Genuine MINI Cooper vs Aftermarket Parts - Shop Online USA

Why shop for genuine or aftermarket MINI parts at OutMotoring vs the other online MINI Parts and Accessories retailers? Here's a few things to consider.

Trust, respect, experience, and legitimacy

Let's face it, the internet has become quite a challenging place to feel and shop safely. As a person shopping for genuine MINI parts, performance upgrade parts, and factory OEM or aftermarket accessories to upgrade, repair or maintain your MINI cooper it can be very confusing, scary and risky. A lot of sellers and websites promise to get you what you need but often fall short. A quick google search for MINI Parts or MINI Cooper Parts will result in many dozens if not hundreds of search results for retailers that want you shop on their website for MINI parts. Often there will be a cross section of generic "car part websites" that pop up as top results only because they're massive and have a ton of products but have parts for everything from Audi to Volkswagen and everything between. While that can be a good thing it is often a bad thing. Ever heard of the old saying "jack of all trades and a master of none"? That's how we feel about the vast majority of our 'big box' competitors and after talking to thousands of customers a year we find that they too agree after a few phone calls to get more information about a particular part for their MINI. Some customer service folks often just don't have a clue. At all. You may get lucky and find a diamond in the rough but it's rare.

Often MINI Cooper parts retailers online will have MINI parts added to their massive selection of parts for Audi, BMW, Mercedes, Audi and other brands and consider offering MINI parts just another way to make a few more bucks. We have found, after talking to our customers over the last 20+ years that customer service at those large online companies is futile and the customer service reps are not educated in the various MINI models and often don't the difference between a bearing or a bushing or between a R53 and a R56 or a Countryman and Clubman. They often don't carefully review products to confirm they meet the demands of use on a daily driven MINI or a track driven MINI Cooper. This is a bad combination that often results in a poor shopping experience. Would you rather spend your money with a company that has your best interest over theirs? When shopping with OutMotoring you can trust that we know what we're talking about when it comes to buying parts for your MINI Cooper. We have the experience to know what questions to ask to make sure we get you the correct parts.

While this is a pretty bold and fairly judgemental and negative assumption it's based on real conversations and real experiences of our customers. We trust what they tell us.

Correct parts, correctly classified, and correct fitment. Or not?

We know shopping online for MINI Cooper Parts and Genuine MINI or Aftermarket accessories is a challenge and potential risk. Aside from not getting your parts at all, due to a rise in fraudulent sellers, getting the correct part for your MINI is often a shot in the dark. Many retailers of MINI parts don't the very specific changes between all 4 generations of MINIs as well well as the very distinctive changes between each model with each generation. Furthermore, many parts are the same between Cooper and Cooper S models but there's also many thousands of parts that are very different and not interchangeable. And in some years MINI offered a mix of generations! So for example in 2008 MINI offered the Generation 1 Convertible as well as the Generation 2 Hatchback because MINI did not change over all of the models in the same year so they will classify a 2008 as a gen2 or mixup the listing (and assign a 2008 Convertible to the generation 2 cluster). It took over 3 years to fully make the changeover to the next generation in some instances! 

Many online MINI Cooper parts retailers will also put MINI under BMW as the brand or call them "Coopers". As a result we find that many online retailers of MINI parts will have very broad and completely incorrect model year changeovers on their navigation! They will often have incorrect generation assignments (if they recognize them at all), list the wrong models names, or completely skip some. We find R60 Countryman and R55 Clubman models are often mixed up. "R56" designations are assigned to 'all gen 2' models when in fact there are 7 completely different "R" generation 2 models (R55, R56, R57, R58, R59 R60 and R61)! Be sure to checkout out our VERY popular Which MINI Model do I have page as it has a full breakdown of the various MINI models. And then there's the base Cooper vs Cooper S and JCW models (John Cooper Works).

