shogun
11-25-2008, 01:16 AM
ABOUT ‘OEM’, GENUINE, AFTERMARKET PARTS, SPECIALIST BMW REPAIRERS AND SERVICE INTERVALS
PARTS
What does OEM, aftermarket and genuine really mean ?
First it’s important to understand the BMW themselves manufacture very little of the cars they assemble and sell.
When a new model is being developed BMW provide outside manufacturers with specifications of a certain component they will require for the new model.
These manufacturers then design the product to meet these specifications and fit inside the ‘package envelope’.
This is basically external dimensions to suit the location of the component in the vehicle.
Once this is complete, the manufacturer provides an ‘offer to supply’.
This is of course based on quantities required.
BMW then select from one of these manufacturers who then commence manufacture and supply to BMW for vehicle assembly.
This manufacturer has now become an OEM or original equipment manufacturer and is manufacturing and supplying ‘genuine’ parts to BMW.
This company may provide BMW with this component for the entire production run of the vehicle or more commonly may only be given the contract to supply for a certain period of time or number of units before the contract expires.
At this point BMW will attempt to renegotiate their pricing structure taking into account the fact that the manufacturer should by now have recovered their initial research, development and design costs and be able to reduce their per unit cost dramatically.
While company ‘a’ has been supplying BMW with this component some of the other companies who also did research, development and design work (but failed to win the initial contract) have been busy getting production online for this component knowing that there will at some point be a large ‘aftermarket’ demand for this part.
So when the contract renewal negotiations with company ‘a’ break down due to pricing or other issues, company ‘b’ steps in and commences supply at the lower price demanded by BMW.
So now company ‘a’ has tooling, quality control, manufacturing and packaging ability for a part BMW no longer purchase from them.
What to do ?
They are still an OEM supplier so they simply (and it is usually this simple) remove the BMW logo from their tooling, continue manufacture and order packaging with their own name.
This is therefore an OEM part and the exact same part BMW sold without the ridiculous price tag.
Now we get to ‘aftermarket’.
Some people consider that OEM and aftermarket are the same.
In some cases this is just a poor use of words and the items they use or sell and call aftermarket are actually OEM.
But there are aftermarket parts that are manufactured and supplied by companies who have never supplied to BMW, never passed any of BMW’s quality systems and therefore should be avoided at all costs.
There is a popular and well known Australian filter manufacturer who now have a large range of filters to suit BMW.
Some of these are made in Australia and some are sourced from other countries such as Turkey.
Enough said.
So when you take your BMW to a service centre that is not BMW authorized, as long as they use OEM parts your vehicle is not suffering in any way.
You are just saving money, sometimes as much as 60%.
There are even instances where your specialist repairer can and will fit a better part than BMW.
Example:
On some 4 and 6 cylinders there are oil vapor hoses that are made from a rubber with the quality of a good vintage tasty cheese.
Of course BMW just keep renewing these at the customers expense every year or so with the same $50.00+ cheesy product.
Whereas your specialist repairer who is aware of this will renew the hose with an oil and temperature resistant product that will last forever and cost $12.00.
OILS
Oils aint Oils
Still true today but it is important to remember that frequency of oil change is just as important as the quality of oil used.
At the time of writing BMW promote their vehicles as having a 25,000 klm service interval but there have been whispers that this will soon change due to the endless stream of vehicles having problems caused by insufficient servicing.
The oil BMW use is provided by Castrol and is a fully synthetic product.
This is very good oil but after my time at BMW and seeing vehicles coming in for service after 25,000 (and up to 34,000 klms) it is obvious that no oil can survive for that period of time.
In particular the 4 cylinder valvetronic engines suffer very badly from a buildup of sludge deposits to the extent that the crankcase ventilation valve and hoses actually become blocked solid causing the engine to run rough.
Therefore the intake manifold is removed and these hoses and valve are replaced at the customers cost.
Of course BMW does not take any responsibility for this even though they sold you the vehicle using extended service intervals as a selling point.
In every engine it takes at least 20 minutes of running for the oil to reach a temperature where the unburnt fuel deposits can be burnt off enabling the oil to provide proper lubrication and protection for the engine.
So if your BMW is used for mainly short trips to the shop, work etc and rarely gets a good long run it is critical to change your oil more frequently.
We recommend the tried and tested 10,000 klms or 12 months as a maximum.
This should be reduced accordingly if the vehicles use is predominantly short trips.
Your specialist BMW repairer may have the same diagnosis equipment (GT1) used by BMW and using this can perform what is called an energy diagnosis to determine the amount and length of your trips.
This will enable them to accurately determine how frequently you should service your vehicle.
Energy diagnosis is unfortunately only available on later model vehicles such as E90 3 series.
So when your technician says you will need a service again in 10,000 klms but the service indicator still says 25,000 to next service, they are not overservicing your car or trying to generate extra income.
They have your best interests at heart and are trying to avoid having to tell you your car needs major repairs !!
And a 'service' every 10,000 klms does not mean your typical '$500.00 - $1000.00 thanks for coming' dealership service.
This additional or iterim service every 10,000 klms really only needs to be a quick oil change and check over.
Depending of course on your vehicles oil capacity and oil filter cost this should only cost $100 - $200 and is the absolute best thing you can do to maintain longevity for your engine.
copied from: The Australia Forum
posted by:
Darren Mitchell
Independent BMW Parts & Service Centre
2/5 Hydro Rise, Bibra Lake
Western Australia, 6163, Australia
Telephone: 0404 628 738
International: +61 404 628 738
bmw@gmx.sg
--------------------------------------------
Just for info for our members from OZ, I have no shares in this company ;)
PARTS
What does OEM, aftermarket and genuine really mean ?
