OEM parts are not all the same. That's why I only buy from sellers who get rid of OEM parts that customers return too much. A manufacturer can claim that their part is OEM, but they're usually referring to fitment and not quality or reliability.

 

Pelican Parts does a good job indicating which brand is OEM for all of their parts. That's usually the first place I look when I don't know who the manufacture is. Usually if you're on a reputable site although they use the phrases OE or OEM it usually points to something specific like OE temperature or w\ OE meaning describing something of OEM quality like donpb stated. Amazon and eBay are good for misleading phrases. That's why when you shop on sites like those you want to go to the manufactures site and purchase.

 

Agreed - I was referring to "real OEM parts" and not "parts that sketchy suppliers claim to be OEM". ;-) And Sean is right about Pelican Parts being good at ID'ing the actual supplier of those OEM parts to BMW. Some are literally so OEM that they have to grind the BMW logo off the casting to sell it as being from the actual manufacturer.

 

Yes I've had a few parts with the BMW logo sanded off. That's when I know for sure I have the right part

 

So slightly more than 6 months and the P0218 code came back. I also have very little heat inside the cabin. I think the BMW T-Stat failed again this time. What a pain in the butt.