Defective M3 Control Arms?

[BGR]

I ordered these brand new, but as you can see in the pics they all have nicks/scrapes/pock marks. Almost looks like they were put in a rock tumbler for a while.

I'm most concerned about the pits/pock marks, but I have no idea if it is just superficial and normal and I am fine to install, or if I should send them back. Any insight is helpful. Thanks.

[Greg FEightytwo]

I think they are fine.. They will be under the car and get hit by water and rocks so they wont look pretty for long.

[MightyMouseTech]

Thinking the same. Just a couple dings from shipping. Going to look 100X worse after driving for a year.

[BGR]

I don't really care how they look, I am more concerned if the 1.5mm deep pock mark will compromise strength or anything. I don't know enough about these specific components to know how much load they are under during aggressive driving.

[E82MSport]

Are these genuine BMW parts or the TRW version? Only reason I ask is that even though these are essentially the same parts, (TRW is the manufacturer of the BMW parts but the TRW brand parts have the M logos removed) the TRW parts seem to have minor blemishes in some cases.

I think if you do a little searching you will find many people debating whether or not the TRW parts merely don't meet the quality standards and are resold as non BMW branded parts. This does not mean they are not good parts. Due to the number of aftermarket companies wanting these parts, and thusly a cheaper alternative, TRW continues to produce these parts based on their quality standards, not BMW's. This is my thought...

My personal opinion is there's nothing wrong with the parts you have and it's merely cosmetic. I wouldn't think twice about installing unless you have money to invest in the BMW parts and want that piece of mind. As gs135is stated, they will be in the elements and subject to road debris, water and anything else that gets on them, so they wont look perfect for long.

[BGR]

Originally Posted by E82MSport

Are these genuine BMW parts or the TRW version? Only reason I ask is that even though these are essentially the same parts, (TRW is the manufacturer of the BMW parts but the TRW brand parts have the M logos removed) the TRW parts seem to have minor blemishes in some cases.

I think if you do a little searching you will find many people debating whether or not the TRW parts merely don't meet the quality standards and are resold as non BMW branded parts. This does not mean they are not good parts. Due to the number of aftermarket companies wanting these parts, and thusly a cheaper alternative, TRW continues to produce these parts based on their quality standards, not BMW's. This is my thought...

My personal opinion is there's nothing wrong with the parts you have and it's merely cosmetic. I wouldn't think twice about installing unless you have money to invest in the BMW parts and want that piece of mind. As gs135is stated, they will be in the elements and subject to road debris, water and anything else that gets on them, so they wont look perfect for long.

Interesting you say that. I had read up on the multiple threads about OE vs. TRW and decided to pay the extra $150ish to get OE BMW M3 parts, regardless of if there was a difference (or likely not one). So I'm not sure what is going on now.

(The skeptic would say that TRW has [potentially] stopped grinding the ///M logos off of the rejects and is selling them as OE.)

[Greg FEightytwo]

If you bought them through the dealership, they will exchange them. Anywhere else, you might have to wait for shipping again as well as the possibility of getting them from Germany. I have the Camber link conversion as well with the 1m shocks. There was a small ding like the 2nd picture in one of the camber links and I was mad as hell but that was from shipping. It wont affect the performance of the part. The crack your talking about in picture three looks somewhat normal. That is a bearing not a bushing so its not going to pop out. I believe its compressed in the socket. I hope that helps answer your question. G

[TheSt|G]

Just exchange them, OE parts have a 2 years defect warranty.