[Sayek]

Looking to refresh the front suspension.

Lemforder seems to be the desirable brand. But I have found TRW band that is 50% cheaper.

Anyone have experience fitting TRW control arms on their E9x
Is the Lemforder brand worth paying the premium over TRW.

I am not looking to upgrade to M3 control arm but just retain OEM confort..i have seen this a suggestion of upgrade

Appreciate any feedback

[RajB]

I'd go with TRW. They make the M3 ones and tbh are excellent quality.

[tadaska]

I'd go with M3 purely for better bushes, you won't notice any difference.

[Sayek]

Originally Posted by RajB

I'd go with TRW. They make the M3 ones and tbh are excellent quality.

Thanks Raj.
I saw your build thread using M3 control arms.
Does the quality on the TWR look similar quality of Lemforder.

Found TWR thrust arm £32 but lemforder £60+ which confused me a bit.

[Sayek]

Originally Posted by tadaska

I'd go with M3 purely for better bushes, you won't notice any difference.

Yeah i hear you the bushes on the M3 arms look solid rubber.
I drive in town and the roads not great. Just replaced 4 shocks and mounts on the E92 SE... and the bumps on a SE suspension is now amplified. Felt softer on the worn out shocks.

[Tambohamilton]

I've only seen TRW OE arms, never Lemforder, so I'd go TRW by preference anyhow. Mind sharing where you're getting the TRW arms so cheap please?

[RajB]

Originally Posted by Sayek

Thanks Raj.
I saw your build thread using M3 control arms.
Does the quality on the TWR look similar quality of Lemforder.

Found TWR thrust arm £32 but lemforder £60+ which confused me a bit.

TRW make the original equipment arms so they are superb quality. Personally I’d stick with TRW over Lemforder.
I’ve actually found TRWs quality to be better than Lemforders.

[Sayek]

Originally Posted by Tambohamilton

I've only seen TRW OE arms, never Lemforder, so I'd go TRW by preference anyhow. Mind sharing where you're getting the TRW arms so cheap please?

From Autodoc.
They had a 25% discount 3 days but that now gone down to 17%.
I am sure the 25% will return soon.
Also if you use the mobile app its extra 2% discount

https://www.autodoc.co.uk/trw/2201596
https://www.autodoc.co.uk/trw/2201597

https://www.autodoc.co.uk/trw/2201598
https://www.autodoc.co.uk/trw/2201599

[Sayek]

Originally Posted by RajB

TRW make the original equipment arms so they are superb quality. Personally I’d stick with TRW over Lemforder.
I’ve actually found TRWs quality to be better than Lemforders.

Cool that's reassuring

[MrSweet1991]

Originally Posted by Sayek

From Autodoc.
They had a 25% discount 3 days but that now gone down to 17%.
I am sure the 25% will return soon.
Also if you use the mobile app its extra 2% discount

https://www.autodoc.co.uk/trw/2201596
https://www.autodoc.co.uk/trw/2201597

https://www.autodoc.co.uk/trw/2201598
https://www.autodoc.co.uk/trw/2201599

Be careful with autodoc, they appear to be the same company as webuycarparts registering a few .co.uk domains and not actually residing in the UK. They're quite literally a middleman, you place an order with them, they place an order with their supplier and you can end up waiting forever.. I ordered my Eibach springs and decided to cancel as they used the same tactics as I've read online.. I spoke to someone who said 2 to 3 days for my springs, done an online chat 3/4 days later to be told that the representative was correct but that was for "simple" items but with mine being genuine it would take longer.. thing is though the previous representative confirmed the item before giving the timescales, not much point thinking into it, that's just what they do.



Thing is, they do offer some brilliant prices, they're just hopeless if you need them anytime soon, some people get them in a few days, some wait weeks and are sent different brands due to stock availability etc etc

[Sayek]

Yeah they are based in Germany and reviews says typically 1 week to delivery which is fine by me.

Autodoc website looks very similar to buycarparts.co.uk they must have more than 1 website trying to sell.

I intent to pay via Iaypal. I find Paypal are very good to recover money if order not correct.

