Which Center Support Bearing?

[TobyB]

Both Rein and Febi are gambles, but you have decent odds with them.  Sadly, it seems to depend on

the parts themselves, so if one comes through bad, it's likely that they all will.  I don't know how they do their

"supply chain" - what process they use to con 3rd world countries into making the parts for cheaper than they should-

but it isn't consistent:  a Febi guibo for an E46 tends to be good, a Febi E46 CSV isn't going to last.

Rein, too- their rubber parts 'tend' to be excellent, but sometimes, they're not.

 

Why not give BMW $300?  Because you might very well find a Febi part in that stickered baggie.

Whatever 'mobile tradition' turned into, their 'supply chain' hasn't changed.  BMW produces almost

no 2002 parts anymore, they 're- baggie' 3rd party stuff.  Runs a somewhat better chance of not sucking, yah,

but for $300???

 

t

 

[Stevenola]

One made in Germany - getting harder to find.  Worth the extra $ so you don't have to pita replace it a couple months later.

['76mintgrün'02]

9 minutes ago, Stevenola said:

One made in Germany - getting harder to find. 

 

It sure is.  Buying from a German supplier does not mean the parts are made in Germany; as I learned with these strut bearings.

I bought a pair of them and one had much softer rubber that deflected enough that the strut top was higher on that side.  The supplier took it back and sent me another, which was more like the other one.

 

I saved the bearings I took out, because they were still looking good.  I was in a "make it all new" mode at the time.  (I've outgrown that mindset, to some extent). 

 

The bearings I removed have the BMW logo cast into the rubber.  Silly as it may be, seeing that logo does increase my faith in the quality of the product.  That said, I'd be unwilling/unable to drop $300 on a center bearing even if it was marked BMW.

 

My Chinese/German bearings are deflecting after eight years and I am thinking I'll put the old ones back in, the next time I have it apart.

Tom

[Jimmy]

On 8/30/2019 at 12:03 PM, '76mintgrün'02 said:

 

It sure is.  Buying from a German supplier does not mean the parts are made in Germany; as I learned with these strut bearings.

I bought a pair of them and one had much softer rubber that deflected enough that the strut top was higher on that side.  The supplier took it back and sent me another, which was more like the other one.

 

I saved the bearings I took out, because they were still looking good.  I was in a "make it all new" mode at the time.  (I've outgrown that mindset, to some extent). 

 

The bearings I removed have the BMW logo cast into the rubber.  Silly as it may be, seeing that logo does increase my faith in the quality of the product.  That said, I'd be unwilling/unable to drop $300 on a center bearing even if it was marked BMW.

 

My Chinese/German bearings are deflecting after eight years and I am thinking I'll put the old ones back in, the next time I have it apart.

Tom

 

Meyle was clever to call themselves "Meyle Germany" because so many people see that word and hand over their money. 

 

IME everything they make is junk.

[iinca]

Meyle in Chinese> Mai Lee

[Jimmy]

1 hour ago, iinca said:

Meyle in Chinese> Mai Lee

 

Their junk isn't exclusively Chinese. My friend replaced all the stupid split arm 20-balljoint-per-side Audi front suspension bits with Meyle "Original" "Quality" parts made in Turkey, and he had clunks and creaks in three months on a street car.

['76mintgrün'02]

So maybe it is my Meyle-mount ball-bearings making the driver's-side clunky-noise, on small slow bumps.

I cannot find any loose fasteners.

 

I did peek under the plastic bearing cap and it looked okay from above.

Maybe thirsty for grease though.

 

 

[URO Parts Support]

Our Center Support 26 11 1 206 502 contains a quality INA brand-name bearing.  We don't know what bearings others are using, but we feel it's worth spending more to provide a quality bearing, since that's the critical component.