Hi All,

I am planning on replacing my front forward lower control arms on my 2008 XKR. Does anyone have experience with the aftermarket replacement parts vs OEM?

Thanks.

 

Are there after market control arms for the XK? Wouldn't think that would be worth the investment.

 

Lemfoerder is the OEM. Can't find it offered, though only a few minutes searching. Lemfoerder control arms, similar design for Merc and BMW, go for about $150-180. They're probably out there.

Second option is to source the Lem bushing. Available for BMW. Haven't seen one for Jag, tho, but again, only a superficial search for me.

Eurospare has a complete arm offered through EMEuropean for $85, a huge discount from Jag's $595. Haven't heard many reviews on Eurospare suspension parts, though the Ferrari forums speak well of them. I replaced my front uppers with Eurospare, seem fine after 6 months.

 

Exactly! Trying to find out if anyone has used Eurospare vs. Lemfoerder.

 

Although most aftermarket suppliers list LEMFÖRDER which is the OEM, I was surprised to find alternative manufacturer replacements for C2P17091 are available at much lower cost. There must be a large volume vehicle manufacturer using the same part and therefore a large replacement market to justify tooling costs.

I use OEM for everything except brake discs and pads and keep an eye open for aftermarket sources. The lowest I've seen for C2P17091 is Berkshire Jag Components:
https://www.berkshirejagcomponents.c...91-c2x18823456

Using OEM and shipping has to be worth considering as it's not too far from the alternative manufacturer cost.

Graham

 

My lemfoerder rear toe adjustment rods snapped at the welds , I ended fitting the bushes from the lemfoerder into the OEM rods

Side by side the welds weren't complete like the OEM and the actual rod were thinner would not recommend this brand

 

Very surprising. Lems have always been the gold standard OEM (Jag, BMW, Merc, many others) alternatives for high end Euro cars. Wish I could find the bushings alone.

 

They have a "banana arm bushing" C2P17090 for UKL 23. https://www.berkshirejagcomponents.c...90-c2x22620948

I'm guessing the "banana arm" is the front lower control arm, by its description. I have access to a press to replace mine. Can anyone confirm this?

Thanks

 

My mechanic claims the Eurospare is a rebagged OEM Jaguar part. Does anyone know the truth behind this or if its true?

 

I am not sure this exactly surprises me. The OEM Jaguar parts might be the same design on the surface. But Jaguar should have a supplier quality engineering rep/ more specifications in order to be branded as a Jaguar part and continuous conformance testing. The ones that don't pass there specs are branded as lemfoerder lol.

 

I'd much rather the see the Jaguar stamping on the arm and keep it OEM. Bushings I am open to other choices.

 

While ZF Lemforder was the original supplier to Jaguar, Eurospare is the ONLY JLR authorized OE manufacturer of replacement parts. I have used them frequently on Land Rovers and have found them to be of equal quality at significant savings.

But something which has been discussed frequently on these forums is when Ford owned Jaguar, a good percentage of suspension parts used on several Ford/Lincoln models were actually Jaguar parts and thusly you may find the Ford part number equivalents again a significant savings over Jaguar supplied.

 

I have no complaints about the Mevotech suspension parts I used. Side by side, they were the same as the parts I took off, just no logo. OEM seems to be only good for about 60,000 miles, so I felt pretty good about taking my chances on aftermarket.

 

Honestly, I've rebuilt probably 50 front ends between my family, my own and my friends cars. Most being affordable American Big Three; GM W-Body being one I think I've done the most (Impala, Grand Prix, some Buicks, etc). I've used the cheapest crap front end parts bought on ebay with Buy It Now + Sort=Lowest Price + Shipping with great success on those GMs. They've lasted as long as the OEMs on those cars. I rebuilt my former X308 with bushings and ball joints mostly by "Uro" (where the U for some reason has oomlauts) and after 20k it still was great when I moved on from the car; not that is a major milestone of time. I've used a lot of coolant hoses from that brand too with no problems at all.

Honestly, if you are paying someone to do the work; I'd go with Jaguar or an OEM. If you're doing it yourself, depending on how you value your time and your risk tolerance, consider an aftermarket option with a good warranty. I'll say if it's a complete control arm, quick strut or similar assembly where they've effectively eliminated the need for me to press crap out and in or change mounting plates and compress springs, I'm much more willing to try the aftermarket than if it failing means I've in my basement messing with my press.