[AUDELA]

What's the general consensus on buying new OEM parts on EBay?

My 325i is throwing the NOX sensor codes and in doing some research came across a couple of U.K. sellers on EBay with "Original BMW" sensors for nearly £200 less than the price quoted by BMW.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Original-...-/163373471610

This one has 9 positive reviews and appears to have sold 95 of them. I messaged one of the people who left review and he said it worked perfectly, cleared his codes and he would recommend.

Curious if anyone else has experience buying OEM from EBay?

Does make you wonder how they can sell them so cheaply.

[ppointer]

I have purchased plenty of OEM parts from eBay. FCP works really well, too, especially for consumables. BTW, the only unsatisfactory transaction I ever had was here, where I paid for something but never received it (and a shipping confirmation was also never provided). Looking at you @Blueeyesredpanda

[AUDELA]

Originally Posted by ppointer

I have purchased plenty of OEM parts from eBay. FCP works really well, too, especially for consumables. BTW, the only unsatisfactory transaction I ever had was here, where I paid for something but never received it (and a shipping confirmation was also never provided). Looking at you @Blueeyesredpanda

Thanks for the reply. And sorry to hear about the bad experience you had here.

Out of curiosity do you generally forego any warranty in the case of purchasing off of eBay? Is that the risk in exchange for lower price?

[E92William]

I say unless it's being sold by a reputable parts company or warehouse, assume that you're buying a Chinese part that says it's OEM or whatever brand it is. I bought control arms with bushings that were supposedly Dorman and the bushings were as soft as jello after 3 months, definitely a fake. When you look up parts there you can see many of them are labeled as a specific brand, it's just what the knuckle head drop shipping it thinks it will sell best as, it's all China shit.

Is there a chance the parts could be legit, sure. But probably aren't

[ppointer]

Originally Posted by E92William

I say unless it's being sold by a reputable parts company or warehouse, assume that you're buying a Chinese part that says it's OEM or whatever brand it is. I bought control arms with bushings that were supposedly Dorman and the bushings were as soft as jello after 3 months, definitely a fake. When you look up parts there you can see many of them are labeled as a specific brand, it's just what the knuckle head drop shipping it thinks it will sell best as, it's all China shit.

Is there a chance the parts could be legit, sure. But probably aren't

+1 on this. I look very closely at eBay feedback as well as origination of the part. One example -- I needed a new speaker cover for my Z3M convertible. The plastic on the original had deteriorated and the tabs fell off. I set up a search, and three months later somebody had one. It wasn't new, but OEM and I bought it. Very happy in that case.

[AUDELA]

Originally Posted by ppointer

+1 on this. I look very closely at eBay feedback as well as origination of the part. One example -- I needed a new speaker cover for my Z3M convertible. The plastic on the original had deteriorated and the tabs fell off. I set up a search, and three months later somebody had one. It wasn't new, but OEM and I bought it. Very happy in that case.

I would tend to agree. This product has only 5 star reviews as does the seller who is based here in London. It also shows he's sold 95 of them thus far. That's why I was somewhat hoping someone might respond who had bought one.

I did contact one of the recent people who reviewed and he had positive things to say. Part worked perfectly fine for him. Time will tell joe long it last of course.

In the photo I can also make out that the probe says NGK. Although I'm sure there are probably Chinese parts that say NGK as well.

In any case, thanks for the input.

[E92William]

Yeah I mean the good thing about really cheap parts is that as long as it's easy to change. If it doesn't work you only lost a few bucks and labor but if does you did really well lol

[Vivek.]

Originally Posted by AUDELA

I would tend to agree. This product has only 5 star reviews as does the seller who is based here in London. It also shows he's sold 95 of them thus far. That's why I was somewhat hoping someone might respond who had bought one.

I did contact one of the recent people who reviewed and he had positive things to say. Part worked perfectly fine for him. Time will tell joe long it last of course.

In the photo I can also make out that the probe says NGK. Although I'm sure there are probably Chinese parts that say NGK as well.

In any case, thanks for the input.

This is clearly marked as BMW branded but I think it's odd that the label says Continental and the probe says NGK. I'd wanna scan that QR code and see what it pulls up. Looks good that the location says London and not some place in east Asia.

As long as you pay with PayPal they've got your back if the seller sends some Chinese junk that was promised to be Genuine BMW. You'd have to be confident that's its a knockoff, though (not necessarily for PayPal's sake, but just to make sure you're doing the right thing). Maybe buy one from the dealer to compare and return it after a visual inspection.

[Tambohamilton]

Make sure you've got the difference between OE (Original Equipment; the exact same part(s) that were used when the car was built, manufactured by a company specifically for BMW) vs OEM (a manufacturer who has made OE parts for a vehicle company; not necessarily for BMW).

[AUDELA]

Originally Posted by Vivek.

This is clearly marked as BMW branded but I think it's odd that the label says Continental and the probe says NGK. I'd wanna scan that QR code and see what it pulls up. Looks good that the location says London and not some place in east Asia.

As long as you pay with PayPal they've got your back if the seller sends some Chinese junk that was promised to be Genuine BMW. You'd have to be confident that's its a knockoff, though (not necessarily for PayPal's sake, but just to make sure you're doing the right thing). Maybe buy one from the dealer to compare and return it after a visual inspection.

I'm pretty certain Continental makes the sensor whereas NGK makes the probe.

However I think you're right. A close visual inspection might be the only way to compare.

In fact looking closely at the photos, you can see that the fonts and spacing don't match entirely. Probably a tell-tale giveaway that it's not original.

Besides I've searched far and wide. The originals are always about the same price. The only way to make any real savings seems to buy from Latvia or Lithuania, as you basically find the part for same price minus the VAT. So about a 20 percent savings.

Photos below to compare.