One of the strongest tools you can leverage in European car ownership is your understanding of quality tiers when shopping a replacement/maintenance part for your car. 

When shopping our site, you'll be able to spot tags on every product distinguishing their "Quality Tier." But what do these actually mean, and how can they help you shop?

Genuine:

Equipment that came in your car as it rolled off of the assembly line. Genuine is often the benchmark for quality, but there's a key note regarding this quality tier - somebody else probably made it for your BMW, VAG, Mercedes, Volvo…or any other European make. Quality will be production-line-grade, but you’ll be paying up for the Genuine emblem on your parts.

OE:
A great way to save while also ensuring quality. OE products are made by the same vendor who is manufacturing your Genuine component, minus the genuine logo - and the genuine price tag. OE may still skew a little bit pricier, but may also be the choice for you if you were considering Genuine quality but want to save.

OEM:
A next-door neighbor to OE. This supplier makes OTHER parts on your vehicle or other vehicles from the brand manufacturing your car. Confused? No problem! If Bosch makes the spark plugs in your BMW but the ignition coils on the assembly line were made by Delphi, Bosch Ignition coils would be OE. With OEM products, you can trust that a high degree of quality control is a factor in construction - in the above example, quality is trusted by BMW for other components, so this can be another great bet to save even more while maintaining trustworthy attention-to-detail in manufacturing.

Aftermarket:
Serving as affordable alternatives to OEM components and even as brands that saw a failure point in the original design and said, “We can build something better than that,” Aftermarket encompasses everything made by a vendor not originally associated with your vehicle. Often, you can barely tell aftermarket components apart from what’s already in your car, and you might be blown away by the price point and the amount of testing put into manufacturing. Aftermarket parts can offer incredible value when you can trust that they’re engineered correctly - and for decades, this has been a key pillar in every Aftermarket brand FCP Euro sells.

Encompassing our promise that "if we wouldn't put it on our car, we wouldn't sell it to you," all FCP Euro aftermarket vendors deliver attention-to-detail and a quality component for your repair, maintenance, or upgrade.

Performance:

The performance world of European automotive products sits within the Aftermarket quality tier. Encompassing everything from cooling to brakes to suspension to power and wheel spacers, "Performance" products encompass anything from a supplier that emphasizes a performance-minded improvement over the stock component. They may command a bit of a premium in their cost - of course, the "performance" notion insinuates a bit more R&D has gone into this product and its construction from the independent vendor. Additionally, performance products may not always be your answer; a daily-driven commuter may actually sacrifice efficiency, comfort, and even reliability with the use of track-minded components and practices.

In the realm of performance, it's important to do your own research to find the best answer for your application. Fortunately, when shopping for your European car, every performance-tagged product on our site has been vetted by our enthusiast make experts for safety, longevity, and quality - exactly why you'll only find premium performance brands on our website.

With your thorough understanding of Quality Tiers, you're now equipped to shop more effectively. Simply filter product results for your car by the Quality Tier you'd prefer to get your next job or service done and browse our site for the solution you need!

Quality across every single part and solution that we sell is vital to your next trip or commute. That's why we're so deliberate about the brands we work with and why we frequently collaborate with some of your favorite brands to improve, bolster, refine, and even redesign some of our components to better suit your needs.

We're so confident in our products and our supporting vendors that we'll guarantee non-consumable parts for the life of your vehicle. If a part purchased from FCP Euro fails, simply purchase its replacement and send the old one back to our Milford HQ. Once our team assesses it, you'll receive a refund to your FCP Euro account for the cost of the newly installed replacement part.

Is your 100,000-mile control arm bushing purchased from us in 2016 starting to clunk? Buy the same part again, send the old and tired one back to us after your service, and you'll be good to go.

Need some help? Our in-house Customer Experience team is here to guide you through your purchase and answer your questions. Feel free to give us a call or chat us!

Quality parts that you can trust - we guarantee it.

Want to learn more about our Lifetime Replacement Guarantee? Click here to read more, or to complete your Lifetime Replacement Return.