Lower ball joint, pick a brand

My car didn't pass the "contrôle technique", don't know how it's called in other countries, MOT in the US? Educate me. Only issue is both lower ball joints are worn out thanks to potholes that could swallow cars. Is there a consensus on which brand to pick? My choices are Moog, Febi Bilstein, Delphi, TRW, Mapco, Quinton Hazell and few others less known brands. I'm tempted to buy the Moogs, 18 bucks each. Or should i just go to the dealer? I bought a lot of parts on the internet lately and they all work as intended but are not up to par on some aspects. I bought a Delphi fuel pump made in china which is noisy as hell compared to the original Pierburg and Bosch pads and discs and ended up with a brake system that squeals like a pig.

OE, TRW (made in Spain) or German made Lemforder. Febi is crap as are the others. Quinton Hazell was at one time a top shelf Brit part maker now made in China and not worth putting in. Moog are great if they are for SUV and pickups and you desire grease fittings, most are US made old stock. you must check Moog out carefully, some are reboxed quality parts like Sankei 555 for Japanese cars others are Chinese crap which makes buying them online a crap shoot.
 
I would not call TRW mid grade, they make BMW M suspension parts.
TRW aftermarket is the mid grade option when lemforder makes the factory components. this is the case 9 times out of 10 with 00s mercedes

lemforder also has a lot of global production facilities as well so again sometimes an NOS genuine part makes sense.

both are owned by the same company but if you want the “grinded off logo” part you need to find out who makes the genuine.
 
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OE, TRW (made in Spain) or German made Lemforder. Febi is crap as are the others. Quinton Hazell was at one time a top shelf Brit part maker now made in China and not worth putting in. Moog are great if they are for SUV and pickups and you desire grease fittings, most are US made old stock. you must check Moog out carefully, some are reboxed quality parts like Sankei 555 for Japanese cars others are Chinese crap which makes buying them online a crap shoot.
Exactly.....The US made Moog problem solver's is good stuff for an old truck/SUV, Even my Camaro where the problem solvers are better than OE.
 
TRW aftermarket is the mid grade option when lemforder makes the factory components. this is the case 9 times out of 10 with 00s mercedes

lemforder also has a lot of global production facilities as well so again sometimes an NOS genuine part makes sense.

both are owned by the same company but if you want the “grinded off logo” part you need to find out who makes the genuine.
True. I have converted the suspension on my E82 to M3, all the arms are from TRW. They are the exact same arms as the OE version with the “//M” logo ground off, for 1/4 the price.

I replaced all the suspension arms on my E90 with Lemforder.
 
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Go to any parts store that will guarantee their parts and sell you the part with a warranty. I’m not big on warranties, but I am with aftermarket parts. Because if you buy them from a reputable and local parts store, they will warranty that part. I’ve seen it, I’ve done it, and people in the industry swear by it.

Because you just can’t trust any of these aftermarket companies to be “what they used to be”...it’s too cyclical now, business models change, new management or new goals in the company...quality can change/suffer. You just don’t know anymore, so get the warranty!! It’s usually free anyway. I’ve seen Moog be inconsistent with their quality. Mevotech can sometimes be junk. Beck Arnley has burned me before (but they will warranty their stuff). I’ve seen Doorman be junk (and then be great). I’ve purchased stuff I’ve never heard of before online, and it’s hit or miss. Don’t trust any of them^^ anymore.

Or you could just buy OE and pay 2-3 times as much and be done with it.
 
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