Parts - get from local store or online??

[bison]

I'm going to replace the water pump, belts, and pulleys on my 2000 528, hopefully this weekend. I can either buy the parts locally at O'Reilley/Napa or online. Any difference in quality? Local parts are slightly more expensive but I can get immediately. I'd like to get the work done rather than wait. There is also a local BMW dealer whose prices are 2x the others, so a less attractive alternative.

My guess is that they're all generally made by the same manufacturers so not much difference.

Thanks!

[Tiger]

Umm... no.... there are huge difference in quality. No doubt.

For waterpump, you should be okay with local parts... waterpump, pulleys and belt. Graf is the best and OEM waterpump. Anything else is a crapshoot. It is a good thing to replace everything related to the job... especially the pulleys which everyone ignores.

Lemforder is best for suspension and steering parts. Boge and Bilstein Febi is good. Meyle HD (Emphasis on HD) is supposedly very good... I am still on the debate of regular Meyle stuff for steering.

Online is always the best deal so plan ahead when you want to repair something.

[525it92]

I mostly only buy online for the BMW. Local dealers unless you are near a discount one have enormous markups. More than other dealer I have seen. Even the specialty nuts and bolts will cost 3x at a dealer. I still compare prices with the local discount shops. Notably I have purchased belts, water pumps and tstats locally. I typically make a spreadsheet for comparison shopping. I have purchased fpump, hoses, brake discs, filters, nuts, bolts, gaskets etc... Oh, NAPA typically carries the import fluids.

Try FCPGroton, EBMWparts, getbmwparts, germanautoparts, bavauto - I think I have used them all with decent service.

[93 525 Paul]

I would not recommend an O'Reilly's or similar. A better local option has been a Euro Auto Parts store here. I just seem to be happier with the parts I get from autohausaz.com or rmeuropean.com or pelicanparts.com
Used to use bavauto.com exclusively but found better prices at most other places.