[rasa bmw]

there ate are a few the same sister companies,,autodoc/buycarparts/mister auto etc etc,,and about the discount,,they adjust the prices to reflect the discount,,,so same price all the time,,if its 23% discount the price will of gone up for the base product..when 17% discount the price drops for base product,,same tactics from ikes of ecp/carparts for less etc etc ,,may fluctuate a few pence difference but 99% the same

[Tambohamilton]

Bummer. I hate that group of websites, and refuse to buy from them any more unless I have to. They're fine if it all goes fine (so long as the week - 10days wait is OK), but if you have any problems you can expect them to laugh and walk away. I hope your experience will be better than mine!

Oh, and always check all of their sites - sometimes one is cheaper than the rest.

[Sayek]

Originally Posted by rasa bmw

there ate are a few the same sister companies,,autodoc/buycarparts/mister auto etc etc,,and about the discount,,they adjust the prices to reflect the discount,,,so same price all the time,,if its 23% discount the price will of gone up for the base product..when 17% discount the price drops for base product,,same tactics from ikes of ecp/carparts for less etc etc ,,may fluctuate a few pence difference but 99% the same

Had my eye on a set of front upper + lower control arms and sway bar link.

When the discount was 27% on the app the Lemforder set was about £249 and TRW £149.

I was unsure which brand and waited for feedback on forum.

The daily discount has been changing and also noticed the full price changes a bit too.

But the basket value does change with the discount.. just waiting for TRW set to go close to £150 before i place the order.. at the moment basket at £158

OMG ECP prices inflate like a balloon.. I normally use the sister company CPL and lot cheaper

[Sayek]

Originally Posted by Tambohamilton

Bummer. I hate that group of websites, and refuse to buy from them any more unless I have to. They're fine if it all goes fine (so long as the week - 10days wait is OK), but if you have any problems you can expect them to laugh and walk away. I hope your experience will be better than mine!

Oh, and always check all of their sites - sometimes one is cheaper than the rest.

Always use paypal for payment.

I bought tire from German company before. Was supposed be Pirelli P7 as I already had 1 and needed a matching pair. But they sent Pirelli Cinturato instead.
As expected no reply to email so i went via paypal and proposed 50% refund. As they did not reply within the paypal deadline, paypal gave the refund

But its an experience we could do without and just receive what we ordered.

[rasa bmw]

Originally Posted by Sayek

Had my eye on a set of front upper + lower control arms and sway bar link.

When the discount was 27% on the app the Lemforder set was about £249 and TRW £149.

I was unsure which brand and waited for feedback on forum.

The daily discount has been changing and also noticed the full price changes a bit too.

But the basket value does change with the discount.. just waiting for TRW set to go close to £150 before i place the order.. at the moment basket at £158

OMG ECP prices inflate like a balloon.. I normally use the sister company CPL and lot cheaper

up,,very rare di o use ecp,,cp4l are cheaper 99% of the time,,and the trw shocks i got for the rear of my 335d looked great quality,,either autodoc or mister auto,,cannot remember

[Sayek]

Just want to thank everyone for their input.

I decided to go with TWR over Lemforder as the TWR was £100 cheaper and positive feedback from you guys.

Paid just over £151 and parts arrived from Autodoc just over 1 week which is very reasonable from Germany.

The quality on these TWR looks decent.
There seems to be a lot of information filed off the arms..I am guessing it was the BMW logo and maybe part number.

Now just need a Sunday morning to fit these

[rasa bmw]

looks exactly the same as when i bought febi

[Sayek]

Fitted these yesterday after reading several DIY guides.

OMG just make sure you don't start without penetrating oil
Also when trying to remove bolt from the smaller control arm, the boot of the tie rod was getting in the way


My observation looks like BMW previously used TWR as OEM but later switched to Lemforder.
Reason i say that is my car was involved in a minor accident about 3 years ago and insurance replaced some parts on the left front suspension.

The front left thrust arm I removed was Lemforder/BMW logo and the condition was like new so my guess the part that was replaced.

The right side thrust was TWR/BMW and as it was original factory the bush was torn(would explain why I get faint clunk sound over bumps).

The smaller control arm TWR/BMW (AKA camber arms or whatever) condition seemed fine and would have easy done few more years.

The sway bay links ball joint had too much free play.

Took for drive and the steering is slightly off so off get wheel alignment.

[rasa bmw]

yeh when i had all my arms fitted,,whell was off centre,,tracking solved it