crew219

Despite coming in "aftermarket" boxes, almost every single component had audi rings on it and looked to be exactly like, or better than the OEM components we removed from the car. New bolts were provided for everything except the three 10mm bolts that hold on the tensioner (which ended up looking exceptionally new when we removed them).

The thermostat was a Behr unit (no flimsy wahlers), and the waterpump was a Gepu unit (no rough castings, metal flakes or anything) which had a nicely machined mating surface and a paper gasket that was not bent, creased or broken . . . not to mention all the boxes were in new condition with no punctures or damage.

Only other non-audi stamped parts were the Contitech timing and serp belts, both packaged nicely and with no defects.

Overall with the price + quality, the PureMS kit is extremely hard to beat when compared to kits that I've used from ECS and Blauparts.

Thanks again Mike for providing quality product at a competitive price, and thanks to all the people who responded yesterday in my "Help" post.

Dave

Ginseng Sniperâ„¢

For a service that cost $900-$1300 depending, why cut corners to save a few bucks on often sub-quality non-OEM parts? I was planning on doing one of these kits until a rash of water pump failures occurred from the ECS kit. I will stick to the OE stuff, but good review nonetheless.

V6UnderPressure

Well in most cases the products made by aftermarket companies is better quality and cheaper than OEM

ModifiedA4

-better quality- not in my experience.

mAd1(gt3071r)

agreed, just got aftermarket housing for the back of the block. It cracked in my hands during instal

V6UnderPressure

companies out there that produce garbage but there are just as many that produce top notch products. You just have to do your research and know what you are getting.

crew219

for the actual parts.

As for the waterpump, I think aftermarket is better than the OE, since the OE waterpump uses a plastic impeller.

No comment on the Behr thermostat except that it looked EXACTLY like the OE, not like the wahler that I used before.

Contitech belts seem to be excellent and I wouldn't be surprised if they are the actual supplier to Audi/VW. The old belt was so glazed over (serp) that I couldn't really make out any of the lettering on it.

All in all, I agree with you about using cheaper aftermarket parts (like some of the parts in ECS's kit), but in this case, I believe that this is the actual Audi part, with just that manufacturer's packaging.

Dave

crew219

The timing belt parts (rollers, belts, bolts, tensioner) all came in a Contitech / CRP box. CRP is the distributor of Contitech products in NA. From what I've read, Contitech is a division of or paired with ATE. Both are known suppliers to Audi. The tensioner in the kit had the Audi logo cast into the housing.

The tensioner lever also had the Audi logo cast into it. It was manufactured by Ruville or Revelle (my memory escapes me).

Dave

StoneMan

Yep. Just used one myself. Very high quality kit made for a very successful install

StoneMan

The PureMS parts are OEM parts, more or less. No difference in quality, just less expensive