by | May 17, 2020
If you own a BMW with an S65 or an S85 engine, or if you’re planning on purchasing one soon, the first four words that come to your mind are ROD BEARINGS and THROTTLE ACTUATORS.
These are the two main weak points of the overall very reliable BMW platform. It is pretty much considered a sin now to post an E60 M5, E63/64 M6, or E90/92/93 M3 for sale without addressing a rod bearing replacement and throttle actuator replacement.
Throttle Actuator failure in BMW models
The throttle actuator failure isn’t fatal like the rod bearings, but it is extremely inconvenient when your car goes into limp mode driving down the road with your friend next to you. Even worse, imagine reserving a time for a track day and your car goes into limp mode on your first run. We’ve heard these horror stories hundreds of times before. Seeing all those lights on your cluster Like a Xmas tree is extremely frustrating.
Fault codes of this fault are 2B15 (throttle bank 1) and 2B16 (throttle bank 2). For many, your heart drops the first time you see this on your cluster. It only gets worse when you start looking for options to replace your units. The OEM units can run you anywhere from $1400.00 to $1700.00 USD.
Sometimes, even the best make mistakes
Without a doubt, German engineering is considered to be the benchmark when it comes to combining design and functionality but even the best of us make mistakes. Look no further than the new grille design for the G30.
What were they thinking?! I have yet to see one enthusiast who has anything positive to say about this design. It would be safe to say, if you had knowledge about the makeup and functionality of plastics and electronics, you would shake your head and say the exact same thing; “what was BMW thinking when they put such a flawed product in one of the best engines ever made?”
The cheap plastic gears are one thing, but the electronics are graded for much lower temperatures than the normal operating temperature. The only way you can explain this is that someone was having a rough day when this was put together. A conspiracy theorist might argue that this was done intentionally so that the BMW parts market can continue to thrive and the dealerships can stay open. They would argue, why would it benefit them to have a perfect product?
OEM units are not the solution. They are the problem!
Just like when it comes to rod bearing replacement nowadays, replacing your OEM bearings with OEM is not even a choice! It’s ACL, BE, VAC as your top three choices. It is quite surprising to see BMW owners replacing their OEM units with the same CHEAP and POORLY DESIGNED OEM units.
Due to the outrageous price of new units, people resort to buying gears online and believe that by replacing gears, the problem will be fixed. Changing the gears, however, will not solve the problem with electronics. It is for this reason, we refuse to sell gears separately even though we know it would be a lucrative venture.
Up until 2017, there were no alternatives but to purchase an OEM throttle actuator in the event of it failing or replace the gears and pray that it would work. ///M owners had no choice but to buy another poorly designed throttle actuator that is bound to fail again.
Coming up with a solution for OEM Throttle Actuators
Our team of experts came up with an upgraded design for the throttle actuator and launched this product in the early part of 2015. Our goal was to lower the cost of the unit while also increasing the lifespan of the unit by upgrading all parts. Initially, in 2015, we started by offering a service in which we would just change the gears and the MOSFETs.
We were having success with this, but the return rates were alarming. During this period, we offered a 12-month warranty. Every single customer we did this service for came back during our warranty period. In the year 2016, we decided it was time to bite the bullet and devise a plan that was going to work.
Our engineering team agreed that the only way to achieve this was to use the shells as cores and strip the entire unit down internally and build it back up by replacing the gears made from superior material than the OEM ones. Replace the MOSFETs, transistors, capacitors, voltage regulators, microprocessors, and serial Eprom. In short, the new service was going to offer a brand new unit. The only thing used in this unit was going to be the shell that had no impact on the functionality of the unit.
After our testing period during this year, we launched this product in January of 2017. We were so confident with the results that we offered a transferable lifetime warranty with this product.
Success in creating a high-end replacement for OEM Units
The best part about this product was how we’re able to shave the price of a unit to almost 40 percent off from the OEM unit. So, in simple words, a customer was going to get a far superior product for far less money. We were able to sell them for $360.00 per unit.
We knew the ///M community would appreciate such work and we were not wrong with our estimation. This has been a huge success in the ///M community. We have sold thousands of remanufactured units worldwide. We have a 5.0. on Google reviews with over 500 customers leaving reviews for us. The BMW forums are flooded with high praises for our product and service.
So if you are looking for a replacement for you BMW M3, M5 or M6’s throttle actuators, look no further. Check out our units in our store:
BMW E6X M6 Throttle Actuator
BMW E6X M6 Throttle Actuator
BMW E6X M6 Throttle Actuator
