eBay parts: whats good, whats acceptable, and what to avoid

Link those matt. I want some.

+1 ^

Keep in mind you do still need to make or buy brackets.



http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/2-New...item1c1fcc304c

Those seats look nice. Were you able to retrofit the oem brackets?

No I built my own. Was a total pita though to get fitment perfect, but it saved me hundreds compared to VAC mounts.

Sent from my ADR6400L using Bimmer

My question is how well those seats (or any other aftermarket seat for that matter) would hold up during a rear-end collision. I assume these have not been tested, and I wonder what kind of testing some of the bigger companies (Sparco, Recaro, etc.) perform.

Originally Posted by FenderBender

No I built my own. Was a total pita though to get fitment perfect, but it saved me hundreds compared to VAC mounts.

Sent from my ADR6400L using Bimmer

Good to know. Thanks!

Great thread op. My wishlist is growing nicely.

Originally Posted by ZeGerman

My question is how well those seats (or any other aftermarket seat for that matter) would hold up during a rear-end collision. I assume these have not been tested, and I wonder what kind of testing some of the bigger companies (Sparco, Recaro, etc.) perform.

I bet most aftermarket reclining seats would break or bend. Luckily if mine did, they would fall against the harness bar and not move.

Reminds me of this guy:



His seat broke and reclined when he launched.

Lolol!!!!!!!

Lookie at this gem of the past, and my yucky old posts

Updating with a long term review of ebay control arms. I got em for 100ish shipped. Fit was OEM, though I'd recommend control arm bushings at the same time. Been about 8k miles now, and I have no complaints. Granted the car is no longer on DD duties, but when it gets driven, usually its hard. So it makes up for it. Link is here, same seller and all.

If I was in the same situation financially as I was when I bought them, I would buy again. I only say that because I know there are better out there, and now with some real income I'm not afraid to spend money on this stuff. Overall though, these are not bad by any stretch

Hey might as well chip in.
I have bought:

Ebay aluminum radiator (Fantastic, better then OEM)
Ebay silicone radiator hoses (Fantastic)
Ebay control arms (QC is rough, holding up good though)
Ebay sway bar links (same as control arms)
Ebay intake (ehhhhh pretty awful. Only thing left of it is a cut section of the aluminum tubing, and the awful filter for now. A heat shroud was custom made.)
Ebay shift knob (Awesome)
Ebay door clips, window clips, and external trim clips (eh whatever)
Ebay 12mm wheel spacers and lugs (Fantastic)
Ebay electric fans (Pretty good)

About 10k so far on these ebay china parts.

Honestly almost everything I buy on ebay is an actual respectable companies products being sold there. Like my Meyle tie rod ends or my VDO fuel pump or my new BMW OEM steering rack.

Originally Posted by ZeGerman

+1 for fog lights being good. I've had OEM, DDM, and eBay fog lights. Pretty much no detectable difference in quality between any of them.

I concur. Purchased a set from ebay seller "imotorsport" on Monday. Arrived today and are very nice. Snapped into place perfectly and look and work great. Came with H1 bulbs for $32.99 and free shipping. The lenses are not glass like OEM but appear pretty robust. We will see how they hold up but for that price and the speed of shipping I see nothing to complain about.

Not glass? Hmmm... All the aftermarket fogs I've had came with glass lenses. Oh well. If yours look the same as glass, it doesn't matter. It's not like the glass fogs are chip/crack resistant, anyway.

When intsalling my fogs I pushed the tab to release them cause I was going yellow but wanted a test fit, I didn't have my hand to catch the fog light as it fell face first on the ground.

Cracked it and I refuse to replace it just because.

I don't think they are glass. Seemed like more of a hard acrylic type plastic to me. I don't quite know how to tell for sure without smacking with them with something...which might defeat the whole purpose in buying them in the first place.

My OEM DS light was cracked to the point a chunk was about to fall out so it was time.

I always get confused when you guys do this. Ebay is not a brand, yet you use it like it is a brand. Hell, it's not even a seller. You might as well say you got "flea market radiator". There's no consistency in any of those products, unless you supply a seller's name. Even then, they may change their source and poof goes your consistency.

/rant

I think the "brand name" ebay is just used to represent the cheapest version of a product on ebay. They're usually all made in the same place, even if it's under different seller names, titles, etc. Sure it can change, but most of the time it stays the same.

Originally Posted by petriej

I always get confused when you guys do this. Ebay is not a brand, yet you use it like it is a brand. Hell, it's not even a seller. You might as well say you got "flea market radiator". There's no consistency in any of those products, unless you supply a seller's name. Even then, they may change their source and poof goes your consistency.

/rant

Few things about your rant...
-notice how the op says link the item if possible. That pretty much says it all about the item
-a lot of things on eBay (intake pipes, CAI, etc.) are generically made and I'm pretty sure they all come out of the same 2 factories.
-searching purposes. All I had to do to find this thread was search 'eBay parts'. N00bz has no excuse

It's surely not foolproof, but it's nice to have input from people who use the cheaper parts