Where's good for buying parts?

[Watchthis]

I'm finding Autodoc to be extortionate lately much like ECP. What's the other options out there that are reasonable? It's service parts for BMW if a particular site caters for those

[andrebar]

Have you tried your local BMW dealership? Sometimes (certainly not always) I’ve been pleasantly surprised at how reasonable their service parts pricing can be.

[Moodyman1]

They’re all expensive at the moment due to supply chain issues and inflation.

EBay can be good for odd bits if it’s an older car. You might find sellers wanting to rid of old stock.

[Watchthis]

As it happens, I just bought a set of front two-piece discs from the dealer because they were around £10 more expensive than auto doc. But usually I find the dealer to be way off

[Haltamer]

Ebay:- Bear with me on this,
Many smaller retailers of excellent quality will have their listings on eBay; If you follow through the descriptions etc. you'll usually find their site directly, sometimes even cheaper etc.

[stevemcs]

BMW are cheaper on discs but stupidly expensive on pads, in fact most manufacturers are the same. We often find buying genuine discs and aftermarket pads the best compromise, except Mercedes, they are cheaper on both.

[Jakg]

Haltamer said:

Ebay:- Bear with me on this,
Many smaller retailers of excellent quality will have their listings on eBay; If you follow through the descriptions etc. you'll usually find their site directly, sometimes even cheaper etc.

I get 80+% of my parts off eBay and is usually always the cheapest.

For core service parts like an oil filter EuroCarParts / GSF are usually cheaper, but for air filters and stuff I usually find eBay's cheaper once you've got the corresponding Mann part number (or whatever) from their catalogue.

[_Hoppers]

Have you tried https://www.c3bmw.co.uk/

Edited by _Hoppers on Thursday 15th September 10:00

[Triumph Man]

_Hoppers said:

Have you tired https://www.c3bmw.co.uk/

I found them very good for my BMWs, and Motormec were good as well. Good quality parts, not too badly priced.

[Krikkit]

Depending what you're after it's worth searching by part maker and their part number, e.g. Febi Bilstein and their internal catalogue number.

Sellers on eBay like partsinmotion etc are also fantastic, and often near autodoc prices (when they're the cheapest around).

[Collectingbrass]

Four steps:

BMW's own ebay store is usually pretty good for spares and ancillaries

If you need to speak to a parts desk speak to Cotswold BMW and if you then buy ask for car club discount - PH counts or it at least used to.

Use ww.realoem.com to find the exact part number you need and search ebay and amazon for that, especially for nuts & bolts etc

Eastern European breakers can be good value but I have seen allegations that some of the sources of the parts may not be above board. One to watch. UK breakers do seem to be legit, if you avoid Bradford, Keighley and Birmingham postcodes.

[Mr_Megalomaniac]

I've had good responses and delivery from EuroCarParts, eBay, OnlineCarParts when needed