Throttle Actuator Rebuild service

That's me yesterday at the post office. Mostly M3 units and a few M5 ones.

Just wanted to get anyone's updates on these refurb units?
I'm undecided on these vs. getting them from FCP for "lifetime" warranty?

Also looks like EAS sell VDO units, which is suppose to be the OEM supplier. Anyone try these units?
Thanks.

I used them. Had a great experience. I did the core exchange version.

aus wrote

Just wanted to get anyone's updates on these refurb units?
I'm undecided on these vs. getting them from FCP for "lifetime" warranty?

Also looks like EAS sell VDO units, which is suppose to be the OEM supplier. Anyone try these units?
Thanks.

FCP with lifetime warranty is a no brainer for this part IMO.

Iyzmi wrote

aus wrote

Just wanted to get anyone's updates on these refurb units?
I'm undecided on these vs. getting them from FCP for "lifetime" warranty?

Also looks like EAS sell VDO units, which is suppose to be the OEM supplier. Anyone try these units?
Thanks.

FCP with lifetime warranty is a no brainer for this part IMO.

M Power also lifetime warranty and addresses the weak links. Equally no brainer?

It's got to be FCP or M Power for this for sure

Bimmer Barney wrote

M Power also lifetime warranty and addresses the weak links. Equally no brainer?

It's got to be FCP or M Power for this for sure

Not really. We've seen many examples of actuators failing after the gears and circuit boards have been upgraded/repaired. I have personally had a brand new dealer installed actuator fail after only 4k miles with no signs of worn gears or circuit board damage.

FCP is a fairly large operation that has been around for decades. I would trust them to be around and honor their warranty for years to come. I haven't been following closely but haven't people been complaining about a decline in service from M Power lately? No surprise...

I have not read of any failures of the actuators rebuilt by rebuild.org.uk — which is the place that rebuilds actuators for Mpower Motorsports. As I understand, Abdul is essentially Jason’s US distributor. I have one rebuild from Abdul and 1 new actuator in my car. I tried just changing gears but that did not help fix my originals.

I don’t put too much value in lifetime warranties. Companies come and go. Bavauto closed, Turner sold to ECS. But as a general proposition, companies offering lifetime warranties tend to be confident they are selling quality products. Jason is actually trying to improve the actuator; FCP is just selling the same one that has failed in many, many cars.

pbonsalb wrote

I have not read of any failures of the actuators rebuilt by rebuild.org.uk — which is the place that rebuilds actuators for Mpower Motorsports. As I understand, Abdul is essentially Jason’s US distributor. I have one rebuild from Abdul and 1 new actuator in my car. I tried just changing gears but that did not help fix my originals.

I don’t put too much value in lifetime warranties. Companies come and go. Bavauto closed, Turner sold to ECS. But as a general proposition, companies offering lifetime warranties tend to be confident they are selling quality products. Jason is actually trying to improve the actuator; FCP is just selling the same one that has failed in many, many cars.

We know that changing the gears and upgrading the circuit board components has mixed results. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. Is Jason doing anything in addition to this as part of the rebuild service?

I agree that companies come and go but I have more faith in FCP being around long term than Abdul and Jason. I have used the FCP warranty without any issues numerous times. I have nothing against M Power or the service they offer, I just don't put any faith in the "improvements" or warranty. I believe a stock actuator sold by FCP is just as likely to fail as a rebuilt actuator. The difference is whether they will be around in 5 years to replace it for free.

Iyzmi wrote

FCP is a fairly large operation that has been around for decades. I would trust them to be around and honor their warranty for years to come. I haven't been following closely but haven't people been complaining about a decline in service from M Power lately? No surprise...

I call bull shit. One very rarely get to see a service company regardless of size with a reputation similar to the Rebuild UK guys. One can usually always pick up some shit about companies even when they don't deserve it, but I haven't even seen that in this case.

Now, please provide proof for your statement and I'll be willing to change my mind. Also, I'd digg in a little in what Rebuild actually is doing in terms of rebuilding using validated methods. They didn't start doing this recently by chance.

Life time warranty at (over here significantly) less than half price, delivered day after order, is what I and many with me have experienced.

