Vw parts that fit Bentley

[Excited owner]

Hello,

I would be interested in finding out what VW Phaeton parts on Audi A8 parts you have used for your Bentley Continebtal Gt.

So far I have used Audi A8 rear calipers and VW phaeton front drivers air suspension strut.

I think the part numbers will need to match so for the strut it is 3w for Bentley and 3D for Phaeton and the rest of the part numbers will need to be exactly the same.

Thanks

[simonpieman]

Finding my way around my new (to me) GT and notice that it has a VW battery

.

[Excited owner]

Excellent, thanks

I think it is brand snobbery, when Bentley use the VW part, but give it their own part number and charge 8 times as much!

[Zulu 10]

Excited owner said:

Hello,

I would be interested in finding out what VW Phaeton parts on Audi A8 parts you have used for your Bentley Continebtal Gt.

So far I have used Audi A8 rear calipers and VW phaeton front drivers air suspension strut.

I think the part numbers will need to match so for the strut it is 3w for Bentley and 3D for Phaeton and the rest of the part numbers will need to be exactly the same.

Thanks

There are numerous parts which are from the Golf, the Passat and the Phaeton, as well as the A8. There are also many commencing with the letter "N" which are generic VW parts bin components.

Some months ago, when you first asked, I sent you a link for buying the IETIS disc which contains an illustrated parts catalogue that indicates everywhere (or almost everywhere) that a VW group part is used. It's the best £30 I have spent on my CGT.

The Lemförder applications catalogue is also very useful for suspension parts in this respect.

Beware though that just because the six digit middle element of the part number is identical doesn't mean that the part is the same in form, fit and function to a component having the same six digits but a different prefix.

By way of an example an A8 front ARB drop link is 4E0411317 and one for a Continental GT is 3W0411317, but when you get them you will see that they are a totally different part.

[tim1830]

Zulu 10 said:

There are numerous parts which are from the Golf, the Passat and the Phaeton, as well as the A8. There are also many commencing with the letter "N" which are generic VW parts bin components.

Some months ago, when you first asked, I sent you a link for buying the IETIS disc which contains an illustrated parts catalogue that indicates everywhere (or almost everywhere) that a VW group part is used. It's the best £30 I have spent on my CGT.

The Lemförder applications catalogue is also very useful for suspension parts in this respect.

Beware though that just because the six digit middle element of the part number is identical doesn't mean that the part is the same in form, fit and function to a component having the same six digits but a different prefix.

By way of an example an A8 front ARB drop link is 4E0411317 and one for a Continental GT is 3W0411317, but when you get them you will see that they are a totally different part.

the 1st 3 numbers only tell you where that part was 1st fitted, after that it could be fitted to any other model with the same number
1h2 2 door golf
1h4 4 door golf
867 polo
3bo passat
but any of those parts may have gone on to fit another model

You really need an exact number to fit your car safely, not just the last 6

if my memory serves me

[Excited owner]

tim1830 said:

Zulu 10 said:

There are numerous parts which are from the Golf, the Passat and the Phaeton, as well as the A8. There are also many commencing with the letter "N" which are generic VW parts bin components.

Some months ago, when you first asked, I sent you a link for buying the IETIS disc which contains an illustrated parts catalogue that indicates everywhere (or almost everywhere) that a VW group part is used. It's the best £30 I have spent on my CGT.

The Lemförder applications catalogue is also very useful for suspension parts in this respect.

Beware though that just because the six digit middle element of the part number is identical doesn't mean that the part is the same in form, fit and function to a component having the same six digits but a different prefix.

By way of an example an A8 front ARB drop link is 4E0411317 and one for a Continental GT is 3W0411317, but when you get them you will see that they are a totally different part.

the 1st 3 numbers only tell you where that part was 1st fitted, after that it could be fitted to any other model with the same number
1h2 2 door golf
1h4 4 door golf
867 polo
3bo passat
but any of those parts may have gone on to fit another model

You really need an exact number to fit your car safely, not just the last 6

if my memory serves me

Thankyou thats interesting and helps me a lot, I need to be careful as you mentioned, but will be mainly sticking to suspension parts.

At least you can save from dealer prices, I was was quoted £2200 plus Vat for the front strut and they told me I needed two. £5k is a lot of money.

But am glad there are aftermarket ones or like the vw phaeton one I bought at a fraction of the orice.

[Excited owner]

Yes I agree,

Need to very careful.

If I had a newer car with warranty it would be different.

Now looking at drop links and these are £80 from flying spur parts and a inner cv boot gaiter for £60 could go for the cheaper vw phaeton parts, but at this price cannot argue really.

[Zulu 10]

Excited owner said:

At least you can save from dealer prices, I was was quoted £2200 plus Vat for the front strut and they told me I needed two. £5k is a lot of money.

But am glad there are aftermarket ones or like the vw phaeton one I bought at a fraction of the price.

The recommendation to buy two struts was because is is desirable (some might say essential) to have balance across the car so that when braking hard the car remains straight without two and half tonnes of metal attempting to deviate from the intended path as a consequence of one side drooping slightly more than the other.

It is for that reason that anything which affects lateral stability should be changed in pairs. For example when one of the bushes in the upper arms on the left of my CGT perished, not only did I have to change both arms, but I also had to change the pair on the right as well.

That will, hopefully, ensure that the car continues to behave in a stable fashion, and in an emergency I shan’t be faced with the car trying to suddenly veer.

The dealer was pointing this out to you by suggesting that you should really only change front struts as a pair, because of the risk of differing dynamic behaviour between an old strut and a new strut, and the attendant safety risk.

Unfortunately, all your comments suggest that they didn't spell it out clearly, or you haven’t recognised or understood this safety issue.

Rather than mix a new and an old strut though, you’ve gone one further, and in the interests of saving a few quid, have fitted different types of strut across the front axle.

VW do not change part numbers for amusement; it’s because of differences to form, fit and function.

Everyone agrees that your Phaeton strut fits onto your CGT, but do you really have any idea of what internal valve differences exist within the two types of strut, and the functional difference? Short of putting them on a dynamometer and checking their response, no.

(Actually, for the few pounds that having both struts measured would have cost, that would have been a useful exercise, which might have put me firmly back in my box)

Are you even certain that the strut you have used is from the W12 version of the Phaeton, i.e. the one with the heaviest front end, or could it be from a lighter variant?

I really hope that we don’t ever read about a Continental GT being involved in an accident where for an unknown reason it veered across a road, and accident investigators later found that it was as a consequence of having an incorrect part fitted resulting in lateral imbalance and consequent instability.

Sadly I doubt that anything I have written will change your perception, or attitude to risk:cost balance, but at least you’ve been warned, and it’s out there on the Internet.

[Excited owner]

Hello,

I disagree on many of your points and I think your angle is wrong, you are presuming a lot of stuff.

Regarding Bentley advice that maybe so, however unless you have a crystal ball, it is not best trying to think worst case scenario that may or may not happen

It is 18 year car, so let's not try to be personal, I ask for advice land also give my take, everyone has their own v8ew, as the saying goes live and let live.

[Excited owner]

Hello,

I disagree on many of your points and I think your angle is wrong, you are presuming a lot of stuff.

Regarding Bentley advice that maybe so, however unless you have a crystal ball, it is not best trying to think worst case scenario that may or may not happen.

It is 18 year old car,so let's not try to be personal, I ask for advice land also give my take, everyone has their own view, as the saying goes live and let live.