Plenty. I just got my first package of e39 rear suspension parts delivered today. I'm expecting to receive the other package containing the rest tomorrow or day after that. If you want I could list what is made where when I get the rest. At least the rear shocks that I got (Sachs super touring) are made in Germany, can't remember the rest.
Really it all depends on QC standards the company has established.
When I worked at Coca Cola they would really water down the Dr. Pepper, that true sweetness was not there. This occurred on several occasions and to not loss the product as it was on the threshold of not having an adequate concentration levels of syrup. Coca Cola had to submit a sample to Dr.Pepper to see if it was acceptable.
Our QC trying to squeeze every last dollar out of that syrup was willing to compromise quality of the product. Just providing an insight of what effects the quality of the products we buy.
My analogous post was deleted... apparently, my use of chinese characters is deemed "racist" but my mention of Lemforder having dots over the vowels isn't racist.... Just to clear things up, i'm not racist by any means. Just thought it was funny that a german name can sell chinese products but you never see german products with a chinese name.
Last edited by e24mpwr; 02-10-2015 at 01:18 PM.
Mine are made in Germany along with my Bosch coil packs for the 335.
I don't think it was the Chinese Characters that were the issue, it's what you said right after that. Lemforders having dots is how it is written, there isn't a debate over that.
A German name is not selling Chinese products. A German company is having their product made in China.... a bit of a difference there.
Tomato, tomatho. Unless they're lowering the cost of the product, they're moving to China to make more money. I wouldn't be surprised if the molds and tooling were too worn out to be useful in Germany and so they got shipped to China for further production.
For the record, I'm sure that worker conditions in China are abysmal, but I'm also concerned with all of the Chinese pollution being blown to California (and Hong Kong, Taiwan, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, Japan, etc.). Likewise if the formulations of anything will change. Will we see lead, zinc, or proper chrome plating make a comeback now that these parts are being made in countries that don't care about that sort of thing?
Put this way, aside of quality control, the strict environmental regulations and labor regulations, unions, etc. in US and European countries add a great deal of additional costs to the products, so it is not just lower wages the primary factor to move manufacture to China, otherwise, everything will cost a lot more, sure companies try to squeeze more profit but not as much as you would think, you cannot have both ways, cheap products and less pollution.
Sure. Quite frankly, the PRC is well aware of the environmental damage they're wreaking and are formally starting to implement stronger environmental controls (or larger bribes depending on how you look at it). PRC is not the cheapest place to do business anymore (and hasn't been for a while), you've got India, Vietnam, Thailand, etc. for that now.
The advantage of building in the PRC is a flexible, well integrated supply chain. Great if you're prototyping new products or need to iterate on a design. For dirt cheap products, there's some advantage, sure. If you're doing something highly unusual (like Apple -- commodity components on the inside but on the outside they do things nobody else does, like tiny laser cut holes in the MacBook Pro) this flexibility is great. For cheap shit stuff with no support, there's also probably quite a bit of savings. For something where you've got to support the product and honor the warranty, you're either going to pay through the nose for high return/exchange rate or you're going to pay for better QC up front reducing the additional profit margin. So, no, I don't think Lemforder is going to save a ton of money (but I also doubt they'll maintain equivalent quality). I'd bet on them trying to free up top-tier production space, and us suffering as a result.
After having a closer inspection at the product that I received, these mounts don't quite look like the OEM/Corteco ones I remember having once before.
In fact, by comparing to some Internet images (rubber stamps etc.), what was in the Lemförder/made in China boxes looks more like the Febi/Bilstein product.
Either someone pulled a fast one on me, or made in China Lemförder comes from the Febi factory.
Last edited by vinyldude; 02-11-2015 at 02:39 AM.
As parts sell in smaller volumes, you wind up with 10 companies buying parts from a few factories and repackaging them in their own boxes.
Its the same for newer cars too in reality. Its not all that unusual to find an OE part in a Autozone or O'Reilly box, simply because only 1 factory made it for the original car, and nobody else cares to copy them.
Last edited by ElleShooTiger; 02-12-2015 at 11:52 AM.
I bought rear suspension parts, including ball joints, front and back control arms, and stabilizer bar links. All parts were Lemförder and were marked made in Germany.
Does anybody know what country the OEM BMW motor mounts are from?
Just bought new Lemforder engine mounts for my M5 and just like OP, received good 'ol Made in China parts. Exactly the same parts as OP.
