Meyle, Febi Bilstein, HT Control Arms - Best? Worst?
01-16-2023, 10:50 PM
#1
RL Community Team
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Meyle, Febi Bilstein, HT Control Arms - Best? Worst?
2009 C2S 186K miles
So.... I am having trouble finding information on the aftermarket control arm brands. Both Meyle and Febi Bilstein are made in Taiwan per FCP Euro website. Yep.. Taiwan... What happened to Germany? I can't find any reliable information on HT but some say their stuff is made in China and therefore not for me. I found a few other oddball brands and they are made in Taiwan too. Cripes.
What gives?
Peace
Bruce in Philly (now Atlanta)
So.... I am having trouble finding information on the aftermarket control arm brands. Both Meyle and Febi Bilstein are made in Taiwan per FCP Euro website. Yep.. Taiwan... What happened to Germany? I can't find any reliable information on HT but some say their stuff is made in China and therefore not for me. I found a few other oddball brands and they are made in Taiwan too. Cripes.
What gives?
Peace
Bruce in Philly (now Atlanta)
01-18-2023, 12:20 PM
#2
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Update:
I contacted FCPEuro and asked them why no OEM arms and when/if they will be getting OEM stuff. Their reply was simply that what they sell is all they can get through their supply chains and no estimate if or when they will get OEM stuff.
This is really bizarre. In 22 years of buying alternate OEM stuff, I never saw this happen... especially with something like a simple, common, disposable control arm. There are other vendors such as PartsGeek et al selling other brands but none I came across claim to be OEM.... bizarre.
Meyle appears to be the brand sold most by "reputable" Porsche shops, but it is definitely not OEM.
Peace
Bruce in Philly (now Atlanta)
I contacted FCPEuro and asked them why no OEM arms and when/if they will be getting OEM stuff. Their reply was simply that what they sell is all they can get through their supply chains and no estimate if or when they will get OEM stuff.
This is really bizarre. In 22 years of buying alternate OEM stuff, I never saw this happen... especially with something like a simple, common, disposable control arm. There are other vendors such as PartsGeek et al selling other brands but none I came across claim to be OEM.... bizarre.
Meyle appears to be the brand sold most by "reputable" Porsche shops, but it is definitely not OEM.
Peace
Bruce in Philly (now Atlanta)
Last edited by Bruce In Philly; 01-18-2023 at 12:26 PM.
01-18-2023, 03:47 PM
#3
This is a guess.
But if you have taken apart 997/987 and another German car (e.g., BMW, VW/Audi), you would have seen that in a Porsche there are a lot more parts that were made by relatively 'unknown' contractors (opposed to the likes of Continental/Valeo/Bosch, etc. that you would find in more mainstream car). My guess - Porsche in relation to their sportscars, are not big enough customer for 'big' players.
Likely similar applies to the suspension components. Whereas for BMW/VW/Audi, OEM parts are made by the likes of TRW and Lemforder, Porsche likely contracts smaller vendors, who either (1) are contractually prohibited from selling Porsche parts under their own name (practice used by certain Italian manufacturer); or (2) do not have have economies of scale/distribution network to enter into aftermarket world.
The result of this - non-existance/limited existance of OEM suspension parts (without PAG badging).
But if you have taken apart 997/987 and another German car (e.g., BMW, VW/Audi), you would have seen that in a Porsche there are a lot more parts that were made by relatively 'unknown' contractors (opposed to the likes of Continental/Valeo/Bosch, etc. that you would find in more mainstream car). My guess - Porsche in relation to their sportscars, are not big enough customer for 'big' players.
Likely similar applies to the suspension components. Whereas for BMW/VW/Audi, OEM parts are made by the likes of TRW and Lemforder, Porsche likely contracts smaller vendors, who either (1) are contractually prohibited from selling Porsche parts under their own name (practice used by certain Italian manufacturer); or (2) do not have have economies of scale/distribution network to enter into aftermarket world.
The result of this - non-existance/limited existance of OEM suspension parts (without PAG badging).
Last edited by Gmuend; 01-18-2023 at 03:48 PM.