[Greyfox]

So at 317k miles, the exhaust solenoid seems to be having some issues once in a while.

So looking at possibly replacing them and was wondering what experience people have had with brands of solenoid. I've seen Piersburg, Dorman, Gates, Febi, Bavarian Autosport, URO, etc.

I'm starting to get seriously leery about ordering anything coming out of the southern California, New Jersey and Indiana. I've been bitten several times now with counterfeit parts out of China being shipped from those areas.

[Jros]

Pierburg are good, used SKV and they where good too.

Some time ago tried some ebay specials for fun, they worked but lasted about a week before throwing errors on startup. They were very lightweight compared to the real stuff.

[minicrazy592]

On parts and sensors that folks like to chalk up to as the "source" of your problems, go OEM.

I just went down that rabbit hole myself on my Vanos solenoids. FCP has OEMs on a firesale for $150. Pierburgs are $130. I spend the extra $40 to be sure.

I've been burned by other brands in the past on other BMW platforms, URO especially.

[Jros]

OEM for 150 is a very good deal, i would buy those. I paid a set of Pierburg (2 pieces) around 140 but i was lucky, they usually are as you said around 130 each. I suspect they could be the oem manufacturer though

[chilledn52]

Pierburg seems to be the OEM through FCP, And OEM for lots of other parts on the vehicle so I would stick with them

[steifan]

I've tried cheapo sketchy Chinese ebay noname-product and OE, cheapo gave codes (but might've been PCV-problems causing it) and OE did not without replacing other components. Paid $58 for the cheap pair and $242 for genuine.

The OE genuine ones does not carry any trace of any brand so it's hard to say if there are any aftermarket OEM stuff for this product (the cheap ones are very similar though but does not carry any branding or former branding). I'd say go genuine OR cheapest possible because what proof is there that the x brand stuff is not just the cheap part in a yellow/red/blue box with added premium.

**
What I mean is that you have genuine stuff and the OE supplier (with ground off BMW-logos) being "best", all other stuff is probably same manufacturer that sell to importers like FebiBilstein/SWAG, Hella, Meyle, Vaico etc etc and why pay the premium for those parts if there isn't any benefit like life-time warranties (perhaps in the US).

**
And the solenoid part is just a metal coil electro magnet that is supposed to open when given a signal, nothing special about it really. I'm bit disappointed in the cheapo solenoids because of that ^^

[steifan]

Originally Posted by chilledn52

Pierburg seems to be the OEM through FCP, And OEM for lots of other parts on the vehicle so I would stick with them

If FCP knew for sure that Pierburg makes the part it would be an OE part. They seem to be OE for the electric water pump so they might be able to produce (or probably just sell.. ) a decent solenoid.


FCPs definitions from https://www.fcpeuro.com/page/oe-academy :

" Original Equipment (OE) Parts: These are the same parts originally supplied to dealerships, except with the dealer logos removed. This is done by manufacturers so the parts can be sold outside the dealer network due to licensing agreements.

Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) Parts: These are produced by a manufacturer that supplies at least one OE part to a vehicle manufacturer. OEM parts may not have been original to the car, but are held to higher-quality standards and stringent quality control.

Genuine Parts: These parts come branded by the vehicle manufacturer and at a premium cost, as they're sold through dealerships with higher overhead expenses. These are the same parts you would find at your local dealership. "

[Brian86]

Vaico vanos solenoids are crap.

I was 0/2 on the pair I got. Both were defective on arrival. Failed to regulate the oil flow/pressure correctly. Cam timing was fluctuating up and down several degrees between 2hz and 0.5hz continuously.