Lemforder Front LCA's

[stash1]

Hey fellas, I was planning on replacing my front LCA's w/Lemforder (which I believe are OEM) over the Winter, but I've been reading that they're now produced in China? I don't want to make this a China vs the world debate thread, but does anyone know if this is still the best option...or if there is a better alternative?

[Obioban]

Where did you read that?

[Lukem3]

This isn't new, zf the parent company has had factories in China for decades. The difference is the QC of the items, quality can come from China if the extra money and time is spent.

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[Icecream]

Hey fellas, I was planning on replacing my front LCA's w/Lemforder (which I believe are OEM) over the Winter, but I've been reading that they're now produced in China? I don't want to make this a China vs the world debate thread, but does anyone know if this is still the best option...or if there is a better alternative?

Have you checked out a Genuine BMW part? I'm willing to bet it's not made in China (even if lemforder makes it) (FCP still lists the lemfoder ones as made in Germany)

[stash1]

Where did you read that?

Another BMW forum made reference to it a while ago, but I was unclear if it was A. true? and B. if all Lemforder parts are now made in China, or if this was some sort of subsidiary type deal...or maybe counterfeit parts? God knows there's been plenty of that going on for yrs!

[stash1]

Have you checked out a Genuine BMW part? I'm willing to bet it's not made in China (even if lemforder makes it) (FCP still lists the lemfoder ones as made in Germany)

No, I have not checked all parts suppliers to see if/where they list the parts as being manufactured...and I don't think that all vendors always list where the country of origin is anyway. How do we not know for sure that the ones produced in China aren't a genuine BMW part? They could still potentially carry the same part number-no?

[SandeepM3]

Either way it's still the same genuine BMW part as the bmw and ///M logo are just ground off.

[Phoenix///M3]

This may calm your fears. Purchased from FCP Eruo in the past month.



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[FBloggs]

It would be neat to have a thread of OEM supplier parts with "made in " pics of the labels.
1, is the actual part made in....?
or
2, is it the container that is made in....?

we'd have to avoid comments though, I'd suppose.


Then there's the "is it really the same part with the BMW stamp ground off?"
My recent personal experience with Lemforder vs BMW suggests otherwise.

[George Hill]

I just put a set of Lemforder arms on a car and they distinctly had the BMW markings milled off them. I would say the casting is the same, whether the ball joints are the same as what BMW sells, idk. BUT that's the million dollar question with all of these OE manufacturer parts sold under their name.

[stash1]

It would be neat to have a thread of OEM supplier parts with "made in " pics of the labels.
1, is the actual part made in....?
or
2, is it the container that is made in....?

we'd have to avoid comments though, I'd suppose.


Then there's the "is it really the same part with the BMW stamp ground off?"
My recent personal experience with Lemforder vs BMW suggests otherwise.

Not a bad idea, and what happened?

I just put a set of Lemforder arms on a car and they distinctly had the BMW markings milled off them. I would say the casting is the same, whether the ball joints are the same as what BMW sells, idk. BUT that's the million dollar question with all of these OE manufacturer parts sold under their name.

Right, this is exactly what I'm trying to figure out, Are they in fact being produced/sold outside of Germany, and are they of the same quality? Grinding off the BMW logo just sounds shady, and makes me wonder if the ball joints are different? Where did you purchase them from?

[FBloggs]

I just put a set of Lemforder arms on a car and they distinctly had the BMW markings milled off them. I would say the casting is the same, whether the ball joints are the same as what BMW sells, idk. BUT that's the million dollar question with all of these OE manufacturer parts sold under their name.

When replacing both front wishbones last year, I was unable to obtain the BMW item for one side, so I bought a lemforder . I noticed that the balljoints on a new lemforder FLCA were moveable by hand, whereas the ones on a new BMW wishbone were not.

[r4dr]

Right, this is exactly what I'm trying to figure out, Are they in fact being produced/sold outside of Germany, and are they of the same quality? Grinding off the BMW logo just sounds shady, and makes me wonder if the ball joints are different? Where did you purchase them from?

TRW sells E9X M3 arms with BMW and ///M logos ground off too. Plenty of other parts are the same story.

[old///MFanatic]

It’s still the best option. Who else would be better? Just got mine last week from FCP Euro. Says Germany. Lifetime warranty.

[Tbonem3]

Grinding off the bmw logo is very normal