Bilstein vs. Febi Bilstein BMW parts

UnknownSpecies

Hey all, have a question someone here might know the answer to. I'm ordering suspension parts for my e46 320 Ci at the moment and I've seen parts made by a company called Febi Bilstein. Now, I've heard of Bilstein and I know that they have a reputation of selling great quality products, but I'm wondering are Febi Bilstein and Bilstein all part of the same company? I've seen tonnes of forum posts using the brand names interchangeably but after some Googling, they look to be completely different companies and possibly completely different quality products if that's the case.

I ask this because I ordered some Meyle HD rear shock mounts and after a mix up, they've provided me with Febi Bilstein parts, which are more expensive than the Meyle parts (€27 vs €12) but I'm not so sure I should accept this if the part ends up being inferior. Any opinions on this would be great!

Foxhole Norman

They're all part of the Bilstein group as far as I know. They're a direct replacement part whenever I've looked into parts for my own E39. They get good reviews and are well priced.

UnknownSpecies

Foxhole Norman wrote: »

They're all part of the Bilstein group as far as I know. They're a direct replacement part whenever I've looked into parts for my own E39. They get good reviews and are well priced.

Ah right, that's ok then. I fitted the Meyle front control arms and bushes and I like them so far, so I was going to get them for the rear shock mounts too. Was worries these Febi mounts would be inferior.

Foxhole Norman

dorgasm wrote: »

Ah right, that's ok then. I fitted the Meyle front control arms and bushes and I like them so far, so I was going to get them for the rear shock mounts too. Was worries these Febi mounts would be inferior.

I know for E39/46 models people prefer to use Meyle/Lemforder but the Febi ones should be just as good as the Meyle ones tbh.

UnknownSpecies

Foxhole Norman wrote: »

I know for E39/46 models people prefer to use Meyle/Lemforder but the Febi ones should be just as good as the Meyle ones tbh.

I'm not surprised about the love for Meyle after just a small bit of driving on them. The hardened rubber bush is a nice medium between poly and oil filled. I guess I'll play guinea pig on the Febi shock mounts so, not too expensive to replace in any case if I'm not happy with them. Cheers for the input.

Voodoomelon

There was a thread on this before, i think a lot of those in the know rated Febi suspension parts a fair bit lower than Meyle or OEMs like Lemforder.

UnknownSpecies

Voodoomelon wrote: »

There was a thread on this before, i think a lot of those in the know rated Febi suspension parts a fair bit lower than Meyle or OEMs like Lemforder.

That's tough to hear. On the phone they told me they were 'upgrading' me to Bilstein shock mounts and I was happy since I knew them. It wasn't until I checked the micksgarage website that I saw it's Febi Bilstein. I'll give them a go anyway, if they don't stack up I'm going to put Meyles in.

Voodoomelon

If i remember it wasn't a fair bit lower in that the parts are poor quality, just lower than top brands. The few non-suspension Febi parts i've used before in the past have been fine.