Simply put, shopping at websites with poor model navigation, incorrect model assignments and wrong model year designations can and WILL be a disaster. And guess what happens when you, the customer, buys something based on their incorrect model assignments or completely incorrect info? They will blame YOU for ordering the wrong part and you will often have to pay to ship items back and sometimes pay restocking fees. And in the meantime your MINI sits broken while you wait for the correct parts- if they even offer them.

Between misinformation, poorly designed user navigation, incorrect or incomplete model designations and poor selection we find that the risk is simply not worth taking and our customers agree. That's why we have forged one of the best reputations as the top online and brick and mortar location to source all of your genuine and aftermarket MINI parts and accessories.

Price, value and quality. Pick 2 (or 3?)

One of the biggest issues we find is in the quality of the actual parts ordered. There's a wide range of manufacturers for any given part and while there may be a part available from 6 different manufacturers we have found that in 3 of them are poorly engineered, poorly manufactured or lower quality materials are used to save money. As a result a part may be offered at prices from $10 all the way up to $50 for the 'same' part number. We typically find that the $10 variant is of much lower quality and will cause your MINI Cooper to require additional repairs much sooner than the same part from a different manufacturer that uses better materials or manufacturing processes and likely at a higher price. There's nothing wrong with wanting to save some money while keeping your MIN on the road but replacing a $10 part is quite a hassle when the $30 or $50 dollar part would have been a much better option. We have a very strict threshold for what we sell and it must meet our quality control standards in order for us to sell it to our customers. While other retailers may offer the same part from 5 different manufacturers at 5 different price points we will typically offer the genuine MINI part, the same part from the company that makes it for MINI (but in different packaging) and in some cases 1 other option that is also have very high quality but less than the other 2. We stop there as we don't want to risk selling a lower quality to a customer. Why would do that? We love our customers and want our customers to keep coming back because they trust that we will offer high quality MINI repair and replacement parts at competitive prices and save them the frustration of buying lower cost, lower quality parts that puts their life at risk.

When you're shopping online for MINI parts consider that when something is considerably cheaper at another company it typically means it is not the same quality. We are experts in MINI Cooper parts and have been doing this for a LONG time and we've seen it all. We have seen what poor quality parts really cost and anytime we find a part that does not meet our standards we discontinue it immediately. We often will wait months and years before adding a new part to make sure that the feedback and reviews (from various online sources) to confirm the part meets our standards before we offer it to our customers. We don't sell anything we wouldn't put on our own MINIs and find that there's nothing wrong with being frugal but intelligent. Therefore we offer what we consider to be a great cross section of genuine, OE and aftermarket repair and replacement parts to suit every reasonable budget. Some of our competitors are not as transparent as we are about who makes a part we're selling. We want to clear and have the correct brand as that is a critical part the value, quality, price relationship as a companies reputation and warranty are critical to the overall value.

We know that pricing is critical and for many is the only or main deciding factor. We have competitive pricing and many of customers comment that we consistently have the best pricing for MINI Cooper parts and accessories so we must be doing something right. We could make our prices even lower but it would risk our ability to stay in business and honestly we feel what we offer in terms of industry leading 'traditional' customer service, by answering phone calls and being attentive to emails, text messages and communication via social media we feel we are offering what our competitors simply don't offer. We regularly hear that our competitors don't answer the phone or if they do don't have the answers to basic questions about parts on their own website. We are in it for the long haul and have forged a reputation as the best in the industry and we hope you agree. If we're a few % higher on a few items compared to our competitors we hope you find the value we offer worth the peace of mind and service before AND after the sale.

