NOS Brake Hoses

E3_UK

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When I bought my car it came with a load of spares, including a full set of OEM (ATE) brake hoses, still bagged with BMW factory labels. Problem is they were manufactured in 1998, purchased the same year by the owner. They haven't been exposed to UV or humidity or anything else however, would you fit these ?. Visually they appear perfect, will they have degraded over time despite not being exposed to any external factors ?.
 

dang

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I bet a big number the OEM parts sold now are NOS and questionable. I bought carb base gaskets and they came in about ten pieces they were so brittle. LOL

I just replaced my brake hoses and I don't think they were that expensive but I also think yours are probably fine. I'm cheap and would probably use them.
 

E3_UK

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Would you replace them if the original hoses look perfectly ok ?. They appear to be the originals although can't see any dates on them.
 

Dick Steinkamp

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I bet a big number the OEM parts sold now are NOS and questionable. I bought carb base gaskets and they came in about ten pieces they were so brittle. LOL

I just replaced my brake hoses and I don't think they were that expensive but I also think yours are probably fine. I'm cheap and would probably use them.
I'm cheap too (and proud of it!), but I'll save money other places besides brakes.

If your car won't go, it's inconvenient. If it won't stop, it's deadly.

I restore lots of cars. The project is the hobby for me. If I don't know for sure that the brake hoses are less than 10 years old when I start on a car, I replace them. The industry says the average life of a brake hose is 6 years. (But then, they may be partially motivated by wanting to sell brake hoses ;)). Hoses probably don't deteriorate as quickly on the shelf, but they will still deteriorate.

Hoses for a Bavaria are about $6US each. Cheap insurance.
 

E3_UK

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I don't know about in the US but over here folk are quite happy to use original NOS hoses they find at autojumbles as often they are far better quality than the Chinese rubbish most suppliers sell these days. I guess it's down to personal choice. I have never seen an MOT inspector check for dates on hoses (or tyres for that matter), they just check condition, no cracks or perished rubber. Tyre suppliers also stipulate a useable life but again if they are stored correctly they should still be ok. It's a subject that will always split opinions I suppose.
 

dang

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I don't know about in the US but over here folk are quite happy to use original NOS hoses they find at autojumbles as often they are far better quality than the Chinese rubbish most suppliers sell these days. I guess it's down to personal choice. I have never seen an MOT inspector check for dates on hoses (or tyres for that matter), they just check condition, no cracks or perished rubber. Tyre suppliers also stipulate a useable life but again if they are stored correctly they should still be ok. It's a subject that will always split opinions I suppose.
This is the big question. NOS vs new "quality" hoses. I've never heard of anyone having trouble using new hoses, made where ever, but it would be interesting to know how NOS hoses compare to new non-OEM hoses.

I just took off hoses on my E3 that were 50 years old and they showed no signs of problems and actually flexed fairly well. I was impressed.
 
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