Buyer Beware: Febi Suspension Parts
 

Forum,

I know there was another post by Army to the same effect, but I wanted to add a second warning.

I did a full W123 suspension rebuild using mostly febi parts 40k miles ago on my 85 300D. Where I could, i used febi parts since I thought they were a good brand.

Since then:
- both tie rods boots failed after 10k
- the steering track rod/drag link boots went at 25k
- the idler arm repair kit was no good after 35k and had to be replaced to be able to align the car

- the guide rod mounts are OK, but the metal backing is rusted and Im waiting for those to go

Needless to say I'm less than impressed. If you are going to do a suspension rebuild, I suggest calling Phil and asking for OEM or better yet O.E. parts.

You can either pay more once, or pay twice and do the job twice.

dd

Febi is another company that's gone to CHINA for it's manufacturing...

I think Lemforder or TRUE MB is the best choice...

I've had good luck with moog.

Very disappointed with aftermarket FEBI, MEYLE, and URO parts. Made in China, re-packaged in Germany in a German box and they are junk. I started using original Mercedes Parts through the classic Center in California, utilizing my MB Club of America 15% discount and the original parts are not that more expensive than the aftermarket.
Well worth the extra money, ask for Tom Hanson, the parts manager there. Guide rod mount kits are night and day difference between original and aftermarket parts.

"...or better yet O.E. parts." By O.E. parts, I hope you do not mean the infamous "O.E. Brand" <--- thats the name. Worse than URO!

O.E. should ONLY be original equipment on these cars! be CERTAIN you specify this when ordering parts from ANYONE!

I just did a front end rebuild and found that even the Lemfoerder parts are not made in Germany.

The tie rods, ball joints, and idler arm repair kit said made in Germany, but everything else was Italy or Spain, which I'm fine with. The motor mounts were Turkish. I'm more comfortable with Europe than China, even though I know the Chinese can make great stuff.

For suspension I try to use only Lemfoerder parts. So long as the parts are not made in China or India/Thailand etc....I'm ok with them.

I put URO flex discs on my 560SEL. They failed within 11 months and when they did, they took out the back of the trans and caused the air bags to deploy. It's now a parts car

What kind of warranty comes with these parts???? I'd be mad as hell if that happened to me, and there would be an immediate filing in court, followed by serious discussions to fix the car, or buy it off me for what it was worth before the failure!!!!

lemforder
 

I too am disapointed in Febi, Meyle, etc. parts....very poor quality. I had the same experience as above...tie rod boots failing in less than a year. Febi ball joints failing in 18 months! etc.

I have had good luck depending on Lemforder, but I am worried that they will go the same route...China, Turkey, etc.

When I replaced wheel bearings, I simply could not find ANY for this car made in Germany, or made in USA.

It is a very sad state of affairs in this country that we have allowed so much manufacturing to move overseas. The fact that you cant even find bearings made in USA ..... parts that are so fundamental to all manufacturing equipment, cars, etc.......is very sad.

I was close to buying Federal Mogul brand bearings....an old Michigan manufacturing company. The parts catalogue at my local parts shop showed two "quality levels" for these bearings...economy and high end...the economy level was made in China, so I came close to getting the high end, but we saw a picture of the box for this part in the catalog, and that too was made in China. Very sad.

For the wheel bearings, I bought "Koyo", made in Japan....the Japanese make good stuff. Two and a half years, so far so good.

What goes around, comes around (I hope). Corporate greed and political corruption has resulted in the USA losing much of its manufacturing base. USA taxpayers should not have bailed out Wall Street! And I agree with Occupy Wall Street movement....what they are against is corporate greed and ineffective self serving politicians...I'm on board with that!

I hear that now in China, a lot of their factory floor space is vacant, and they are farming a lot of their manufacturing to other SE Asian countries. I also hear that since their quality and delivery time are very poor, new niches have opened up for resurgence of USA manufacturing....many US companies can deliver high quality parts on time with short notice....price is no longer the sole driver. So buy USA when you can, even is price is a little higher!!!

I would love to see aftermarket parts for my old MBZ made in USA!

Mark

I don't mean to turn this into a political thread.

Chinese firms are very capable of producing high quality parts. I see it in my work all the time.

The USA is very capable of producing awful parts (ahem, big 3). I also see this in my work all the time.

However, it is fair to generally use country of origin as a basis of how the parent company (Febi in this case) views their product and how much they are willing to spend to produce it vs. the sale price and what the market (we the people) demand.

Demand better. As a consumer, I will never buy anything made by Febi again, until they have proven beyond a shadow of a doubt that they are as good as O.E. or Lemfoerder etc.

I was mad as hell but as I had a number of cars already, it was not worth the effort, even though I had all the parts on hand (with the exception of the passenger airbag) to fix it. It just made more sense to me to use it as a parts car as the parts that it will yield for my 560SEC is out way the value of the car and repairs.

I did file with the BBB so it's on record there and this story will cost them a lot more then it has cost me.

I believe that manufacturing in China can be just as good as manufacturing in any other part of the world. Some companies fall into the trap of trying to get the biggest margin and the only way that factories in China can meet the bid is by removing quality assurance. With quality assurance processes are in place, products will be of high quality.

Politically however, I think that outsourcing at the rate that this country is doing so is suicide. American workers are American consumers and it's the consumers that drive demand which create jobs (Not business or the wealthy).

If businesses think that they can continue to increase their bottom line by sending American jobs abroad, they will (or as they have) see demand drop as would be consumers with income are now either unemployed or under employed and can no longer afford to spend.

Just purchased new steering assemblies from Fastline. Was able to get a Lemforder for the center drag link but Febi was the only available mfgr for the tie rod assemblies. Box did say made in Italy. Emailed Phil and referenced this thread and he said, "I have not had much trouble with the Febi steering. They do have a one year warranty as does all our parts." Time will tell but maybe Febi also has multiple suppliers?

Do you want to take the chance?

They may have multiple suppliers. They may not. I know for a fact that I have had this problem (im in the USA), and another member, Army, who lives in the EU has had the same experience. Now 2 is a small sample size...but as I said is it worth rolling the dice to try to save $50?

I just got Lemfoerder tie rods and drag link from phil - they exist.

I dont care where my tie rods/drag link/guide rod mounts/UCAs/LCAs/LBJ's are made. If they rot out after 10k/1yr, I have to replace them and pay big bucks to get the car re-aligned.

And my one soapbox rant that I have ever posted:

Companies are run by people who must adhere to a set of rules: a 'corporation'. They are run by business principles which are set up by rules of law. Don't hate the players, hate the game. And if you dont like the game, we have to change the rules.

The best and only short term way to change how companies do business is to stop buying from companies who produce products you do not like.

I do not like Febi's products for their lack of quality and longevity. I will not buy them. I will advise others to do the same.