Upper Strut Bearing question

[AceAndrew]

This makes me glad that I sprung for the OEM BMW strut bearings

Considering the OEM pieces are now made in Turkey that's not much consolation.

I guess I must have lucked out since mine were labeled "Made in Germany". They were the ones with the short 18mm studs. BMW Part#31 33 1 110 195. They had a little BMW logo molded into the rubber. I used them along with the fixed camber plates from you guys (Ireland Engineering). So far, so good. Keeping my fingers crossed that they last...

Nice,

another small note is that the original part number has been superseded by the E21 upper strut bearing (hence the changing part numbers), this change has been implemented from bmw on down to the suppliers.

[Sam_in_VA]

For what it's worth - I just bought a pair from BavAuto (not installed yet), short stud. They are labeled "Myle Made in Germany".

['76mintgrün'02]

Okay, I will chime in on this thread, as I had problems with my bearings as well. I ordered a new pair of Myle bearings and the short studs were too short to accommodate the strut brace from IE. I tried to swap out the pressed in studs from the old set, but the knurled portion of the stud was smaller. Since the original long bolts were longer than I wanted, I purchased new hardened flange bolts from the hardware store that were the desired length. Problem solved? Nope. The heads of the bolts rubbed on the spring caps, especially on the right side. I would up slicing the heads off the bolts (at the flange) to gain clearance and no more rubbing. Upon closer inspection, I noticed that there was more flex in the rubber on the right bearing, as it stuck up higher than the left. This would explain the lack of clearance on the right side as well. I sent a photo to my supplier and received a replacement a day or two later. When I opened the package, the bearing came in a plastic bag with "Myle Germany" printed all over it... and a little white sticker that said "china". German company / Chinese crap! It is hard to know what you are buying these days. Tom

[tjones02]

I'll put it this way. At the shop we avoid Meyle products as much as possible as we've found them to be of inferior quality... Strut mounts especially. We used to be able to get Lemforder (OEM), Boge (also OEM), or Febi strut mounts through the aftermarket but in recent years that has dried up. We are now only using/recommending factory/dealer/OE strut mounts for stock replacements! Yes they cost more but they also last decades longer!

Oh, and on K-Mac adjustable strut mounts... if you feel that you're going to be driving aggressively enough to warrant the available extra negative camber on a regular basis... OR take the car to the track and want to be able to dial in additional camber for the track weekend then by all mans get yourself some adjustable camber plates. The K-Mac's will do just fine.

BUT, if you feel that you put more regular miles on the car than aggressive back road ones and or do not need to change the front camber for track weekends then get a pair of fixed plates.

['76mintgrün'02]

Words of wisdom.

A FAQ topic based on such insights would be helpful. "Crappy Parts and Brands to Avoid".

I have noticed that the new Myle mounts (been in car 6 mos.) have more flex than the old ones I took out. I may spring for the K-Macs in the near future. Live and learn. Thank you for your input.