MyE28.com

Absolutely. Best of luck, sorry for my confusion.

I think M-B probably wound up doing the same thing that BMW did: new insert for new housing. I’d be curious what Ferrari did: they also used this valve and insert on a few models...

No idea on quality or manufacturer, but there's a cheap kit on ebay, even showing BMW fitment. Might be worth trying for $16.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Mercedes-W123- ... Swd0BV4Sl1

I'm getting disgusted with the poor quality of BMW replacement parts in general.

I just finished doing some A/C work, and purchased a new evaporator core (~$800) and an A/C blower (~$350) from BMW. I had to return them both because they arrived damaged; the large inlet tube on the evap core was twisted at an odd angle and one of the plastic squirrel cages on the blower was broken. I don't think they were damaged in shipment, as the boxes were fine. Indications are that they were damaged while in warehouse storage. So a job that should have taken me a weekend ended up taking weeks.

And now I'm dealing with a leaking heater valve again. Argh!

Those “eBay inserts”: I have three of them. None of them work. I’m assuming they are the same Indian manufacturer that supplied FCP, Pelican, ECS...

I think the consensus for me is, once the current old-style valve insert stops working, it’ll be a new valve body or nothing.

LarryM wrote: Oct 05, 2020 1:30 PM I'm getting disgusted with the poor quality of BMW replacement parts in general.

I just finished doing some A/C work, and purchased a new evaporator core (~$800) and an A/C blower (~$350) from BMW. I had to return them both because they arrived damaged; the large inlet tube on the evap core was twisted at an odd angle and one of the plastic squirrel cages on the blower was broken. I don't think they were damaged in shipment, as the boxes were fine. Indications are that they were damaged while in warehouse storage. So a job that should have taken me a weekend ended up taking weeks.

And now I'm dealing with a leaking heater valve again. Argh!

I’ve noticed this. Prices rise sharply, quality plummets. Welcome to your new “mobility” company.

Here's a detailed thread about the heater inserts in a Mercedes Forum:
(dunno if it's been shared here already)

https://www.benzworld.org/threads/monov ... w.2507129/

That’s the original post that gave me the idea years ago.

Can someone please post the part number for the "New" valve body? Will it fit on all e28's?

So now BMWPartsPros.com is telling me that #64-11-8-390-132 is NLA.

I'm trying to find out if this is true, and if so what is the part # it's been replaced with (if any).

Mobile Tradition lists 64111373191 as the correct, current part number for the water valve with insert, and 64118390132 for the insert.

ECS shows the insert as “back ordered no ETA”, and Pelican shows “ships in three to five days” for $173 and change.

Call Paul at Maximillian Mobile Tradition or Steve at Blunttech and they’ll tell you what’s what. None of these affiliated BMW parts sites can really tell you what’s in the BMW parts system online accurately .. I use a dealer to do that, or call. (A dealer can search nationwide and tell you what’s in the country.)

(And without a new valve body the new insert won’t work. An older valve body requires the older style insert, just as an FYI.)

Good idea to contact Maximillian and Blunttech.

I’ve been calling around. Steve at Blunttech, Schmeidmann, BMWPartsPros, and BMWDirectParts.com (Husker BMW) have all confirmed that the insert (#64-11-8-390-132) is NLA. Paul at Maximillian suggested the Mercedes insert as a better option and was then surprised to hear both inserts have been discontinued.

So out of frustration I ordered a new heater valve (#64-11-1-373-191) from BMWPartsPros, and had it delivered to my local BMW dealer so I could easily return it if necessary. Price was $315 plus tax, no shipping charges. I ordered it yesterday afternoon and it arrived today. I’ve found they’re great to deal with.

First thing I noticed when I unwrapped the new valve is that the plastic body is now molded in one piece. See attached pics. Still made in China but I don’t see how it could possibly leak. Evidently BMW has FINALLY realized there was a problem and made an engineering change.

Will update after I get it installed and have some time on it.

I think I found the manufacturer. Will ask him to send me a sample. https://m.alibaba.com/product/620461800 ... ifications. This is the only manufacturer for the e28/4 that I found in Alibaba .