AudiWorld Forums

Audi A5 / S5 / RS5 Coupe & Cabrio (B9) Discussion forum for the B9 Audi A5, S5 and RS5 Coupe and Cabriolet 2018 model year and up

RS5-Style grills, difference between EMD and eBay Chinese products?

Thread Tools
 
Search this Thread
 
Old 02-27-2019, 08:20 PM
  #11  
AudiWorld Member
 
skubeeraw's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2018
Location: Texas, but dreaming of the Carolinas
Posts: 215
Received 32 Likes on 21 Posts
Default
Originally Posted by dafantom
The EDM black grilles are supposed to be back in stock by the end of the month, and they come from Taiwan. They seem to be the best ones available. I haven't seen BKM grills mentioned.

Why skimp on a $65K+ car?
so....the same place where they probably sourced from as all the other ebay hawkers. Dont try to fool yourself. They don't have a special shop that churns out a more "quality" product. They get it from the same supplier. You get what you paid for? You pay for that higher middle man mark up instead of some guy that's selling it from china.
skubeeraw is offline  
Reply Like
Old 02-27-2019, 09:26 PM
  #12  
AudiWorld Member
 
dafantom's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2018
Location: SoFL
Posts: 158
Received 5 Likes on 4 Posts
Default
Originally Posted by skubeeraw
so....the same place where they probably sourced from as all the other ebay hawkers. Dont try to fool yourself. They don't have a special shop that churns out a more "quality" product. They get it from the same supplier. You get what you paid for? You pay for that higher middle man mark up instead of some guy that's selling it from china.
Maybe (even probably)....but maybe not. The domestic customer service is worth the minor added cost to me. Oh, and I NEVER "try to fool myself." Thanks!
dafantom is offline  
Reply Like
Old 02-28-2019, 09:17 AM
  #13  
AudiWorld Junior Member
 
Odo Ital's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2018
Posts: 16
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Default
Originally Posted by skubeeraw
so....the same place where they probably sourced from as all the other ebay hawkers. Dont try to fool yourself. They don't have a special shop that churns out a more "quality" product. They get it from the same supplier. You get what you paid for? You pay for that higher middle man mark up instead of some guy that's selling it from china.
Even if it does come from the same place, it's very common in manufacturing for one manufacturer to create the same product to different specifications to satisfy different markets.
Odo Ital is offline  
Reply Like
Old 02-28-2019, 10:40 AM
  #14  
AudiWorld Member
 
skubeeraw's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2018
Location: Texas, but dreaming of the Carolinas
Posts: 215
Received 32 Likes on 21 Posts
Default
Originally Posted by Odo Ital
Even if it does come from the same place, it's very common in manufacturing for one manufacturer to create the same product to different specifications to satisfy different markets.
Ok. it's a honeycomb grill, not a turbo.
skubeeraw is offline  
Reply Like
Old 02-28-2019, 10:45 AM
  #15  
AudiWorld Junior Member
 
Odo Ital's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2018
Posts: 16
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Default
Originally Posted by skubeeraw
Ok. it's a honeycomb grill, not a turbo.
What's your point? People, especially luxury car buyers, are often willing to pay more for a better product.
Odo Ital is offline  
Reply Like
Old 02-28-2019, 10:53 AM
  #16  
Club AutoUnion
 
Nikon1's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2018
Location: South Jersey
Posts: 6,030
Received 2,146 Likes on 1,379 Posts
Default
And, the support that EMD offers. One of our members had a number of issues with one of the sensors in the EMD grille. EMD swapped out 1 or 2 of them to attempt to rectify the problem. As EMD is based in California, it was not a long, arduous problem to get help and new parts. Try that with a Chinese based eBay vendor.

IMHO — asi posted earlier — you get what you pay for. That extra $$ it cost me was worth the peace of mind it delivered.

As always, YMMV.

—John
Nikon1 is offline  
Reply Like
Old 02-28-2019, 10:53 AM
  #17  
AudiWorld Member
Thread Starter
 
fettekatze's Avatar
 
Join Date: Apr 2018
Posts: 190
Received 31 Likes on 18 Posts
Default
Originally Posted by Odo Ital
Even if it does come from the same place, it's very common in manufacturing for one manufacturer to create the same product to different specifications to satisfy different markets.
That happens but I doubt this is the case for EMD's grills. They're not pricing them high enough to be consistent with asking a manufacturer to make a small batch in higher tolerances just for them. If they were charging $1000 a pop, I can believe that. $100 more than eBay sellers? That's just markup.

As for the sensor issue, apparently it's only for the split grills with the higher sensor position interfering with the crashbar, whether they're from EMD or eBay. The single-hex grills have the sensors in the correct position and you can just re-use the OEM sensors.
Last edited by fettekatze; 02-28-2019 at 10:56 AM.
fettekatze is offline  
Reply Like
Old 02-28-2019, 11:09 AM
  #18  
AudiWorld Member
 
dafantom's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2018
Location: SoFL
Posts: 158
Received 5 Likes on 4 Posts
Default
Originally Posted by fettekatze
As for the sensor issue, apparently it's only for the split grills with the higher sensor position interfering with the crashbar, whether they're from EMD or eBay. The single-hex grills have the sensors in the correct position and you can just re-use the OEM sensors.
So, is the EDM one a 'split grill', and pray tell, what is a 'single-hex grill'

Thanks, so much.
dafantom is offline  
Reply Like
Old 02-28-2019, 11:11 AM
  #19  
AudiWorld Senior Member
 
arrtewwx's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2013
Location: Texas
Posts: 859
Received 103 Likes on 75 Posts
Default
Originally Posted by fettekatze
That happens but I doubt this is the case for EMD's grills. They're not pricing them high enough to be consistent with asking a manufacturer to make a small batch in higher tolerances just for them. If they were charging $1000 a pop, I can believe that. $100 more than eBay sellers? That's just markup.

As for the sensor issue, apparently it's only for the split grills with the higher sensor position interfering with the crashbar, whether they're from EMD or eBay. The single-hex grills have the sensors in the correct position and you can just re-use the OEM sensors.
The OEM sensors are not black, so one will have to take that into account, if they are reusing.
arrtewwx is offline  
Reply Like
Old 02-28-2019, 11:13 AM
  #20  
AudiWorld Senior Member
 
arrtewwx's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2013
Location: Texas
Posts: 859
Received 103 Likes on 75 Posts
Default
Originally Posted by Nikon1
And, the support that EMD offers. One of our members had a number of issues with one of the sensors in the EMD grille. EMD swapped out 1 or 2 of them to attempt to rectify the problem. As EMD is based in California, it was not a long, arduous problem to get help and new parts. Try that with a Chinese based eBay vendor.

IMHO — asi posted earlier — you get what you pay for. That extra $$ it cost me was worth the peace of mind it delivered.

As always, YMMV.

—John
EMD support is pretty great and they are willing to provide support. Ceramic has helped the situation a bit as I had the installer build up the ledge and slope away more. Occasionally will get a false positive, but it’s better than it was before ceramic.
arrtewwx is offline  
Reply Like



Advanced Search
Quick Reply: RS5-Style grills, difference between EMD and eBay Chinese products?


Reply Closed Thread Share

All times are GMT -8. The time now is 06:25 PM.