Spot the quality car manufacturer.

Orionaut

Orionaut

Orionaut

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2 Aug 2012
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Just a bit of praise singing really.

I have a 1994 E36 Compact, which is a very nice car and despite "Only" being the 1.9 16v auto, the performance is more than adequate.

The thing is, she is getting a bit old and, as ever with an older car, the worry is that spare parts might be getting thin on the ground.

However, they are not.

Pretty much everything I could possibly want short of complete body shells is still available from BMW.

Typically on an overnight order if not actually the same day.

Considering this is a 25 year old car, this is nothing short of astonishing!

12/10 BMW!

Really.

:cool:
 

sovietspybob

sovietspybob

sovietspybob

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25 May 2008
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i can get pretty much any component down to the nuts and bolts for my 1996 Subaru Impreza too, i think that's fairly common nowadays.

Even more so goes for my classic mini, as said i could even get a replacement shell for that if i wanted!

I think the days of worrying about that kind of thing can be confined to the past unless you drive something really rare and unusual.
 

Clarkey

Clarkey

Clarkey

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18 Oct 2002
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From memory of owning an E36, the genuine parts were quite reasonably priced, compared to Japanese brand parts anyway. Having said that, the Japanese ones don't break on a regular basis like the BMW ones, so probably you just get what you pay for.
 

Nasher

Nasher

Nasher

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Import taxes don't help with Japanese parts. But yep they usually are expensive, but you know it's going to last.

Japanese aftermarket parts are also very expensive :(
 
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Scania

Scania

Scania

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25 Nov 2004
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25,830
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On the road....
I’ve been in discussion about the broken rear shock absorber & spring (again!) on my e38 with a very helpful guy at a local BMW dealer, they can get the springs with no problem (I know this because it broke back in October last year and was replaced once it arrived from Germany) but the shock absorber is a different matter, nearside one is in stock with 7 day delivery, off side (which is the leaking one) no stock showing full stop, the problem being it’s an obscure option, self levelling rear suspension but without electronic damper control (EDC) the EDC variant is freely available in the U.K. (at a price) but the non EDC is rarer than rocking horse poo it appears in either the U.K. or direct from BMW, the problem being so few cars had this option fitted and the two systems are not interchangeable.

So yes, BMW are excellent at older spares so long as the part in question isn’t for some obscure rarely ordered option on a model that went out of production 18 years ago....
 

Eliot

Eliot

Eliot

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29 Mar 2005
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5,792
I have a 306 gti-6, Peugeot have basically killed them off now via parts availability,
Exhausts? Nope
Power steering racks? Nope
Engine heat shields? Nope

The list goes on, basically impossible to repair now and theres like 300 left.
 
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