Lemfoerder, Febi, Meyle? Who's best?
 

I'm about to order a bunch of suspension bushings, motor mounts, trans mounts, tie-rods, balljoints, etc., and I've noticed that there's often 2 or more manufacturers supplying the same part (Lemfoerder, Febi-Bilstein, Meyle, Corteco/Freudenberg, Sachs-Boge, Moog, TRW and others). The prices can sometimes be very close or significantly different. Is there a general consensus as to who makes the best rubber and suspension/steering parts in terms of quality and longevity? I don't mind paying a bit more if I know I'm getting the closest thing to MB original equipment without having to pay dealer prices. If anyone would like to list their picks in categories such as rubber parts, suspension/steering parts (balljoints, tie-rods, etc.), shock absorbers, etc., and why you feel their parts are superior I'd appreciate it.

Conversely, if you feel one or more manufacturer's parts stand out as being particularly sub-par, along with your reasons why (especially personal experience) I'd like to hear that also.

Thanks,

Gary

If you go with OE Mercedes parts, you can't go wrong. Beware the OEM label, though, cause many parts mfg supply a cheaper version for the aftermarket due to cost competition. I'm partial to Lemfoerder ;)

It seems the only way to get OE Mercedes is from the dealer, as it has to have the star imprint on it, and I really can't afford to pay those kinds of prices for the amount of stuff I need to buy. From what I've seen, Lemfoerder seems to be one of the better brands to go with, but I'd just like to hear other opinions as mine is based on very little experience at this point.

Gary

Lemforder makes MB's stuff last I heard. My Lemforder tie rods were identical to my orignal MB ones, I couldn't find a difference. But all brands you listed make good stuff. You really can't go wrong.

Lemforder is a manufacturer, febi and Meyle are reboxers. Lemforder is often a OE source, but not necessarily. We only use MB or Lemforder for anything with rubber in it on suspensions.

I can say this about the TRW lower balljoints: After 3 years, the rubber boots have deteriorated to the point of being useless. I have put about 40k miles on in those 3 years. The originals lasted more than 4x as long.

Great, thenks. This is the kind of information I was looking for.

stevebfl,

What do you mean by "reboxers"? Do you mean that they just put their name on parts made by another manufacturer? If so, who actually makes the parts that their name goes on? Are they generally made to a lower quality standard.

Gary

The problem with reboxers is that one never knows what is in the box. It could be different this week from last. You never know but one can guess with experience. One could say MB is the ultimate reboxer. They have too much to lose to buy a variety of quality.

From what I have seen Carquest is the best of the parts store reboxers. Then if you want to be real sure you are buying cr*p, buy from a reboxer that calls himself something like OE Auto part. One can also usually pick the junk by looking for lifetime warrantees.