der Bayerische July/August 2020 - 8

N C C

V I R T U A L

T E C H

TA L K

W I T H

B I M M E R W O R L D

(Above) James Clay started out as a racer who sold parts to pay for his motorsports hobby.
quality) as the parts used to originally
manufacture your vehicle.
Again, to BimmerWorld, OEM
means Original Equipment Manufacturer. These are parts made by
a manufacturer who supplied the
BMW factory when your car was
originally built. These are typically
the same quality as genuine BMW
parts, but are often priced lower since
the BMW emblem is usually not
present or has been removed.
However, it's worth noting that some
suppliers would categorize any
manufacturer that made any part for
any BMW as an OEM - meaning if
you're not careful you could be
buying a brake pad from a
manufacturer that made the spark
plugs for your car, because after all,
they are a manufacturer of a part
supplied to BMW...
Aftermarket means parts that are
produced by a third-party company.
These are typically a more costeffective option than directreplacement (OE or OEM) parts.
These parts may or may not meet the
same quality standard as BMW's,
however, in some instances they may
actually exceed BMW OE quality.
This begs the question as to
whether one should buy OEM or
aftermarket replacement parts. The
answer depends on the part's
application, the part's lifespan, the

part's cost, and the manufacturer's
approach to the part. The short
answer is that it depends on the
part. There are instances where a
part, made for BMW by a vendor,
can be purchased for less directly
from the vendor, but might not be
up to the quality required by BMW.
Look for guidance from your
source, no matter who it is.
It doesn't pay off to "go cheap" on a
critical part. Remember what your
mother taught you: the bitterness of
poor quality lingers long after the
sweetness of low price has been
forgotten.
Next came a discussion of
performance upgrades; after all,
BimmerWorld has a fair amount of
success in professional racing and
the Pike's Peak International Hill
Climb Challenge, to name a few
instances where the right parts
provide the performance that
matters. Nonetheless, James and
Phil emphasized that the most
important modification you can
make is to the nut behind the
steering wheel: train the driver, train
the driver, and train the driver. Go to
an HPDE or an M Club Day at the
BMW Performance Center and let
an instructor help you hone your
skills and become familiar with your
car's capabilities and limits in a
controlled environment.

When you are ready to upgrade
parts, first ask yourself what is the
intended use of the car: a stock/street
daily driver, a high-performance
street car, a track-and-street HPDE
car, a street-legal track car, or a pure
track-and-race car? Be honest with
yourself; those super-stiff coilovers
may make for a miserably harsh ride
in your daily driver, especially if
your track-focused-budget approach
means that you acquire parts that
aren't as refined as some of the
premium options. Typical HighPerformance-Street modifications are
intended to make everyday driving
more fun by upgrading items such as
the intake and exhaust or ECU
software. Typical Track-Performance

(HPDE, AX) modifications include
items such as stickier tires with a
lower treadwear rating than stock,
bigger, grippier brakes and pads, or
stiffer suspension components.
If you're not a do-it-yourselfer,
find a mechanic with a good
reputation who has experience
working on your make and model.
Finding a good mechanic with
pertinent experience is like choosing
the right tool for the right job. Get to
know your service businesses and
personnel. You might want to ask to
meet the technicians to discuss your
car and your needs with them.
Whether it's you or your trusted
mechanic doing the work, having the
right parts supplier is essential in
making sure you get the parts that will
work on your make and model and
achieve the effect you're looking for;
after all, what works well on another
type of car may not work well
on yours. Like a knowledgeable
mechanic, knowledgeable parts
suppliers are worth their weight in
gold.
The lively Q&A session was
quite entertaining. Excerpts follow:
Q: Recently, James spoke about
batteries and authored a Facebook
post about the value of a battery
maintainer. I don't know how many
of us know when the battery
configuration changed to the current
Lithium-ion based batteries that cost
$2k to replace. I know that both of

(Below) Now, James is a business owner who races 30 times per year.

derBayerische

der Bayerische July/August 2020

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of der Bayerische July/August 2020