OEM vs OE vs Aftermarket vs Genuine- "Tiers of Quality"

Most customers know there's a range of parts from bad to good at different price points. We filter through the bad and simply won't offer them. One of the secrets of the automotive industries is that any given auto manufacturer will typically not make all of the parts used in their vehicles. Rather, they use xxx for brake calipers, xxx for rotors, xxc for air conditioning compressors, xxx for radiators, xxx for wipers, xxx for alternators, etc. The list goes on for every part of the car with few exceptions. In this case MINI themselves may only make a fraction of the complete car as tens of thousands of parts are source from third parties and are shipped in and assembled into the factory supplied car- sometimes in modules such as complete center consoles pre loaded with electronics, seats and interior components, engines, etc.

Those same suppliers called OEM or Original Equipment Manufacturers often are under contract to NOT sell the same components through the aftermarket supply chain but sometimes those contracts expire or there are quantity minimums or maximums that once passed are allowed to sell the same part through other supply chains and NOT only through the MINI dealer network and not in the same packaging but at much lower prices. We find that these OEM parts sourced through aftermarket supply chains are the BEST option for our customers because you get the exact same part as sold by the MINI dealer but often for 10-30% less. For example Bosch is a popular supplier for alternators, starters, spark plugs, coil packs, O2 sensors and other components and if you look at the MINI part installed at the factory it will say Bosch on the part. We can get the same part just not in the MINI packaging for less. Same thing with brake pads and rotors which are often made by TEXTAR (for MINI). And wipers and clutches, spark plugs, motor mounts, suspension parts and other components are often made by VAICO, LUK, VALEO, Lemforder or NGK. And sometimes MINI or BMW will have multiple suppliers for the same part number which we find when it comes to clutches and spark plugs, and air filters. Oil, engine air and cabin filters are often made by MANN, Purolux or Hengst, or Mahle. Check out this page that has most of the manufacturers we offer so you can shop for MINI parts and accessories and navigate by manufacturer.

Another way to look at this is in tiers. Tier 1 will be genuine MINI or the OEM/OE that made it for MINI. Tier 2 will be a high quality, respected aftermarket brand that has a warranty, a good reputation and typically lower price. We stop there. Tier 3 and Tier 4 are simply not worth chasing. They offer lower quality, lower prices, random business names that often last a few years and then they change their name to something else due to the horrible reputation. We don't sell that junk. But we know who does and it's usually a massive website with some generic name that tries to be everything to everyone and is in business to ONLY make money and not to maintain a reputation.

Selection, selection, selection.

In real estate the saying "location, location, location" is said to be the most critical. When it comes to shopping online for Genuine MINI Cooper parts, upgrade performance parts, and MINI Cooper aftermarket accessories we feel our selection is amongst the best on the planet. Location to real estate is selection in our market because in todays world it's basically impossible for a local brick and mortar store to have EVERYTHING needed and having something purchased online is more or a less an expectation when it comes to brands such as MINI. 

We may not have every item that every other retailer offers but we have a fantastic selection of not only replacement and repair parts including genuine MINI and high quality lower cost aftermarket parts from other suppliers but also accessories to make your MINI Cooper stand out in the crowd. Our range of MINI Cooper parts includes all of the things customers typically find not very fun to buy such as spark plugs and serpentine belts, air filters, and oil all the way to the things that are very fun to buy such as performance lowering springs, larger sway bars, carbon fiber accessories, spoilers, wings, blackout door handles, driving lights, performance clutch kits, wheels, checkered flag, union jack interior and exterior accessories. And it's all one one website. Selection, selection, selection really maters when shipping costs are rising and customer service from questionable online sources is hovering around unacceptable to futile. Buy your MINI upgrade and replacement parts from from one place. Buy from OutMotoring.com.

You answered my call?

By far the biggest compliment we get, besides our friendly, knowledgeable customer support via email, chat and phone is that we actually answer the phone. It must be a dying form of customer service. We recall when Amazon tried not having a phone number for many years. It was a disaster. If Amazon has phone support so should your preferred MINI parts retailer. If they don't stop shopping with them. It's that simple and a basic requirement of any legitimate business.

While we love to pat ourselves on the back we feel it's significantly more valuable to read what our customers say so here's some links to customer comment over the years:   as well as reviews collected by Google linked here.

