Blueprint is also Febi.
*** and Luk part of Schaeffler.

Behr/ Hella sucks made in china crap.
Vaico hoses better than Febi ones ( tried them both for long time to compare).
Nrf tank, radiator (Modine OEM), don't buy Nrf made in China!.

For small brake parts take Quick Brake, same quality (I think same product). Only package is different. Have bought these to compare. Only you pay more for AT.

 

Blueprint is also Febi.
*** and Luk part of Schaeffler.

Behr/ Hella sucks made in china crap.
Vaico hoses better than Febi ones ( tried them both for long time to compare).
Nrf tank, radiator (Modine OEM), don't buy Nrf made in China!.

For small brake parts take Quick Brake, same quality (I think same product). Only package is different. Have bought these to compare. Only you pay more for AT.

Haven't heard of Blueprint before. Behr/Hella from my experience isn't "made in china crap" for radiators, expansion tanks and as it has said for many things - origin of production doesn't really matter. Asia has a lot of high tech high quality factories. Hella once was OEM supplier for BMW for radiators, but OG Hella radiators are hard to find as they are low in stock. Not sure if Hella was in radiator business for e46 though. I have some cheap Polish origin radiator on one of my E36s and it has been fine for years now. Generally radiators aren't components you will be needing to replace and as long as they do not leak they'll be fine. Unless your OCD for OEM'ness comes haunting you later

Haven't tried vaico hoses, but cannot remember exactly neither. For many of these "simpler" parts I doubt it even matters what brand you get as it is likely they were made in same factory anyways. Not to mention often only these smaller "no name" brands are only ones available for replacements.

I generally just make an educated guess on which brand to get/try depending on past experiences and part cost. For many smaller niche parts need to go to dealer or some online OE retailer.

 

Yes Behr/Hella parts are made China ( have tried and never again!).

Behr and Hella ( seperate brands) in past were very good.

When Choosing Behr, Hella, Febi etc..
Have carefully look made in China (cheaper) or made in Germany/Europe (more expensive).

China ones are mostly for country or people who don't care for quality. Same as for many products today e.g tools Geodore, Stahwille etc. Cheap and expensive version.

Few examples.
I bought a a Febi a China version (plastic one) fan resistor. Burned out....melted....
So bought a new one ( metal one) Febi made in Germany. Still going strong.

Bought a Vaico disa, flap broke within a year ( while oem after 15 years still not broken).

Cooling hoses from Febi leaked after install, replaced by oem problem fixed.
Only beaware don't Febi sensors on Vaico hoses, fitment id terrible!

Installed a a NRF radiator and tank (China version) leaked after install.
Replaced by NRF (Modine Germany version) oem logo removed by factory) fixed leaking problem.

Etc. etc.... I like try things out then just reading reviews😂🤗

I have made pictures of these parts....

 

Yes Behr/Hella parts are made China ( have tried and never again!).

Behr and Hella ( seperate brands) in past were very good.

When Choosing Behr, Hella, Febi etc..
Have carefully look made in China (cheaper) or made in Germany/Europe (more expensive).

China ones are mostly for country or people who don't care for quality. Same as for many products today e.g tools Geodore, Stahwille etc. Cheap and expensive version.

Few examples.
I bought a a Febi a China version (plastic one) fan resistor. Burned out....melted....
So bought a new one ( metal one) Febi made in Germany. Still going strong.

Bought a Vaico disa, flap broke within a year ( while oem after 15 years still not broken).

Cooling hoses from Febi leaked after install, replaced by oem problem fixed.
Only beaware don't Febi sensors on Vaico hoses, fitment id terrible!

Installed a a NRF radiator and tank (China version) leaked after install.
Replaced by NRF (Modine Germany version) oem logo removed by factory) fixed leaking problem.

Etc. etc.... I like try things out then just reading reviews😂🤗

I have made pictures of these parts....

