Does anyone have experience with Deutsche Parts control arm kit from ebay ? it includes both control arms, tie rods, sway bar links and bushings for $153 shipped. I know its not oem but seems like a killer deal. Thoughts?
Vic
Vic
-
-
broken like snapped in two?Comment
-
I saw an ebay listing for TRW suspension bits that said Lemfoerder parts are now made in China. Can anyone confirm or refute this?"If the sky were to fall tomorrow, the tall would die first."
-Dr. Paul Forrester
Do I LOOK like I need a psychological evaluation???Comment
-
They make Lemforder stuff in China but I dont know if they are for local markets only or if they actually ship them worldwide. ZF, Sachs, Boge they all have factories in China Hell they even make BMWs in China. Our last shipment of stuff at work was still from Austria, Switzerland and Germany. I'll go back and look on Friday.
BTW. Did the part in the auction have Lemforder spelled the way you did? Cause thats a surefire way to identify that the piece was made in China.sigpicComment
-
OP. I wouldn't buy an entire front end kit that cost the same price as 1 OEM control arm, but that is just me and having a suspension failure on the freeway would probably suck.sigpicComment
-
I need the hole front end kit as well. To be honest Im thinking about just going Bavauto because I have never had any problems with there stuff. I would like to see how this pans out for ya.Randall Racing and Engineering
Acworth, Georgia, 30101
http://www.facebook.com/RandallRacingandEngineeringComment
-
"If the sky were to fall tomorrow, the tall would die first."
-Dr. Paul Forrester
Do I LOOK like I need a psychological evaluation???Comment
-
i got the e36 Myle control arms and m3 CAB bushings from BavAuto (for my e30). I know some people say myle is crap, but its held together really well over the past year or so. i've heard you can get used M3 CA from the dealership and just replace the ball joints for cheep (maybe from the DIY section?).sigpic
1987 - 325i Convertible Delphin Auto [SOLD], 325i Convertible Delphin Manual [SOLD]
1989 - 325i Convertible Bronzit m30b35 swapped [SCRAPPED], 325i Sedan Alpine Auto[DD]
1991 - 325i Coupe Laguna Manual [Project], 535i Sedan Alpine [SCRAPPED]Comment
-
I bought and am using that set. It's Hamburg Technic, which is made in Germany yet still considered to be wholly crap. I'm not entirely sure why, but everyone on the internet obviously has their opinions. Google the company and you'll find all sorts of bitching about it. Since being made in China is straight up anathema, I can at least say about the parts that they are clearly made in Germany (It's printed everywhere). And a lot of my OEM parts that I purchased from legitimate sites like Bavauto and Pelican have "made in China/Mexico" on them. But again, people will shit on anything, for any reason regardless of where it's made. It's all about who you feel like listening to on the interwebs.
The quality, while certainly acceptable, doesn't appear to be that fantastic, and by that I mean from the perception of someone like myself without any technical knowledge whatsoever. If I built control arms and such I'd be able to weigh in on this a little more authoritatively, but I don't. Some of the ball joints were a little more stiff than others, and the rubber doesn't look to be of the greatest quality, but again, look is the key word. I've been using Hamburg Technic control arms, sway bar links, tie rods and strut tower mounts for 3,500 miles so far, and the only thing I can say negative about them is that I'll probably replace them at around 50-70,000 miles just to be safe. But I'd probably do that even if I shelled out 3 times as much on OEM parts from bavauto. I just like working on my e30, and I can go overboard in the desire for "fresh parts".
So, to wrap up, it's all about who you wanna listen to, how much you wanna spend, and what kind of peace of mind you want at the end of the day. If you don't wanna work on your car, or worse yet if you're paying someone to do all this for you, go for the expensive stuff and don't worry about it for another 100k + miles. But if you're on a budget and replacing control arms with a 6 pack sounds like a fun Saturday, I wouldn't shy away from these eBay parts.
-BrettLast edited by Lunner; 02-25-2010, 08:57 PM.87 325iC 90 325iC 88 325iC 87 325i 87 325iS 87 325eSComment
-
Oh, and this is specifically what I purchased:
It's the M3 offset version of the same item from the same seller as mentioned in the OP. It's Hamburg Technic, and it looks exactly like it does in the photo. Good seller with quick shipping too btw. I will add however that I went with bavauto's polyurethane bushings instead of what is included. I mainly did these for the significantly easier installation process, and also because of the nature of the LCAB, stepping up the quality didn't seem like a terrible idea for the price (which wasn't much).
-Brett87 325iC 90 325iC 88 325iC 87 325i 87 325iS 87 325eSComment
-
Right on Brett, thanks for the quick respose and feedback on that ebay seller. Im still on the fence with this kit, I have billy sports and H&R race springs on order now, might as well bite the bullet and buy the kit from IE for a little more dough, but like you said, theirs are probably made in China too!Oh, and this is specifically what I purchased:
It's the M3 offset version of the same item from the same seller as mentioned in the OP. It's Hamburg Technic, and it looks exactly like it does in the photo. Good seller with quick shipping too btw. I will add however that I went with bavauto's polyurethane bushings instead of what is included. I mainly did these for the significantly easier installation process, and also because of the nature of the LCAB, stepping up the quality didn't seem like a terrible idea for the price (which wasn't much).
-Brett
VicComment
-
Lunner rocks, nicely done.Randall Racing and Engineering
Acworth, Georgia, 30101
http://www.facebook.com/RandallRacingandEngineeringComment
Comment