Lemforder, but wait

[av8r4aa]

Hey Brothers,
Seems Lemforder front end parts are hard to find lately.
2 to 3 week delay to ship.
Anyone else see this?

[StephenVA]

Nope but it has been a few months….

[KeysCoupe]

Hey Brothers,
Seems Lemforder front end parts are hard to find lately.
2 to 3 week delay to ship.
Anyone else see this?

Yes. I placed orders with ECS Tuning for control arms (Lemforder) for my I6 car, and a few days later, after my account was charged, got a notice I have a March 8, 2023 ship date. They have not yet determined a ship date for my Turner mono-balls I ordered during Black Friday.
I did get a very nice old stock Lemforder curved front arm off eBay from a Miami seller. It has all the original markings, except the “BMW” emblem is ground off. Less than $40, but they only have one side. The opposite side I purchased elsewhere is also Lemforder, but made in Malaysia. Its no where near as nice as the old-stock one.
-Donny
-Donny

[edjack]

Trw?

[Nfs021]

Yes. I placed orders with ECS Tuning for control arms (Lemforder) for my I6 car, and a few days later, after my account was charged, got a notice I have a March 8, 2023 ship date. They have not yet determined a ship date for my Turner mono-balls I ordered during Black Friday.
I did get a very nice old stock Lemforder curved front arm off eBay from a Miami seller. It has all the original markings, except the “BMW” emblem is ground off. Less than $40, but they only have one side. The opposite side I purchased elsewhere is also Lemforder, but made in Malaysia. Its no where near as nice as the old-stock one.
-Donny
-Donny

I guarantee that order will NO WAY IN HELL ship on March 8th. ECS is so horribly unreliable at that.

Trw?

Tried them in my M5 last May and seemed a bit too soft. Ball joint boot started to deteriorate too after 9 months.

[MtnGn]

I agree with NFS 021; notoriously unreliable if they dont have the part on hand. Took maybe 10 weeks of repeated "Shipment Delayed" emails to get some door clips. If you have a project, order early.

[crdiscoverer]

ECS once had me wait about 6 months for an order I had placed for a radiator and after many "delays" they told me the radiator was not in stock and canceled it. Those were 6 months (plus what it took me to find another one) without being able to use the car.

Back on topic, are these stock issues any indication that part manufacturing for 20 year old E39s is winding down? Should we start panicking and hoarding stuff?

[Twistytee]

ECS once had me wait about 6 months for an order I had placed for a radiator and after many "delays" they told me the radiator was not in stock and canceled it. Those were 6 months (plus what it took me to find another one) without being able to use the car.

Back on topic, are these stock issues any indication that part manufacturing for 20 year old E39s is winding down? Should we start panicking and hoarding stuff?

My guess is this is supply chain lag from the pandemic. US warehouse stock likely got depleted and now everyone is waiting for resupply from Europe and Asia. I do work in the power industry and we’re seeing similar issues with transformers and related equipment.

[fabrice]

Back on topic, are these stock issues any indication that part manufacturing for 20 year old E39s is winding down? Should we start panicking and hoarding stuff?

_______________

If you intend to keep your car a long time and can find good quality replacements for those that will likely fail, that could work!

But, you might not get what you expected! I used Lemförder suspension parts to replace all front & rear original parts on my '97 540i. Whereas the original track rod lasted over 150k mi, the replacement failed within 12k. It was "free", not counting labor or the required 4-wheel alignment. The original ball joints' lower metal seal was a 'top hat', the new ones a flat plate with less space for spring and grease. OE's from BMW might have been a better deal.

I was a sustaining engineer for a large communications equipment manufacturer. Our company, like most others, switched to contract manufacturers or outside development manufacturers for cost reduction, primarily, and supply continuity. The contracted companies used their technical and business learnings with the intention of eventually displacing the OEM.

I suspect the "service companies" that have been created by several traditional BMW suppliers, like Lemförder (TRW), use this model. These parts can be sold into the aftermarket without compromising their reputation among their primary customers, like BMW, Mercedes, et. al. They believe the aftermarket wants the lowest price, can't distinguish the quality from the original, or that the parts won't be used very long until the car is sold and it's someone else's problem. Thus the dumbing-down of the aftermarket's definition of what constitutes an OEM.

Dealers are probably required to continue sourcing originals... until the supply runs out.