Lizard944

Hi folks, I recently bought some parts from a dealership. I normally drive there to pick up the parts in person, but had mail ordered them this time.
One belt idler pully has "Taiwan" printed on it, but came in an official Porsche bag labeled "made in Germany." Another tensioner has no identifying markings on it . These look/feel like quality parts, but is Porsche now dealing in what appears to be aftermarket parts for our older model cars, or am I being ripped off ?

MyBlackCar

It is hard to tell nowadays. It could be the origin of assembly vs origin of parts. My rear trailing arm bushings for my 318is was from a German company with a made in China stamp and I bought it from BMW of SF.

bjzorn

Alot of companies out source parts. Holley rebuilds Edelbrock Carburtors. so if someone buys an Edelbrock carb. Holley rebuilt it. Funny huh

tifosiman

Did you actually think Porsche (or any other major auto manufacturer) makes every part for their cars in-house?

MAGK944

Parts for Porsche come from all over the world. Just check your fan blower motor on the 944. You will find a stamp on the top 'Nippondenso Made in Japan'. Bosch produce a lot of Porsche parts in their factories in Brazil. Leather is mainly from Italy and I am sure that most of the plastic trim is produced in China or Korea.

schwank

Don't worry... the new Nissan GT-R actually has some American parts in it!

Oh the humanity!

Voith

alot of leather for mercedes bmw audi and porsche comes from slovenia.

a/c compressor is allso from japan -denso.

Tom R.

you mean they dont?

S2cab

Aren't the front & rear suspension bushings a high rate of failure part on newer BMW's? I wonder if being made in China has anything to do with that?

Lizard944

I guess I wasn't very clear in my description. Yes, I'm aware that Porsche doesn't manufacture everything under one roof. One of the parts in question was an idler pully. The one I pulled off had "Germany" stamped on it. The one I bought from the dealership said "Taiwan" even though it was in a bag which said "made in Germany." This bag had been opened and restapled shut.
I'm pretty sure that Taiwan was not the OE or OEM for this part. I felt this part was important enough (timing belt accessory) that I should get OE, but this appears to be a generic aftermarket part that other sources are selling for considerably cheaper than the dealership.

--Lizard

MyBlackCar

It is just vibration prone. It is the tradeoff of a comfortable ride vs rigid suspension. That is why the BMW guys install shims to limit the side to side movement and upgrade to M3 solid bushings.