F1 Autocentres are money grabbing cowboys.

musafir05

Westmead_Fan wrote: »

what are they 2nd hand mini ones:p

all well & good getting them yourself what brand are they because there are only 2 top quality brands that we use, the rest are cheap aftermarket rubbish.

I always use new pads and discs since they are cheap.

Mintex or Pagid are recommended on Mini forums and I swear by them. Never had problems with the brands above.:)

arcon5

I always use 'cheap rubbish' pads and discs. They work fine. Might not last as long but not by anything significant enough for me to care.
Some cheaper ones will squeek a little though

BeenThroughItAll

londonTiger wrote: »

An aftermarket one will give completely different readings and the computer will assume it's faulty.

Bit of a stretch to say that as fact, isn't it? Aside from the obvious fallacy that the cat will give 'readings', which it won't as it's just a tube full of, erm, catalytic material, there's absolutely no way you can categorically state that an aftermarket catalytic converter will cause problems.


I've put four or five aftermarket catalysts on various cars; a Ford Focus, a Volvo C70, a BMW 530i, an Audi TT 225, and an Impreza, and not one of them has caused any issues.

Westmead_Fan

arcon5 wrote: »

I always use 'cheap rubbish' pads and discs. They work fine. Might not last as long but not by anything significant enough for me to care.
Some cheaper ones will squeek a little though

cheap pads don't squeak, its how they are fitted, if the fitter is a cowboy & uses copper grease or dosen't clean the hub & braking area properly then you will be that noise. cheap pads & discs don't last as long & the materials in them are not as good & can cause problems in the future

to the op, pagid & ferodo brakes are the best brands which we use & mintec are aftermarket same standard as ecps eicher brand

londonTiger

BeenThroughItAll wrote: »

Bit of a stretch to say that as fact, isn't it? Aside from the obvious fallacy that the cat will give 'readings', which it won't as it's just a tube full of, erm, catalytic material, there's absolutely no way you can categorically state that an aftermarket catalytic converter will cause problems.


I've put four or five aftermarket catalysts on various cars; a Ford Focus, a Volvo C70, a BMW 530i, an Audi TT 225, and an Impreza, and not one of them has caused any issues.

What I mean is the catalyist will not work in the same "efficency" as the factory catalyist. The post cat lambda will take readings and it will be quite different than what it expects.

Then you have a lambda warning (emissions workshop) on your dash alerting you that the lambda is off or the catalyst is off.

GabbaGabbaHey

musafir05 wrote: »

A genuine for £125 with only 5,000 miles is a steal considering the price for a brand new part from BMW.

It is, provided that you are certain that (1) it has really only done 5,000 miles, (2) the previous owner hasn't accidentally used Leaded fuel in their car and (3) it hasn't been physically damaged.

BeenThroughItAll

londonTiger wrote: »

What I mean is the catalyist will not work in the same "efficency" as the factory catalyist. The post cat lambda will take readings and it will be quite different than what it expects.

Then you have a lambda warning (emissions workshop) on your dash alerting you that the lambda is off or the catalyst is off.

With respect, my point still stands. You cannot possibly say that an aftermarket catalyst 'will not' work in the same way, or that it will cause problems. Thousands of aftermarket catalysts have been sold and are being sold, but your assertion is that every one of them will cause problems, which is quite obviously not the case.

EdGasket

He can say that and he did.
It is well known that cheap, aftermarket cats cause performance problems compared to original genuine cats. They generally restrict the gas flow more as they have smaller matrix, hence cheaper than OEM. If your car is old and running rough, you might not notice any difference but if you have a half decent car and are sensitive to how it normally runs, you will probably notice a difference with a cheap cat. Take a look at some car forums; lots of people unhappy with cheap cats and have to bite the bullet and get a more expensive one.