Beck/Arnley vs OEM

[craftysince86]

This may be a dumb question but i have been shopping many parts for my 108 and i notice that many time Beck/Arnley is recommend alongside the OE part.

Is Beck/Arnley an OE manufacturer or is it just an alternative part brand? i notice that most of the time B/A is advertised as a "premium" part. Just wondering if this or OE is best, sometimes i can only find B/A parts for what i am looking for

thanks!

[gerryvz]

Originally Posted by craftysince86

This may be a dumb question but i have been shopping many parts for my 108 and i notice that many time Beck/Arnley is recommend alongside the OE part.

Is Beck/Arnley an OE manufacturer or is it just an alternative part brand? i notice that most of the time B/A is advertised as a "premium" part. Just wondering if this or OE is best, sometimes i can only find B/A parts for what i am looking for

thanks!

Beck/Arnley is a cheap aftermarket brand and is NOT an MB OE. It is generally about as good as ÜRO, sometimes better.

Do not buy, especially for critical/safety parts.

I suppose tjts1 will be chiming in shortly with massive multi-year stories of success with B/A parts, and accusing anyone who has ever received a sub-par part or a quick failure to have installed the part wrongly (user error)


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

[craftysince86]

Ahhh thanks for the input! BA is the only fuel pump I can find right now and was just wondering because on some other sites it shows as a favorite of some people and it's marked as "premium" part.

Guess I'll keep searching for an OE one

[compress ignite]

Thomas Hanson is the guy (949)598-4842
OR
Electronic Mail: thomashanson@mbusa.com


Mercedes-Benz Classic Center | Mercedes-Benz

[Jub]

I always felt (from the price; and how it is advertised as premium), that Beck-Arnley was sort of the Ralph Lauren of Autoparts (trendy).

Not experienced enough to know if this holds true in practice. My Tie rods ends (inner and outer are B/A; they work).

[craftysince86]

Originally Posted by compress ignite

Thomas Hanson is the guy (949)598-4842
OR
Electronic Mail: thomashanson@mbusa.com


Mercedes-Benz Classic Center | Mercedes-Benz

Just sent him an email, thanks!

[gerryvz]

You can often get Bosch fuel pumps for very cheap on Amazon.com, if you know the model number.

[craftysince86]

Does anyone know what I should expect to pay for a fuel pump?

I'm not all that sure that I even need to change it, it does whine pretty loud and someone was saying that it's a sign it's on its way out. I haven't had any issues with the car running besides a little difficulty starting it in the morning and an unsteady idle occasionally

[Idle]

If you are having trouble starting it when cold you might be looking at replacing the cold start valve, the thermotime switch or the air meter. A little time with a voltmeter and a shop manual will tell you a lot.

The high pitched whine is a bit of a problem, though.

Beck/Arnley was once the ONLY place to pick up import parts. I think they were a nationwide chain and I can remember buying parts from them back in the 70's when if you needed a part for a german or italian car everyone just laughed at you.

B/A was a very good source for parts during the early 80's as well. I picked up a 280Z water pump for about 30% of the dealer price and it was OEM Nissan.

But I have not bought from them for a long time.

If you are looking for an electric fuel pump you may be shocked at the price of a new one. Unless you just must have OEM there are alternatives out there on Amazon. Made in China stuff, but they work. I have not purchased one for a 108, but the standard in and out pump used on a lot of older VW's is about 10% the price of a new OEM if you go the China aftermarket route.

[Idle]

Check it out!

1972 Mercedes-Benz 280SEL 4.5 Sedan - Fuel System - Page 2

[801mbz]

E8145 airtex has worked well for me on the EFI cars. Auto Zone has them.

[craftysince86]

Originally Posted by Idle

If you are having trouble starting it when cold you might be looking at replacing the cold start valve, the thermotime switch or the air meter. A little time with a voltmeter and a shop manual will tell you a lot.

The high pitched whine is a bit of a problem, though.

Beck/Arnley was once the ONLY place to pick up import parts. I think they were a nationwide chain and I can remember buying parts from them back in the 70's when if you needed a part for a german or italian car everyone just laughed at you.

B/A was a very good source for parts during the early 80's as well. I picked up a 280Z water pump for about 30% of the dealer price and it was OEM Nissan.

But I have not bought from them for a long time.

If you are looking for an electric fuel pump you may be shocked at the price of a new one. Unless you just must have OEM there are alternatives out there on Amazon. Made in China stuff, but they work. I have not purchased one for a 108, but the standard in and out pump used on a lot of older VW's is about 10% the price of a new OEM if you go the China aftermarket route.

well in the morning if i don't pump the pedal while cranking it, it's just crank and crank and won't turn over. if i let off of it after it cranks and try it again it starts up fine. if i pump the pedal a few times before i start to crank it, and give a pump or two while its cranking it starts up fine the first time. is that normal? sorry this would be my first car older than a late 90's

it being OEM is not the biggest deal to me, i just want something that is reliable like everything else!

Originally Posted by Idle

Check it out!

1972 Mercedes-Benz 280SEL 4.5 Sedan - Fuel System - Page 2

is about what the going rate for an OEM pump is?

Originally Posted by 801mbz

E8145 airtex has worked well for me on the EFI cars. Auto Zone has them.

i'll have to look into this! do you know about the cost for this is?



i think my biggest thing honestly with price on any pump is i'm just not certain if anything is wrong with mine? i mean i have a high pitch whine but i have yet to have any real problems with the car. besides the whine the pump seems to function properly as it should, i was hoping to stay away from spending $4-500 on an oem pump only to have it end up the same as what i have now. a local indie shop that i bought the car from said that some of the pumps are loud and i should not worry about it, while others tell me that a loud fuel pump is a sign that it is on it's way out. if i knew that this was a issue in the fuel pump for sure, i would not mind spending the money because i KNOW it would alleviate the issue

[Idle]

The fuel injection system on the 4.5 should not be dependent on pumping since the pumping really only did any good on engines with carbs.

The easiest way to solve your starting problem is to pick up a book on this early FI system and understand what you are dealing with. Everything has to work together as a system or nothing works at all.

The good news is that everything can be checked out with a voltmeter and a pressure gauge although you may have to make up a hose fitting to tie into your fuel system to measure the amount of fuel pressure at the engine. This is not hard; it just sounds that way.

It sounds like your fuel pressure may be leaking down overnight. Try just turning the key to ON and letting the pressure build up a bit before turning the key to START. You will hear the fuel pump running, and after about five seconds the pressure should be up to the proper amount.

This was once the suggested starting method when FI was first introduced in the 50's and all the systems were mechanical. Electronic FI was supposed to do away with this need for a pressure build up.

[Mark DiSilvestro]

Beck Arnley is an aftermarket parts retailer. Like most aftermarket parts places these days, their parts may be OK or they may be junk. I normally inspect the parts before I buy and make a judgement-call on whether I'm willing to trust it. There's no Beck-Arnley where I am, but the aftermarket
240D vacuum-pump bearing kit I got locally was an OE Pierburg part - but it wasn't cheap! Other things from local parts vendors, like genuine Bosch ignition parts or Mann fuel filers are perfectly fine. OTOH, some aftermarket driveshaft flex-joints, tie-rods, and exhaust donut hangers didn't pass my inspection, so I wound up going to the Mercedes dealer. Definitely avoid any 'Made in Italy' (usually Facet-brand) ignition parts like distributor-caps and rotors.

Happy Motoring, Mark

[gerryvz]

Beck-Arnley is actually a reboxer of other companies' parts, much like Febi is.

it is a game of parts Russian Roulette as to what you will actually receive in that box.

It is not a game that I wish to play.