Rip offs

[andrewd]

It seems odd to me how companys will charge you 2 or 3 times the worth of the parts because it is for a bmw. I have moded many cars and hand built exausts for instance sti turbo back as good as it gets 1000 to 1500. And hand held tunners at 1/2 the price. They must feel that we are stuped and will pay any price. I am just blown away at some of the prices these companys are asking.

[E86M]

[esqu1re]

Yuuup. And we still buy it. Shrugs.

[ZStig]

you're paying for the extra research and development to develop parts for a very small # of cars. so a bigger portion of the price is the R&D cost.

[nutzkicker617]

cobb accessport was half the price and looked better

[krnnerdboy]

Originally Posted by nutzkicker617

cobb accessport was half the price and looked better

but as stated above the r&d will be paid for by a much smaller market. for every 100 tuned evo/ sti there is 1 bmw

[bhoch]

In reality, the cost of any item will in general be what the market for that item can bear. So, it's not a real surprise that items for our cars, which is a generally smaller market and on a car that, when new is not cheap, that the parts will be expensive for it as well. If the parts are crap, the word gets round they they don't sell.

[ZStig]

also, if you're getting someone else to manufacture something like an intake for you, they're charge you for example:

$300 to produce 50 units

or

$100 to produce 1000 units

and since you can't sell 1000 intakes to 5000 buyers, you have to pay $300 to make them


I can't explain it in simpler terms

[r4gs]

pretty much what's been said - small market, especially the z4m's. i too have looked with envy at the jdm side especially with their 1/2 to 1/3 priced aftermarket mods. in simple terms, u have to pay to play, and we payed more for our cars, so likewise for mods.

[cmark8]

Originally Posted by r4gs

pretty much what's been said - small market, especially the z4m's. i too have looked with envy at the jdm side especially with their 1/2 to 1/3 priced aftermarket mods. in simple terms, u have to pay to play, and we payed more for our cars, so likewise for mods.

[ZStig]

on the plus side, if you modify your z4m, you got some really nice exclusivity, which is worth money to me

[VinnieAces]

Originally Posted by andrewd

They must feel that we are stuped and will pay any price.

...sigh

[mfanatic325]

Which is why I get good quality used stuff whenever I can (whenever some bit of usage won't make a difference in the long run)
It brings the markup prices down and the mods more affordable

After going through 2 cars before the MC, I knew better than to buy stuff retail if I could help it =P

[andrewd]

To a certan point you guys are right. But the engines have been around for a long time, as well as other parts. It seems you can spend 5 or 6 thousand on a compleat exaust. There are small companys building exaust for all kinds of aplactions, some of these prices are beyond 1 off pices. I have a machine shop and have been welding and fab for 30 years, mostly in the motorcycle field. I built chaissis for years lots of tube bending and tig welding. It is a fact that because it is a bmw we are paying more. Ams performance is changing some of that and hopefully they will start building more for bmw, They build exelannt stuff at reasonable prices. They are realy in to the gtr right now. The tunner there is realy good, I should not complain, I just bought my car 06 z4 mr. And I have always loved the m cars. I have another fast car 530 hp awd so I probley wont do much to this one. I just hate being taken advantage of.

[ScottinSSMD]

I'm with you. Everything so far I have done is one off custom. Including doing my own carbon fiber roundel replacements for the wheels and badges. NO one can do a direct replacement so I have gutted and swapped with other part numbers. Same on the exhaust. Custom was by far the cheapest, easiest, best sound I could do over the $1,000-$3,000 systems.

In this niche, we are hobbyists.

[whitejdm]

Originally Posted by andrewd

It seems odd to me how companys will charge you 2 or 3 times the worth of the parts because it is for a bmw. I have moded many cars and hand built exausts for instance sti turbo back as good as it gets 1000 to 1500. And hand held tunners at 1/2 the price. They must feel that we are stuped and will pay any price. I am just blown away at some of the prices these companys are asking.

I have no idea where to begin with all that's wrong with your post. I suppose I should start by telling you that starting a thread called "Rip offs" , and putting it in the PAID sponsor section is tantamount to walking into a retail outlet and yelling like an idiot until the cops come and take you away.

Secondly, I don't know about you but my car retailed for 75 thousand dollars in Canada when new. And guess what, everything about the car follows suit. EVERYTHING is priced at that level, oil costs double, brakes are rediculous, valve adjustments etc...the list goes on. Complaining about the costs of modifying your limited production vehicle is pretty ignorant. I bet you can call any of these "rip off" companies and some can count how many exhausts they sold for a z4m on one hand. Actually you should probably call all the Ferrari, Lamborghini, and Aston owners and let them know they're being taken as well

For me and many others on this forum the only thing that is of true value is our TIME. I'm thankful these companies are developing VERY good products for a car that alot of people don't even know exist.

Wow I didn't think I would write a rant post but there it is.

[andrewd]

If a company builds a part for a gtr or bmw or subaru or vet the only thing that should come into play is how many parts will be sold. unless part quality comes into play. If some one has nothing but money I gess they might not care. You feel because your car cost more you should pay more. I dont feel the same way, alot of the parts on our cars are m3 stuff and have more applactions than just our car. I have direct contact with these issues. I know shops world known that build high hp cars and they talk how they can charge more for certen cars. You also might be suprised how many companys make parts for bmw. zf trans I have buit them for years, dam I saw arvin meritor on the exaust. They make truck parts. May be it was a little harsh I dont meen to offend hek I can barley spell but i can weld,fab and machine with the best. good luck!!!!

[ZStig]

just let it go, you've been given many explanations

and if there are e46 m3 parts that you're sure fit on the z4m, and they cost less, go ahead, buy those and put them on your car