Ps. I had to replace my TAs at just over 40k miles, investing time and money to recover what BMW didn't do in the first place and never gave a thought about since production start 2007: let the customer pick up the bill, wtf. Good fun to replace ones but not fun enough do put in BMWs proven to fail stuff again, cause they did nothing to correct their issue.

Iyzmi wrote

We know that changing the gears and upgrading the circuit board components has mixed results. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. ]

If you have followed the issue as closely as I have, you would know that there have been no mixed results with Jason’s rebuilds. At least none I recall reported here. And I was an early doubter, giving him a hard time years ago.

There have been mixed results with DIYers replacing just gears (like me) and with DIYers attempting to fix circuit boards. I actually bought a set of mosfets to swap but needed an actuator right away and decided to buy one of Jason’s rebuilds from Abdul instead.

I think either new or a Jason rebuild is a good choice (I have one of each). I simply note that new is just like the one that failed and it will fail also, whether in 4K miles or 124k miles. Jason rebuilds them to better than new. For the details, go to his website.

Helmsman wrote

I call bull shit. One very rarely get to see a service company regardless of size with a reputation similar to the Rebuild UK guys. One can usually always pick up some shit about companies even when they don't deserve it, but I haven't even seen that in this case.

Now, please provide proof for your statement and I'll be willing to change my mind. Also, I'd digg in a little in what Rebuild actually is doing in terms of rebuilding using validated methods. They didn't start doing this recently by chance.

Life time warranty at (over here significantly) less than half price, delivered day after order, is what I and many with me have experienced.

Ps. I had to replace my TAs at just over 40k miles, investing time and money to recover what BMW didn't do in the first place and never gave a thought about since production start 2007: let the customer pick up the bill, wtf. Good fun to replace ones but not fun enough do put in BMWs proven to fail stuff again, cause they did nothing to correct their issue.

I'm not one of their customers and don't follow the related threads, I just recall seeing some folks complaining about lapses in communication somewhat recently. Could be nothing major so I'm not going to go out of my way to dig up dirt. I know there is a loyal following here and that's absolutely fine by me.

Again - I'm just not a believer in rebuild solutions based on the evidence I've seen of replaced gears and MOSFETS still having issues down the road. As far as I'm aware, that's the solution being sold here but please correct me if there's more to it. To be clear, I'm not saying they're selling bad products, clearly that is not the case. I just haven't seen any compelling evidence that replacing the gears and upgrading the circuit board is any more of a long term solution than just replacing with OEM, and I have more trust in FCP existing in the future than M Power. That's really all there is to it, you are free to call bullshit and spend your money wherever you'd like. My money will continue to go to FCP as they have always taken care of me and are easy to get a hold of.

One of my actuators is original with 10yrs/80k miles on it. The other has been going strong for about 40k miles now. I've met quite a few people who are on original actuators at over 100k mi. If an actuator sold by FCP will last me 10yrs then I'm good with that solution combined with their proven warranty service.

pbonsalb wrote

If you have followed the issue as closely as I have, you would know that there have been no mixed results with Jason’s rebuilds. At least none I recall reported here. And I was an early doubter, giving him a hard time years ago.

There have been mixed results with DIYers replacing just gears (like me) and with DIYers attempting to fix circuit boards. I actually bought a set of mosfets to swap but needed an actuator right away and decided to buy one of Jason’s rebuilds from Abdul instead.

I think either new or a Jason rebuild is a good choice (I have one of each). I simply note that new is just like the one that failed and it will fail also, whether in 4K miles or 124k miles. Jason rebuilds them to better than new. For the details, go to his website.

Agreed that either solution will get the job done and you are correct that I haven't followed the issue closely as I dealt with it 5 years ago and never again. Personally I just see value in paying a bit extra to stick with a proven warranty and am not convinced Jason rebuilds them better than new, though quite possibly as good as new. As far as I'm concerned he's not doing anything that hasn't been done before with mixed results.

Iyzmi wrote

I'm not one of their customers and don't follow the related threads, I just recall seeing some folks complaining about lapses in communication somewhat recently. Could be nothing major so I'm not going to go out of my way to dig up dirt. I know there is a loyal following here and that's absolutely fine by me.