Processing, shipping and happiness.

We make it our top priority to get our customer orders out as soon as possible. In most cases we get orders shipped within 1 business day. We're a small company with only a few employees and small, manageable warehouse with a cross section of the most popular parts in stock. We're far from the massive automated warehouses that are run by Amazon and other larger competitors. As a frequent shopper at Amazon (often 2+ orders a week and going back all the way to 2003) we have found their level of service has dropped significantly over the last 3-5 years. Orders that used to ship within minutes and arrive within 1-2 days require 3-6 days of processing plus 3-5 days of shipping (typically from multiple locations). So, Amazon the giant of e-commerce has proven to have some weakness. The Amazon experience simply RUINED shopping expectations for everyone. Free shipping, endless selection, insanely competitive prices (with exceptions) and orrders being processed and shipped in less than 1-7 HOURS and processed or shipped from 1 of 100+ warehouses across the USA to arrive in 1-2 business days. To see them slip offers glimpse into the reality of what we should expect as humans in the age of internet shopping. A few years ago the Amazon Prime offer for 2 day shipping for nearly everything simply vanished. I cannot recall how many years ago but I have not seen the option for Next day or 2nd Day shipping in many years and am personally a Prime member.

It's sort of refreshing to see this cycle as it has made shoppers realize that getting stuff takes time and that we all need to set our expectations based on reality. We're very good at getting orders processed and shipped with the vast majority of all orders shipping within 1 business day with 3-5 % of orders taking 2-3 days and maybe 1% of all orders taking longer- typically due to supplier and or supply chain issues.

Speaking of supply chain. That is a term, until COVID hit, was NOT a household term. Once COVID shut down production, shipping, customs processing, local shipping and delivery, labor forces, material shipments and nearly every other process required to make, ship, store, and delivery of items we need the term became used daily across all news channels and social media. This is a great thing frankly. It made us all aware (or should have) that any break in this well greased chain of consumerism causes ripples that are endless. Would you like some toilet paper? Anyone sitting on TP that they overbought when the 2020 rush hit? If so, you suck. We sort of hope a wave of endless diarrhea visits your house for along time until you run out.

Anyways, back to reality. We, like all retailers try our best to process and ship orders as fast as possible. We offer nearly 20,000 MINI Cooper parts and while we would love to stock all of them even MINI USA does not stock them all. They have multiple warehouses in the USA and rely on shipping items in from Germany and even that warehouse runs out. Our local dealer only stocks a fraction of we stock and we have over $300,000 in product sitting on our shelves so we can ship orders quickly or get it from a variety of local and US based warehouses drop shipped to our customers. When we need a part we can typically get it in as little as 2 hours or 1-2 business days. Some MINI parts or accessories are shipped direct from our suppliers warehouses across the USA and may require shipping orders in multiple boxes. We do our best to get orders shipped quickly and if a delay arises we do our best to communicate via text, phone or email about any delays as well as proposed ship dates.

We find that our customers are very happy when shopping with us. We may get a few frustrating experiences each year due to supply chain issues that cause delays, or shipping related issues where parcels are lost, stolen or delayed. Having realistic expectations combined with some level of empathy usually allows us to get through just about any issue.

Ultimately it comes down to trust

We think our customers, both existing and new customers, find that they can trust us. Our website is intelligently laid out, has thorough model and year listings, has a comprehensive product selection, offers competitive pricing, and that we offer what many consider to be legendary customer service amongst the best of any online or brick and mortar store on the planet. We feel that combination of offerings makes us stand out in the sea of online retailers offering MINI Cooper replacement parts, upgrade parts, performance parts and aftermarket accessories. We hope that if you have yet to order from us you will. Be sure to let us know so we can be sure to put in extra effort to make sure the parts ordered are correct for your MINI. Give us a call, text us, or email us and we are happy to help.