Why not to use cheap parts: FCP Groton Center Link

[Kalevera]

Along with Jeff Bidoli's car, Fritz inadvertantly became a lab rat for FCP Groton's supsension offerings. I installed the complete package before they'd even considered selling it as such on eBay -- thrust and control arms (thrust rods with 750 bushings), complete steering links, and swaybar links.

I bought all of this stuff before I knew about BMA, dealership pricing, or really anything about working on cars -- Fritz was towed to my buddy's garage, I jacked it up and looked underneath, saw a bunch of parts that looked really bad, got on Bruno's site and figured out what all of that "stuff" was, and indiscriminantly started ordering things. I was also trying to save as much money as possible, so I spent as little as possible wherever I could. Buying from FCP was a no brainer at the time, although their customer service was shitty.

Now, it's all catching up to me. I've been diagnosing a weird, off and on shimmy for a few weeks. At first, I attributed it to my tires. I now retract my comments on the 712s as being a bad tire, because I don't know if they're the cause of the problem, but they are noisy. Still, I put the car up on the rack and went over it. The idler arm had a lot of play in it and I attributed it to the idler bushing (also an FCP part) -- tightening the bolt/nut relieved the shimmy for about a week. It came back this morning, so the car went back up in the air tonight. The problem is the center link. The bushing at the idler arm/center link point exhibits tremendous play after about 10k (less than a year) of use, requiring replacement of the center link itself:



This part cost me $55 on 11/02/04. It is definitively not BMW OEM. It was manufactured by Karlyn/TRW/OCAP or similar aftermarket producer. Assuming that the part just wore out, which is entirely likely given that OCAP suspensions consistently last 15k miles, I paid .0055 dollar per mile for its use.

The more alarming concern is that WorldPac (hence, BMA) and SSF (another indy distributor) appear to offer nothing but the same quality part -- Karlyn/TRW/OCAP. Confirm that what you're buying is actually BMW OEM, not some aftermarket garbage. Look for the BMWNA/dealer sticker on it, not the worldpac white with blue stripe. (EDIT: actually, I can't remember what the worldpac sticker looks like off the top of my head -- white with blue stripe could be the dealer sticker and I'm getting it confused ATM).

I have it on good faith that the dealer OEM part lasts at least 70k+ miles. While I don't know what my cost would have been last year, it's now $75. Assuming I get the minimum of 70k miles, I'll pay around .0010 dollar per mile for its use, or perhaps enjoy an improved ratio.

So, you be the judge; Me -- I'll be using OEM lemforder.

EDIT: late breaking news -- OEM is TRW, at least the bushings are stamped as such when the part comes from the dealer. The question remains -- what's on my car?!


best, whit