Again - I'm just not a believer in rebuild solutions based on the evidence I've seen of replaced gears and MOSFETS still having issues down the road. As far as I'm aware, that's the solution being sold here but please correct me if there's more to it. To be clear, I'm not saying they're selling bad products, clearly that is not the case. I just haven't seen any compelling evidence that replacing the gears and upgrading the circuit board is any more of a long term solution than just replacing with OEM, and I have more trust in FCP existing in the future than M Power. That's really all there is to it, you are free to call bullshit and spend your money wherever you'd like. My money will continue to go to FCP as they have always taken care of me and are easy to get a hold of.

One of my actuators is original with 10yrs/80k miles on it. The other has been going strong for about 40k miles now. I've met quite a few people who are on original actuators at over 100k mi. If an actuator sold by FCP will last me 10yrs then I'm good with that solution combined with their proven warranty service.


Agreed that either solution will get the job done and you are correct that I haven't followed the issue closely as I dealt with it 5 years ago and never again. Personally I just see value in paying a bit extra to stick with a proven warranty and am not convinced Jason rebuilds them better than new, though quite possibly as good as new. As far as I'm concerned he's not doing anything that hasn't been done before with mixed results.

So, your personal opinion, based on zero evidence, is that Jason does not provide a viable solution?

Yes, there are many tales of people trying and failing to upgrade their own actuators (gears, transistors, both). But with that said, I have not read a single post about an actuator problem sourced from Jason or Abdul. Yes, there was some chatter about customer service from Abdul (IIRC he got busy), but the same can be said about VAC, Dinan, FCP, ECS, Turner, BMW... No person is perfect. No company is perfect.

It is just really nice that we have options on this side of the pond.

Cheers,

M power!! Mine work perfect!! Took mine apart before sending back. Had car since new. Didn't drive car aggressive- gears were worn out in one little area!!

Here's what mine looked like 60000 miles. Thanks to the previous diy's!! Easy swap

Scharbag wrote

So, your personal opinion, based on zero evidence, is that Jason does not provide a viable solution?

Nope, my opinion is that he is providing a perfectly viable alternative. The product works and is cheaper than OEM. I just don’t think it works any better or longer than OEM.

My money will be spent on OEM with a warranty from FCP, that I most likely won’t have to use, for peace of mind. Cases where an OEM actuator is replaced twice (like mine) are very rare to begin with. Others will choose to save a bit on a refurb and chances are they’ll be just fine too. I’m with you that it’s good to have more options.

WalkerM3 wrote

Here's what mine looked like 60000 miles. Thanks to the previous diy's!! Easy swap

Those rod bearings look great! Oh wait wrong topic.

WalkerM3 wrote

Here's what mine looked like 60000 miles. Thanks to the previous diy's!! Easy swap

Here's mine with around 4k miles.

Anyone know what MPower does to the circuit board to make it better?
It looks like the small gear is metal and the rest are plastic?
Their FAQ just tells how their service works. There's nothing on how they're better.

aus wrote

Anyone know what MPower does to the circuit board to make it better?
It looks like the small gear is metal and the rest are plastic?
Their FAQ just tells how their service works. There's nothing on how they're better.

They have selected a better plastic in the gear, holding up that much better. Whether this material was available when the TAs first was designed early 2000 (S85) I don't know, but BMW didn't bother to do anything about it.
I don't know if Rebuild are upgrading any of the components - but replacing the transistors regardless - as it is the original gear that generate the issue.

I think Jason did some explaining here years ago. You would have to search for it. As I recall he explained that just replacing the mosfets is not enough (people have tried that with mixed results). Maybe something about reflowing solder on the board?

Helmsman wrote

aus wrote

Anyone know what MPower does to the circuit board to make it better?
It looks like the small gear is metal and the rest are plastic?
Their FAQ just tells how their service works. There's nothing on how they're better.

They have selected a better plastic in the gear, holding up that much better. Whether this material was available when the TAs first was designed early 2000 (S85) I don't know, but BMW didn't bother to do anything about it.
I don't know if Rebuild are upgrading any of the components - but replacing the transistors regardless - as it is the original gear that generate the issue.

That is the theory, and that's likely correct in some cases. Take a look at my pics, do those gears look worn after 4k mi?

Iyzmi wrote

That is the theory, and that's likely correct in some cases. Take a look at my pics, do those gears look worn after 4k mi?

Not sure I follow mate, you mean those are worn and from Rebuild UK..?