As some of you may be aware from prior digests, I have been suffering
suspension problems on my 1994 E36.  The independent mechanics diagnosis
was a blown shock, front ball joint and tie rods.  All told about a
$1000 worth of parts from him.  These would all be BMW parts.  Some
shopping with Roundel advertisers got me prices that were on average
near 50% of this cost.  All suspension parts are OEM parts made by
Lemforder.  Now, can someone give me a reason to pay the higher cost for
the BMW parts?  Is there some inspection and culling for dimensional
tolerances or other criteria that goes on at the factory to separate
parts sold to the general public versus those sold through the
dealerships?  In other words, is there a value in original parts?  I
don't see it, but wonder what others may think.
TIA
Peter Rossato
'94 325 is "VDERZEN"
- ---
Rodney Moore
BMW CCA #86830
Golden Gate Chapter
m6bigdog@domain.elided

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