Alternator Options

[PSUEng]

How many miles/years are you guys seeing the original alternators lasting on these cars? I'm on the original unit, (12/2002 build) with 81,000 miles. I've actually replaced the battery in this car regularly every 4 or 5 years (sometimes before they die) so I'd like to think my alternator has a had a decent life. I don't have a battery light currently, but historically once the alternator goes, you're on borrowed miles. And, seems like the new Valeo units are hard to find so I'm thinking just change it out, and shelve the one I have as a spare.

[old///MFanatic]

Very interesting..not sure if it’s just this dealership or any BMW dealership. *The 2 Year is listed as any dealership.

https://www.billjacobsbmw.com/bmw-parts-warranty/

“To receive lifetime limited parts warranty coverage, the retail consumer must have purchased any of the following eligible replacement BMW Original Parts on or after December 1, 1998:
1. Shock Absorbers
2. Strut Assemblies and Inserts
3. Mufflers
4. New and Remanufactured Starters
5. New and Remanufactured Water Pumps
6 New and Remanufactured Alternators

The lifetime limited parts warranty is currently restricted to this select group of parts and applies to both BMW cars and BMW SAVs.”

[George Hill]

Alternators, starters, water pumps, struts and I think ac compressors. Might be a few more parts too like power steering pumps. After the 2 year warranty these parts have a limited lifetime warranty. Only parts is covered and has to be warranty inspected by the dealer. So it’s subject to the usual warranty rules.

I don’t think it’s commonly known so might be a fight with some dealers.

Absolutely, I never came across that during my time at the dealer. Could you get some written BMW warranty info on that policy? Our dealer just started declining warranty repairs on parts that were bought from a 3rd party retailer, i.e. if you bought a BMW waterpump from FCP, they won't warranty it, but if you bought it from a BMW dealer directly they would. I tried to get that in writing and they told me to pound sand so I don't think they would help me with this limited warranty info either.

[bigjae46]

Haven't heard this before, do you have more info?

Alternators, starters, water pumps, struts and I think ac compressors. Might be a few more parts too like power steering pumps. After the 2 year warranty these parts have a limited lifetime warranty. Only parts is covered and has to be warranty inspected by the dealer. So it’s subject to the usual warranty rules.

I don’t think it’s commonly known so might be a fight with some dealers.

[George Hill]

FYI, there is a limited lifetime warranty on genuine BMW alternators in the US. Not sure if that's worth the price but something to consider.

Haven't heard this before, do you have more info?

[Pklauser]

As far as I can tell, the BMW alternator is a reman as well. FCP has lifetime warranty on the new Valeo, so that seems to be the wise choice.

[bigjae46]

FYI, there is a limited lifetime warranty on genuine BMW alternators in the US. Not sure if that's worth the price but something to consider.

[Pklauser]

My alternator just started intermittently dropping voltage, thank y'all for this thread. The fact that FCP doesn't show this as compatible with the M3 is a huge miss that nearly had me buy an apparently inferior product.

[strummr]

I can share a very recent experience with alternators (I just got the car back from the shop today). I have a E46 Dinan M3, and the battery light came on early Feb, with the car dying on a full charge within a day. I decided to install the alternator myself - ordered a Bosch remanufactured alternator from FCPeuro, along with new belts, pulleys and tensioners (might as well). I expected the job to take a couple of wknds (because of the supercharger kit), just on jack stands (not a lift); well it turned out to be 4 months. I've worked on cars all my life (my first cars were muscle cars) - it was the biggest PITA in a very long time. Obviously, the main issue was removing most of the Dinan supercharger to gain access to the alternator - in a highly confined engine bay.
After finishing the install and tidying up everything, I drove it to my local race shop, without any issues (20 miles) for an inspection I service. A week and half later, when time came to pick up the car... the engine bay started smoking immediately after turning it on. I left the car with them and they determined the remfg Bosch unit's pulley had seized (causing the belt to smoke and eventually pop off the pulley) - I had a new Valeo unit expedited to the shop and obviously planning on returning the Bosch unit. So newly remfg Bosch unit caused a major issue with a fresh install... as the shop noted, try and stick with the Valeo unit, and not the remanufactured items.

[R60BBA]

I might be in the market for another alternator. I usually buy everything from FCP. However I have talked to several folks who had the reman'd bosch units failing quickly.

I found brand new Valeo units for sale at Bimmerworld:

https://www.bimmerworld.com/Alternator-120-Amp-12-31-7-831-436_2.html

There is also the "Genuine BMW" option at FCP for significantly more than the Bosch unit (any difference in quality?):

https://www.fcpeuro.com/products/bmw-alternator-m3-z3-12317831436

Has anyone checked to see if the voltage regulator on all these reman'd units are actually swapped in with new ones?

They all have decent warranties but as we all know...

As per others can vouch for a new Valeo unit.

I usually only use Genuine BMW parts on my car but for this job I would advise against this. Iirc I paid ~£250 for a new Valeo alternator from ECS Tuning in 2019 (incl import tax as I live in the UK), but BMW wanted £600 for a new genuine unit.

The units are made by Valeo (not Bosch) and so I could not justify paying an extra £350 for a BMW stamp on the part (which you cannot see once it’s installed). The previous unit lasted 17 years / ~85,000 miles. The Valeo unit I replaced is now 3 years old covering ~30,000 miles, still going strong and I expect it to last as long as the original unit. (Never bothered to check the voltage as the voltage on the old unit was practically nil).

[bigjae46]

Before scrapping the original alternator, I’d try replacing the regulator. It’s $60 then you don’t have to worry about how crappy your rebuild is.

[PSUEng]

That Autozone deal was a steal! I emailed, since online shows not available in store or for oder; Autozone told me they no longer carry the Valeo.

[Randall921]

Wish this thread was up a few months ago. I bought a Bosch reman’d From FCP and it completely seized after a single day on the track. Couldn’t turn it with a ratchet. Stay away as others have said.

[0-60motorsports]

AS others have said best to get a new VALEO.

[thegenius46m]

May I ask where are you buying new Valeo for sub $200?

No joke I got it at Autozone with a $50 off promotional coupon via the Honey chrome extension. Had to call to verify 100% that the unit was indeed BNIB and was not let down when I got it. Just checked and I paid $211 with tax to my door lol.

Just google Valeo 43917 and go with whoever has the cheapest price atm.