I started to have some alternator woes recently, and was quite shocked with the replacement options. I have a 2003 530, which has a Bosch alternator. New, from the dealer, this can be upto $600. With a BMWCCA discount this still sucks eggs. Numerous rebuilt ones could be found for a smig under $400, but not with OE parts. They had bearings and such from south-east Asia. Though a thing called the "internet" I came in contact with Dave Smith, from Colorado, at http://www.smithcoelectric.com/servlet/StoreFront He was able to rebuild the alternator with OE Bosch parts (bearings, brushes, regulator & brush assy), and have it tested for a little over $300. He gave the option to rebuild it cheaper using the "other/inferior" parts for even cheaper. Do it right the first time. Use the Bosch parts. So I decided to use http://www.smithcoelectric.com/servlet/StoreFront , and sent off the alternator. Dave gave me a prompt e-mail regarding the conditions and costs of the rebuild. Had it done, and shipped within 48 hours of approval. The box came via Fed Ex with the replacement Bosch part boxes inside to verify they were used. Unbelievable!!!!!!! To recap. They cleaned & rebuilt my alternator, fast, with great customer service & professionalism, with better parts for less than everyone else! Oh and they do other things like starters and such. Please check them out!
Thanks for the info and reference. Sounds like a great place. Note the alternator for a 2003 530i BMWNA list price is 469.78 and is available from Tischer BMW on-line for $375.82. Never trust your local dealer's prices. So many dealers have simply massive markups above BMWNA list prices that it has become a given for the most part. My local dealer marks up prices by over 100% for cheap parts ($5), maybe 50% or so markup for $40 parts, and then down to maybe 10% markups on $400 parts. However, some dealerships are much worse. www.getbmwparts.com is one of the better places to buy OEM parts from a dealer.
Ah, I see that. The Bosch part, 12317501599, is $552.70 BMWNA list price with Tischer's online price of $442.16.
Go with Bosch. If Bosch was good enough for BMW when your BMW was being built on the assembly line, it ought to be good enough for the owner at vehicle service time too. Still that's no excuse to get gouged at the dealer. Great job on getting OEM-quality Bosch parts without having to bend over for the dealer wallet rape.
I liked this rebuild option on so many levels. Even with the cheapest price found on the the net, the savings is still close to $150, and the recycle aspect is great. Now http://www.smithcoelectric.com/servlet/StoreFront will also sell just the parts. This will give a 50% savings on the Bosch alternatorrebuild. With your labor, the cost drops tremendously to $150-200.
I wish I had found a place like that 18 months ago when the alternator on my S4 died. I did a lot of searching on-line about them, and there's a huge number of people (and my local shop) that have had troubles with reman alternators in common aftermarket supply channels for that car. I ended up taking it hard from Audi USA for an OEM part (but got a small discount off real list from my local guy), but I would have liked to have found a trusted source like this to send it out to be rebuilt. Of course the part cost is only 1/2 the S4 alternator battle...it's like they built the car around the thing and is a major hassle to get out/put back...
