Hi I have a question for you long time mechanics & shop owners. What is your experience with installing aftermarket vs OEM parts? Is the quality as good (or good enough)? Case in point: I'm looking at a fan clutch for my '97 S420. The OEM Sachs clutch is $500, one I found on eBay is $250, and another one I found is $80. I'm a firm believer in "You get what you pay for," so I can't believe they are comparable in quality. So what is your experience?

I bought one of those $14 replacement antenna masts off eBay and the thing turned out to be complete crap. It fell apart the first time I used it and I'm currently going through the RMA process with the seller, so I'm hesitant to go with another aftermarket part, but the prospect of being able to save $250 over the price of the OEM part is a pretty strong incentive for me.

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"It's not about how fast you can go, but how well you can go fast."

Bob in Richmond

'97 S320 (LWB), Ruby Red Metallic, 73k miles
'97 S420V, Smoke Silver Metallic, 155k miles

I bought some aftermarket brake pads and rotors...and gotta say I'm not happy. Grumbling and squeaking constantly. If you can afford it, get the OEM. On something like a clutch, you don't want to end up having to replace it again because the lifespan is half that of the OEM. It's just not worth the time and you may end up spending more in the long run.

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2016 Monsoon Gray Audi Allroad - 21k
2008 Black Mercedes E350 4Matic Sport - 131k
2014 Jeep Wranger Unlimited Sahara - 62k
2003 Gray Mercedes ML350 - 122k

The difference in Quality can be unbelievable!

Most low buck parts like you $80 fan clutch comes from China. They are knock-offs with NO engineering OR quality.

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MERCEDES Benz Master Guild Technician (6 TIMES)
ASE Master Technician
Mercedes Benz Star Technician (2 times)
44 years foreign automotive repair
27 Years M.B. Shop foreman (dealer)
MB technical information Specialist (15 years)
190E 2.3 16V ITS SCCA race car (sold)
1986 190E 2.3 16V 2.5 (sold)
Retired Moderator

Funny thing, my 560SEL needs a fan clutch and I looked on fleabay. The new one's were within $30.00 of World Pac and I doubt they are made in Germany. They are probably made in China, and there are alot of fake parts being sold.

I can buy that fan clutch for the '97 S420 as a new Sachs made in Germany OE part for around $370. Look around, I'm sure you can find it for the same amount.

I would be skeptical of buy anything like that on fleabay, I have been burned a few times myself.

IME, there is more crap in the aftermarket then quality, useful parts.

As for the fan clutches, given the $$ I've begun swapping cars over to electric fans..cheaper, reliable, and they free up HP

Jonathan

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Jonathan Hodgman
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Enthusiast Service, Restoration & Tuning.
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OE parts are the way to go, the aftermarket even some of the OEM stuff is junk.

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1999 SL500
1969 280SE
2023 Ram 1500
2007 Tiara 3200

These discussions always seem to degenerate to utter confusion over the lack of defined terms. I think most people would say the true "aftermarket" doesn't offer OEM parts - that an aftermarket part is by definition a replica of the OEM part. But again there is no widely accepted definition of aftermarket.

OE=Original equipment. IE the stuff you get from the MB dealer with a MB star and part number stamped on it.

OEM= Original equipment manufacture. The same company that makes the parts for MB, except they don't sell all of them to MB, they sell aome of them to say Worldpac.

Aftermarket= any company that doesn't sell to MB, but makes MB parts.

Makes sense to me.

In my experiance they quality goes down as you get away from OE.

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1999 SL500
1969 280SE
2023 Ram 1500
2007 Tiara 3200

After market parts are basically low quality.........They're like using "Dollar Store" brand oil in your engine...............JUNK!

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Currently Driving
2006 E320 CDI
1999 E300 Turbo Diesl
2002 ML500
1995 E320 Station Wagon


MBs I've owned
1997 E320 Assassinated by Pine Tree
1987 300E Wife Killed Engine
1981 300D Stretch Limo Total Loss
1970 250 Coupe 212,000 mi.
1974 450sel 184,000 mi.
1974 240D 377,000 mi.
1977 300D 204, 000 mi.
1979 280se God Only Knows!
1983 240D 130,000 mi.
1972 220D 280,000 mi.
1983 300SD 244,000 mi.