First it’s important to understand the BMW themselves manufacture very little of the cars they assemble and sell.
When a new model is being developed BMW provide outside manufacturers with specifications of a certain component they will require for the new model.
These manufacturers then design the product to meet these specifications and fit inside the ‘package envelope’.
This is basically external dimensions to suit the location of the component in the vehicle.
Once this is complete, the manufacturer provides an ‘offer to supply’.
This is of course based on quantities required.
BMW then select from one of these manufacturers who then commence manufacture and supply to BMW for vehicle assembly.
This manufacturer has now become an OEM or original equipment manufacturer and is manufacturing and supplying ‘genuine’ parts to BMW.
This company may provide BMW with this component for the entire production run of the vehicle or more commonly may only be given the contract to supply for a certain period of time or number of units before the contract expires.
At this point BMW will attempt to renegotiate their pricing structure taking into account the fact that the manufacturer should by now have recovered their initial research, development and design costs and be able to reduce their per unit cost dramatically.
While company ‘a’ has been supplying BMW with this component some of the other companies who also did research, development and design work (but failed to win the initial contract) have been busy getting production online for this component knowing that there will at some point be a large ‘aftermarket’ demand for this part.
So when the contract renewal negotiations with company ‘a’ break down due to pricing or other issues, company ‘b’ steps in and commences supply at the lower price demanded by BMW.
So now company ‘a’ has tooling, quality control, manufacturing and packaging ability for a part BMW no longer purchase from them.
What to do ?
They are still an OEM supplier so they simply (and it is usually this simple) remove the BMW logo from their tooling, continue manufacture and order packaging with their own name.
This is therefore an OEM part and the exact same part BMW sold without the ridiculous price tag.
Now we get to ‘aftermarket’.
Some people consider that OEM and aftermarket are the same.
In some cases this is just a poor use of words and the items they use or sell and call aftermarket are actually OEM.
But there are aftermarket parts that are manufactured and supplied by companies who have never supplied to BMW, never passed any of BMW’s quality systems and therefore should be avoided at all costs.
There is a popular and well known Australian filter manufacturer who now have a large range of filters to suit BMW.
Some of these are made in Australia and some are sourced from other countries such as Turkey.
Enough said.
So when you take your BMW to a service centre that is not BMW authorized, as long as they use OEM parts your vehicle is not suffering in any way.
You are just saving money, sometimes as much as 60%.
There are even instances where your specialist repairer can and will fit a better part than BMW.
Example:
On some 4 and 6 cylinders there are oil vapor hoses that are made from a rubber with the quality of a good vintage tasty cheese.
Of course BMW just keep renewing these at the customers expense every year or so with the same $50.00+ cheesy product.
Whereas your specialist repairer who is aware of this will renew the hose with an oil and temperature resistant product that will last forever and cost $12.00.
OILS
Oils aint Oils
Still true today but it is important to remember that frequency of oil change is just as important as the quality of oil used.
At the time of writing BMW promote their vehicles as having a 25,000 klm service interval but there have been whispers that this will soon change due to the endless stream of vehicles having problems caused by insufficient servicing.
The oil BMW use is provided by Castrol and is a fully synthetic product.
This is very good oil but after my time at BMW and seeing vehicles coming in for service after 25,000 (and up to 34,000 klms) it is obvious that no oil can survive for that period of time.
In particular the 4 cylinder valvetronic engines suffer very badly from a buildup of sludge deposits to the extent that the crankcase ventilation valve and hoses actually become blocked solid causing the engine to run rough.
Therefore the intake manifold is removed and these hoses and valve are replaced at the customers cost.
Of course BMW does not take any responsibility for this even though they sold you the vehicle using extended service intervals as a selling point.
In every engine it takes at least 20 minutes of running for the oil to reach a temperature where the unburnt fuel deposits can be burnt off enabling the oil to provide proper lubrication and protection for the engine.
So if your BMW is used for mainly short trips to the shop, work etc and rarely gets a good long run it is critical to change your oil more frequently.
We recommend the tried and tested 10,000 klms or 12 months as a maximum.
This should be reduced accordingly if the vehicles use is predominantly short trips.
Your specialist BMW repairer may have the same diagnosis equipment (GT1) used by BMW and using this can perform what is called an energy diagnosis to determine the amount and length of your trips.
This will enable them to accurately determine how frequently you should service your vehicle.
Energy diagnosis is unfortunately only available on later model vehicles such as E90 3 series.
So when your technician says you will need a service again in 10,000 klms but the service indicator still says 25,000 to next service, they are not overservicing your car or trying to generate extra income.
They have your best interests at heart and are trying to avoid having to tell you your car needs major repairs !!
And a 'service' every 10,000 klms does not mean your typical '$500.00 - $1000.00 thanks for coming' dealership service.
This additional or iterim service every 10,000 klms really only needs to be a quick oil change and check over.
Depending of course on your vehicles oil capacity and oil filter cost this should only cost $100 - $200 and is the absolute best thing you can do to maintain longevity for your engine.
copied from: The Australia Forum
posted by:
Darren Mitchell
Independent BMW Parts & Service Centre
2/5 Hydro Rise, Bibra Lake
Western Australia, 6163, Australia
Telephone: 0404 628 738
International: +61 404 628 738
bmw@gmx.sg
--------------------------------------------
Just for info for our members from OZ, I have no shares in this company ;)