OEM parts made in Taiwan
Discussion
Morning all, ordered some track control arms for my f25 X3 from autodoc. Thought it was a safe bet to order lemforder as they are a known oem supplier and have a good reputation i thought. Anyway the two straight control arms are made in USA but the other two are made in Taiwan! Now if i wanted cheap chinese crap I'd have paid for some unknown brand at less than half the price but i want good quality. Other than buying from BMW direct does anyone have any experience of other brands that are good? I looked at MOOG as a potential, anyone had them?
Watchthis said:
Morning all, ordered some track control arms for my f25 X3 from autodoc. Thought it was a safe bet to order lemforder as they are a known oem supplier and have a good reputation i thought. Anyway the two straight control arms are made in USA but the other two are made in Taiwan! Now if i wanted cheap chinese crap I'd have paid for some unknown brand at less than half the price but i want good quality. Other than buying from BMW direct does anyone have any experience of other brands that are good? I looked at MOOG as a potential, anyone had them?
Unfortunately more or less all parts are made in SE Asia & China now - as you said Lemforder are sending a lot over there; it's all to do with cost at the end of the day. The Lemforder parts aren't crap; but they are having more & more made in ChinaTRW are another OEM maker FYI; you'll find them on Autodoc
Re Moog - I've used them for years now on E39s, E65/F01 7'ers and about to fit quite a few Moog parts (as well as Lemforder and TRW) to my F31
Never had any issues with them and would always highly recommend them
I've unfortunately had more issues with OEM BMW and Lemforder more than any other make so far
ARHarh said:
Why do people assume because it was made in China it's crap? Yes the Chinese make some crap but only because that's what the importers ask them to make. They also make some of the best quality products. Just because it was made in China does not make it crap, ask any iPhone user.
Exactly. The Taiwanese manufacturing facilities are often much better than those of the west, but it depends on how much people are willing to pay.
Different industry but people always look down on bike frames made in Taiwan and fawn over US made stuff yet one of the boutique American brands was famous for producing wonky frames.
Taiwan isn’t China. More like South Korea for quality.
With China you get what you ask for.
If you run a company called Sam’s Shocks and make great shock absorbers in the UK but decide to offshore your manufacturing then you can get your QC and production methods up to your standards, and then have a couple of British managers out there to supervise that what you ask for is what you are getting.
Companies do exactly that.
However what usually happens is that once you decide to move manufacturing to China you are already looking to maximise profits, and that’s when corner cutting & inevitable loss of quality ensures.
The Apple example is very good, no one thinks Apple products are cheaply made or of poor quality.
If BMW’s OEM suppliers are making parts in Taiwan I’d ne relaxed about it from a quality perspective.
It does however reduce the perceived specialness of the BMW brand, and as someone old enough to a) remember and b) care; it was nice when a BMW stated on the Vin plate that it was ‘Made in W.Germany’, that meant something then.
With China you get what you ask for.
If you run a company called Sam’s Shocks and make great shock absorbers in the UK but decide to offshore your manufacturing then you can get your QC and production methods up to your standards, and then have a couple of British managers out there to supervise that what you ask for is what you are getting.
Companies do exactly that.
However what usually happens is that once you decide to move manufacturing to China you are already looking to maximise profits, and that’s when corner cutting & inevitable loss of quality ensures.
The Apple example is very good, no one thinks Apple products are cheaply made or of poor quality.
If BMW’s OEM suppliers are making parts in Taiwan I’d ne relaxed about it from a quality perspective.
It does however reduce the perceived specialness of the BMW brand, and as someone old enough to a) remember and b) care; it was nice when a BMW stated on the Vin plate that it was ‘Made in W.Germany’, that meant something then.
For me personally I bought Lemforder as in the past they've been good quality and worth the extra cost compared to general motor factor parts quality experience. But they've always been made either in Germany or Eastern Europe. So the fact these LCAs have turned up "made in Taiwan" i suspect that Lemforder are now cost cutting which means if they're prepared to do that then they're likely cheaping out on the bushings.
As a tell tale which i hadn't noticed when ordering in the picture the metal part is painted black as it is on every other cheaper part listed from the other suppliers....
As a tell tale which i hadn't noticed when ordering in the picture the metal part is painted black as it is on every other cheaper part listed from the other suppliers....
d_a_n1979 said:
Watchthis said:
Morning all, ordered some track control arms for my f25 X3 from autodoc. Thought it was a safe bet to order lemforder as they are a known oem supplier and have a good reputation i thought. Anyway the two straight control arms are made in USA but the other two are made in Taiwan! Now if i wanted cheap chinese crap I'd have paid for some unknown brand at less than half the price but i want good quality. Other than buying from BMW direct does anyone have any experience of other brands that are good? I looked at MOOG as a potential, anyone had them?
Unfortunately more or less all parts are made in SE Asia & China now - as you said Lemforder are sending a lot over there; it's all to do with cost at the end of the day. The Lemforder parts aren't crap; but they are having more & more made in ChinaTRW are another OEM maker FYI; you'll find them on Autodoc
Re Moog - I've used them for years now on E39s, E65/F01 7'ers and about to fit quite a few Moog parts (as well as Lemforder and TRW) to my F31
Never had any issues with them and would always highly recommend them
I've unfortunately had more issues with OEM BMW and Lemforder more than any other make so far
ARHarh said:
Why do people assume because it was made in China it's crap? Yes the Chinese make some crap but only because that's what the importers ask them to make. They also make some of the best quality products. Just because it was made in China does not make it crap, ask any iPhone user.
Because they are idiots. ARHarh said:
So because some youtuber won't use Chinese parts, everything Chinese is crap? If you take everything that has an origin in china from your life you will be living a very different life.
No; and that's not what Sreten has said...He has said that some Lemforder parts, made in China, have been of inferior quality and have had issues; which Lemforder have addressed
They had similar issues back in 2019 also
He's a respected DIY mechanic of some fantastic BMWs; so more than 'just some Youtuber'
But you know what it's like; when someone like Sreten states he's had issues; everyone jumps on the bandwagon etc
Edited by d_a_n1979 on Sunday 7th January 15:12
Watchthis said:
d_a_n1979 said:
Watchthis said:
Morning all, ordered some track control arms for my f25 X3 from autodoc. Thought it was a safe bet to order lemforder as they are a known oem supplier and have a good reputation i thought. Anyway the two straight control arms are made in USA but the other two are made in Taiwan! Now if i wanted cheap chinese crap I'd have paid for some unknown brand at less than half the price but i want good quality. Other than buying from BMW direct does anyone have any experience of other brands that are good? I looked at MOOG as a potential, anyone had them?
Unfortunately more or less all parts are made in SE Asia & China now - as you said Lemforder are sending a lot over there; it's all to do with cost at the end of the day. The Lemforder parts aren't crap; but they are having more & more made in ChinaTRW are another OEM maker FYI; you'll find them on Autodoc
Re Moog - I've used them for years now on E39s, E65/F01 7'ers and about to fit quite a few Moog parts (as well as Lemforder and TRW) to my F31
Never had any issues with them and would always highly recommend them
I've unfortunately had more issues with OEM BMW and Lemforder more than any other make so far
But touch wood; Moog/TRW/Febi Bilstein & Meyle parts have never failed me
ARHarh said:
So because some youtuber won't use Chinese parts, everything Chinese is crap? If you take everything that has an origin in china from your life you will be living a very different life.
I just said what he found, didnt say everything from China is crap you clown!All BMWs are for the asia market, might aswell make everything over there now........ iphone/android i have both zero issues
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