Difference between O.E. and O.E.M -- is there one????

[NoSoup4U]

I have a question, what exactly is the difference between O.E. and O.E.M.?? I know O.E. means the exact parts that ARE PUT on the car. Does OEM mean the same thing or does it mean, parts that are EQUIVALENT to O.E. parts?

In particular, regarding our supporting vendor ... are the parts at www.bimmerparts.com O.E., or O.E. QUALITY type of parts?

I want to purchase O.E. parts ... period. Not O.E.M.....not O.E. quality; but O.E. --- I asked Chris and he sent me an email stating it was O.E.M...

I just want to make sure it is the same thing as saying it's O.E.

TIA!

[volfman]

O.E. means its made by the company that made the ORIGINAL parts from your car. OEM means its an "approved by bmw" manufacturer for replacement parts. I.E. if you took your car to the dealer to have an alternator replaced, it could be an OEM alternator.. or something :)

[///MINI]

OEM = Original Equipment Manufacturer

I always thought they were the same as OE.

[sab0276]

http://www.thepartsbin.com/oem_vs_aftermarket.html

This explains the difference between OE, OEM, and Aftermarket.

BTW, I recieved a part from them that said "OEM Parts" on the top of the invoice, but seemed to be a cheaper aftermarket unit.

-Scott

[///MINI]

That still doesn't answer the question of whether or not OE = OEM.

I believe they are the same.

[sab0276]

From what I gather from that article, is that OE is the genuine part that is packed and labled as BMW and sold at the dealer or other sources. OEM is the same part made by the same manufacturer, but not labled as BMW.


-Scott

[///MINI]

I must be RetaRDed. Sorry.

[10kken]

Another point is that many car manufacturer's use a number of different suppliers, even for the same part. Thus, an OEM part that you buy after owning the vehicle may be from a different manufacturer than the one already in your car by chance or some other random reason. The car maker may also, over time, change suppliers of a given part for any number of reasons. Thus most people think of OE and OEM as being equivalent

[Drea///M3]

Can I throw this in? OK Hella is the OE fog light on my '97 M3/4(that's what it came with)...Now if I buy a fog light from BMW it's an OE ZKW fog light...Which, later, I came to find out is $50 more than if I bought the SAME ZKW fog from Bimmerparts, which is OEM b/c it's not from BMW. It's the same exact light...But since the first has a BMW sticker on it from BMW it's OE...and the other one is from bimmerparts, it's OEM....

[nathan]

i'm pretty sure u can say OEM by bmw..
original equipment manufactuered by bmw.

its just english.. OE BMW, means it came off a bmw(euro,us,ltw,etc).. stock part..
Original equipment of bmw..

thats how i see it at least.. but who cares..

-nathan

[Jim O.]

There's a big difference between OE, OEM, and aftermarket, and if you want to be a smart consumer, you should really learn what the differences are. It's not just wording.

OE = Original Equipment - exactly what is used on the assembly lines when your car was made. Parts were made by the exact same manufacturer, to BMW's specifications, and are usually stamped with the BMW logo. These parts must also meet all the BMW quality control specs for that part, same as any part that's accepted into the production process.

OEM = Original Equipment Manufacturer - parts are made by a manufacturer that supplies original parts to BMW. These parts do not have to pass the BMW quality control tests for that part, and do not have the BMW logo on them. Quality of these parts can vary greatly - they can range between the exact same part as the one that's put on the car on the production line (but minus the BMW logo...), to something that wasn't good enough to pass quality control, so the manufacturer just sells them as OEM. Another issue - the part may be made by a manufacturer that supplies parts to BMW, but that part may not be a part that particular manufacturer supplies. For example, ZKW may supply some of the OE lights to BMW. However, if they felt like it, they could manufacturer suspension components, and label them "OEM" - after all, they are an Original Equipment manufacturer, just not for suspension components.

Aftermarket - anything goes. Caveat Emptor.

Jim

[BimwadM42]

Jim nailed it.

The problem is that the terms are misused so often, they are easily confused and have lost much of their meaning.

If you want factory parts, ask for Geniune BMW.

[NoSoup4U]

Thanks guys for the responses, and thanks Jim. Hey, that's why I am doing my own DD right now. I want to use O.E. parts; but, everyone throws them around.

That said, who sells O.E. parts other than the dealership??? Does any of our vendors sell O.E. parts?

I mean, for instance, O.E. water pump is $64.00 from dealer and OEM is $32.00 (water pump from Zygmunt). Thus, if I could get something around the $45.00 range that's O.E. -- that'd be perfect.

P.S. - I suspected there was a difference between O.E.M. and O.E. Jim just articulated it much better. I forgot that O.E. parts MEET BMW quality inspections. I think that is siginificant to know.

[Drea///M3]

This gets weird.....For instance...OE fog lights are made by ZKW or hella...But to become OE they have to pass BMW "quality inspection"(notice the quote marks) to get the BMW sticker or stamp of approval...Things like the fog lights and a lot of other stuff is sourced by BMW from a manuafcturer (OEM)...BUT there are some things that I don't clearly see where BMW sources their parts from(i.e. taillights, side markers, corner lamps, etc) Therefore, there are no OEM parts for these b/c they are sourced/manufactured by BMW. So to say they have OEM tail lights, is wrong....