This looks nothing like an OE part, materials they used are obviously cheap and the finished product just feels of poor quality.
Lemforder mounts were by far the most expensive ones and I expected premuim quality part, what I received I would expect from Febi which is half the price.
These are going back and I decided to try my luck with Ruville mounts which, at least in their catalogue pictures, look like OE parts.
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Last edited by sreten; 12-12-2018 at 07:04 PM.
Corteco is a good option.
Need a DME or EGS update?
https://forum.e46fanatics.com/showthread.php?t=1081716
Coding 530i after AT->MT Swap
https://www.bimmerforums.com/forum/s...ter-AT-MT-Swap
Ruville is same crap. Doesn't say where they are made but the design is identical to Chinese Lemforder, only worse quality finish.
Look at this stud on Ruville mount. Important thing is that the whole box is slapped with Germany references but the finished product is straight of a cartoon.
And this is Lemforder. Better quality finish than Ruville but still nothing like the original mounts that came on the car.
If you look up ZF's online catalog you will find a picture of this mount so they are not knockoffs but what Lemforder is making and selling nowadays - https://webcat.zf.com/index.asp?PKW=...teile_info.asp
This is the original design of the mounts and what I'm aiming to get. These are listed under BOGE brand in ZF's catalog but they are discounted.
I placed an order for Corteco mounts, their online catalog in Germany shows the original design, but if they turn out to be the same as the Chinese ones, I'll be going to the dealer.
There have been reports of these studs snapping under small torque on Chinese Corteco mounts which is why I would prefer to stay away from them - https://www.m5board.com/vbulletin/e3...en-stud-s.html
The studs on the side can be tapped out of the new ones and replaced with the original ones that come out of the car... Rein ones appear to be made in Germany and the pics on FCP show the original side stud style but I can't say that's what it looks like when they arrive...
https://www.fcpeuro.com/products/bmw...ro-22111092824
Unfortunately for some odd reason the left side doesn't come up on their website but I'm sure you can reach out to them to see if they are available. The price is pretty cheap too... For what it's worth I used cheap eBay hamberg technic mounts because I needed them and I was in a pinch and they have worked out fine for over a year now... They had the same side mounts all of the china made ones have and you just have to be careful when tightening them as those cheap heads will snap off if overtightened...
https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?m...2F140498225637
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Last edited by purplecty; 12-18-2018 at 08:23 PM.
Just got two front strut Lemforder mounts from FCPEuro, one was made in Germany,one from China. The finish on the china one is rougher, darker in color for some reason, and it's also heavier by feel. But the China one came with mounting nuts while the Germany didn't.
Thanks! I'm waiting for Corteco mounts to arrive and take it from there. I'm in Germany and Rein is not available here.
I went through the same exercise back in May when I overhauled my suspension. Same deal with Lemforder mounts - one made in Germany and one in China, altough on the mount it says Made in India.
You can clearly see which one is made in Germany and it was identical to what I removed from the car.
The one made in China/India I sent back and I was able to source original one from a local store and it came in a Sachs box.
My guess is that the German made mounts are from the old batch and from now on they will all come looking like this which can be confirmed by looking at the picture from ZF's catalogue - https://webcat.zf.com/index.asp?PKW=...teile_bild.asp
ZF is definitely shifting its production.
- - - Updated - - -
That's correct. Sachs and Lemforder are same parts, both are brands of ZF.
Sachs - https://webcat.zf.com/index.asp?PKW=...teile_bild.asp
Lemforder - https://webcat.zf.com/index.asp?PKW=...teile_bild.asp
Last edited by sreten; 12-19-2018 at 11:05 AM.
Wow, that mount on the right looks like garbage !
Looking for an E39 belly pan , passenger front inner fender liner …
Received Corteco mounts today. Sadly same story and same Chinese design.
It's pretty obvious that both Lemforder and Corteco mounts came out of the same factory as even the stamps on rubber are same.
Left Corteco, right Lemforder.
Structure around the studs on Corteco mounts seems somewhat weaker and with gaps which could explain why these snap so easily.
Anyway, I'm getting tired of it and going to be ordering new mounts from the stealer. If they end up being the same, I'll get over it and simply use Lemforder mounts and cross fingers that they last.
They still must have some quality control. Lemforder control arms are made in Turkey and those are holding up great, albeit identical to the ones that were made in Germany back in the day.
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Last edited by sreten; 12-19-2018 at 03:55 PM.
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