Genesee Valley Chapter Forum / GVC Chapter Forums / Car Related Topics / Is the BMW Aftermarket Overpriced? / Latest Posts

RE: Is the BMW Aftermarket Overpriced?

Mike91 — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 08:13:54 GMT

The size of the market is probably the biggest factor. Not only are there fewer BMWs, but there is probably a smaller percentage who wants to modify them.

Then you've got the driver's tastes. Most BMW owners / drivers are probably going to be a little more picky about the quality of the upgrades.

And I would be willing to bet most BMW owners are just willing to pay more. Look how many insist on buying only German parts just because they're German (because engineers in the US can't possibly design a better windshield wiper!). Your average civic owner wouldn't buy that Hondata ECU for $2000.

RE: Is the BMW Aftermarket Overpriced?

robertplattbell — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 14:26:26 GMT

There are a lot more Chevys and Fords made than BMWs. A heck of alot more Toyotas.

BMW may 398,000 Z3s for example. That's a boutique car by Toyota or GM's standards.

Plus, you have about four competing companies selling flash upgrades (Dinan, the Shark, etc.) so they each have very small market shares.

In addition, it takes a lot of time and effort to generate the programming (BMW isn't generally helpful to the aftermarket in provding code, etc.) to make it work, pass emissions, and still be somewhat drivable.

They probably have to pay a lot of dough in liability insurance as well.

Frankly, the HP increases from most of this stuff is negligable. If you want more HP, BMW makes your car with bigger engines (the MZ4, for example). If 315 HP is not enough, well, they have Porsches with more HP.

It can be cheaper to just sell a car and buy a faster one than to spend thousands and thousands of dollars in dubious upgrades. You come out ahead in the long run in better resale value.

Or you could learn to love the "porker" as it is. Heavier cars are here to stay, unfortunately. The 2002 and the E30 were a lot of fun, but real brain-busters in a side-impact situation.

So the 2,000 lb car is not in the cars in the forseeable future. Even the 1-series tips the scales at over 3,000 lbs.

FWIW.

RE: Is the BMW Aftermarket Overpriced?

cretinx — Fri, 11 Apr 2008 11:53:23 GMT

so out of the 19 people who read this thread, not a single one of you have any opinion whatsoever?

Is the BMW Aftermarket Overpriced?

cretinx — Sun, 06 Apr 2008 18:05:57 GMT

First - it was nice meeting all of you (I was the short guy with the black Z4) - sorry I didn't stick around longer - the pancakes were great but my wife needed to get home so she could watch her boys drive fast and occasionally turn left.

After talking to Bill at the parking lot, we got into a conversation about the 1 and I mentioned what an overweight porker it is at 3400 lbs (another thread topic in and of itself) - he countered that Dinan has an ECU mod for it - at $2000

This shocked the hell out of me - because I know that Vishnu provides an ECU for $1300 - which makes more power (not to mention their other packages)

It also shocked me because reflashes for most other cars cost FAR less than that - for instance, on our old A4 our reflash cost $400, and I know Cobb, Hondata, GIAC, APR and REVO all range from $400-$800 - many times with far more adjustability.

Which gets me to my point - looking at aftermarket parts for BMW, I can't help but notice they tend to be 50-100% higher than a similar product for a different car.

Is this because BMW owners simply expect to pay more for parts so the market supports these outrageous prices?

Is it due to economies of scale - being that one could claim there are less BMWs so less of a chance to save manufacturing costs through an economy of scale (an argument I don't really buy . . . . considering I come from DC and my wife is from Manhattan - and in both cities you'll see as many BMWs as you will Nissans or Hondas).

So - what are your thoughts?

Are we suckers in the marketplace, are the products THAT much better (I simply can't believe this), or is it a function of economies of scale . . . or something else I'm not thinking of?