About BMW E46
The BMW E46 is the fourth generation of the BMW 3 Series, which was produced from 1997 to 2006.
This model is definitely classic because it’s still easy to find it on the street. Lots of owners restore and keep it in mint condition. It’s a big cost for the owner wants to replace all the body parts with brand new ones in limited budget. However, the grilles are just made by plastic, which are very hard to convince buyers to spend more money to buy the expensive one. To see the difference between the prices, We bought 2 sets of grilles, one is made in Taiwan, and another from China.
Two sets of grilles are both in flat black. Comparing with the original chrome one, the black painting looks more sporty and stylish. At first glance, they are almost identical. So considering to the price, product made in Taiwan is higher than China about 30%. I do understand why people always choose the cheaper one, but are you sure the cheaper one is qualified?
After fitting on the car, do you see the difference? The dimension of grille from China is significant smaller but the grilles from Taiwan fit perfectly. The Chinese product even makes the hood release cable stuck and causes the hood can’t be opened.
From another side, we can see the grille from China can’t be fasten. Why does it happen? The fact is, China manufacturer used the different material with the genuine. They over-pursued reduce the cost so might use the other cheaper material, even the recycled material. Every material of plastic has different shrinkage rate. Using the cheaper material will cause the wrong dimension.
In conclusion, product from China might hard to tell the difference on the pic. But the customers will find out the Chinese product is not the same quality with the original one when they have it. So cheaper one is really the best choice? Wasting money is not a good idea than purchasing qualified product in higher price. As I mentioned, choosing qualified parts is very important. All the parts from Sheng Yi Auto Parts, Sun A Chen Enterprise Co., Ltd. are qualified parts.
You won’t waste your money and see the problems above here.
