Importance of OEM nuts/bolts

[ElJimo]

http://www.realoem.com/bmw/enUS/showparts?id=1264-USA-11-1987-E30-BMW-325e&diagId=31_0041

I'm currently replacing my front suspension components. When replacing parts such as #10-13 can I just go to a general hardware store and pick those up? There's nothing special about the BMW parts other than their cost, right?

Part numbers for reference:

07119902955
31111114348

[TravisAsch]

I say go for the hardware store and use grade 8's

[ElJimo]

Alright, thanks. will do.

[ThatOneEuroE30]

What Travis said. Hardware store bolts and nuts are fine as long as they are grade 8 or higher any thing under grade 8 isn't meant to carry the load a car would put on them.

[rturbo 930]

I think as long as you match the grade of the bolt (usually grade 8, but sometimes higher, so you should check what it was) you should be fine.

[Boris3]

Be careful about metric equivalents with hardware store bolts and nuts. Grade 5 SAE is metric grade 8.8. Grade 8 SAE is metric grade 10.9.

[jalopi]

if you can, try to get metric replacements. while they'll work, the standard bolts will be ever so slightly smaller in diameter than their metric equivalents.

for a bolt like #10, that could leave you with some slop in the swaybar endlink. probably not enough to effect handling... but you never know. just saiyan

[jrobie79]

my local ace hardware has all kinds of metric bolts grade 10.9

[nando]

the factory bolts are zinc coated. Cheaper bolts will be plain or maybe nickel coated, which is prone to rust. Ace does sell some nicer bolts that have a good coating on them, but they're not really any cheaper than buying them through BMW a lot of times.

personally, I began hoarding stock fasteners a long time ago every time I parted something out or took something apart. I clean them and store them in sorted bins. As long as they aren't damaged or rusty, the original fasteners are probably better than what you can get at a hardware store. And I have basically everything so if I lose something or need to replace one for some reason, I've probably got 10 more just like it.

[jalopi]

OP you probably have a Fastenall in your area - all they sell is every variation of nuts and bolts you can think of

go there and you'll be good to go

[ElJimo]

Boris3 -Thank you for that clarification, I know vary little about hardware grade specifications, so that definitely saved me a future headache.

Nando- Thanks for bringing up the coating issue, that's something I was worrying about. The reason why i need new hardware in the first place is when I was trying to remove the swaybar endlink mounts, the bolts sheared right off from corrosion.

Jalopi- Thanks for the heads up. I'm gonna check out ACE first because it's literally across the street from my house, but if they don't have it I was going to check out fastenal/mcmastercarr

[101]

I agree with Nando.

I've found that the BMW bolts are not all that expensive, and the coating (along with application of anti-seize) will make it way easier on the next guy.

[jeffnhiscars]

the factory bolts are zinc coated. Cheaper bolts will be plain or maybe nickel coated, which is prone to rust. Ace does sell some nicer bolts that have a good coating on them, but they're not really any cheaper than buying them through BMW a lot of times.

personally, I began hoarding stock fasteners a long time ago every time I parted something out or took something apart. I clean them and store them in sorted bins. As long as they aren't damaged or rusty, the original fasteners are probably better than what you can get at a hardware store. And I have basically everything so if I lose something or need to replace one for some reason, I've probably got 10 more just like it.

I love my nuts n bolts hoard

OP you probably have a Fastenall in your area - all they sell is every variation of nuts and bolts you can think of

go there and you'll be good to go

Fastenall def has a great selection but if they have to,order in anything less than a box, they will charge you a pick fee which you won't like.

[jalopi]

BMW bolts aren't expensive when you look at the price for one individual bolt

but they're quite expensive when you consider a 50 pack would cost $31 from BMW whereas mcmaster/fastenal would only charge you $13. or you could spend the same amount of money and upgrade to stainless

yeah i know it isn't the best example since you'd never need that many m8x45's on your car, but the car still has a shitload of bolts if you'd ever need to replace em

Fastenall def has a great selection but if they have to,order in anything less than a box, they will charge you a pick fee which you won't like.

all the stores in my area started doing this about a year or two ago too. people weren't too pleased so they started selling these little baggies that had 2-4 nuts or bolts in em. which was nice to offset the pick fee, but their prices literally doubled. ever since then i only go to fastenal if i need something ASAP. otherwise i order from mcmaster

[george graves]

Yep - as other said - part out another e30 and save ever single nut and bolt you can. It's a total life saver.

I just don't trust hardware store stuff.