I haven't seen any cheaper/expensive Febi Bilstein parts in my searches, but I don't get parts from ebay nor amazon neither. Only part I have got from ebay is an ABS module assembly (used original). Some of the issues listed sound a bit like user error or simply bad luck, sorry.

 

No it is not, like I said I like to try out before judge and has been fixing cars for long time.

Febi actually can visit you if you like in case of problems.
For Febi radiator hoses I have emailed Febi long time ago.
A Febi technical guy came to my house to investigate.
After his visit I got my money back from Febi and new designed hoses ( after a while).

And I always buy from Autodoc or Misterauto!
If you don't believe here a example.......from Autodoc Febi 31966 (germany) and 24617 (china).
Or Vemo ( vaico) V20-79-0001-1 (china) and V20-79-0001( germany).
For Vemo it is easier to recognize: -1 after partnumber always mean made in China.
Take you conclusion now......

Febi China.
Febi..

Germany.

 

@BMW325TI Out of curiosity, what makes you think one is made in China and another in Germany? I cannot see any origin of production markings on any of the Febi Bilstein packaging. Febi Bilstein is a distributor. It could easily be that both are manufacturered in China or some place else. I have received same part from a different brand and one was produced somewhere in Europe and other in Taiwan. Exactly same quality, except Taiwanese origin part had original OG locking nuts while European origin one used more modern nylon insert locking nuts.

I am not familiar with any of those parts stores, so cannot comment on that. Why I suggested user error is because I have seen people install Febi Bilstein parts, make videos about it, call part sh!t, but if you look closely can see from video that they did not install it properly and gasket/o-ring was not seated properly and was crushed.

If I had access to parts or funding, I would honestly investigate each manufacturer

 

Because I have bought both, one says made in China and other in Germany.
Anyway nevermind, if you are saying not recognizing autodoc or misterauto........well autodoc is now one of the biggest supplier.
Many good small suppliers went out of business due of autodoc....

 

I get my parts from a local online store, which always has pretty fast delivery times and best prices. I looked up autodoc and they even have webpage for Estonia as well, but the prices are unreasonable and I would only order from there if I wanted to burn money. Think even BMW dealer has parts cheaper, lol. Sachs 556 855 - AutoDoc: 140.43 euros with a 27% discount, shop I bought from: 77.73 euros regular price. Sachs 556 856 - AutoDoc 140.43 with discount, shop I got from: 58.91 euros. BMW original from same shop: 192.32 euros. BMW original from local stealership: 310.34 euros. There is absolutely no reason why I should purchase anything from these "big" retailers when their prices are not competitive at all. I want to pay for the part, not the extra markup for some corporation's profit margin. I believe majority of local automotive parts market is now in the hands of this online shop and just recently they expanded to OE market.

I have full respect to the dudes and dudettes behind this company for not pushing prices up for ridiculous profit margins and instead dominate in quantity of orders.

I haven't seen a single Febi Bilstein packaging list manufacturing origin, hence I am still bit sceptical of that. I also did some googling and cannot find any "made in..." markings for the part you mentioned.

 

Well, to answer my own question years later. Just buy a MANN filter. The cheaper ones often aren't the right size and their gaskets are made out of cheap rubber. You'll end up getting oil leaks like I did around my oil filter cap's gasket and then you'll have to waste a whole bunch of time cleaning them up. Are the few bucks you save worth the trouble? Not to me. 🤷‍♂️

 

Always say it "you get what you pay for" in most cases that is.

 

Good morning everyone
I have an e36 328i m52b28
I need to change the clutch kit and one of the options I have available is febi bilstein
Has anyone had any experience with that brand in clutches?

 

I think people get too hung up about where stuff is made. It's either good quality or it isn't, it could be made in China or Austria, that isn't so important.

 

Yes febi BILSTEN are superior high quality many German car manufacturers parts are made by BILSTEN just in a bmw vw Audi box but there made for these companies by BILSTEN also Bosch are excellent and ATE brakes very hi quality