Alternator OEM BMW or Duralast

OEM BMW Alternator
nikediboi
  • Warning light:
Rating 4.0

My first car was a E46 316i, under 100tkm on odo, had it for 3 years, literally gave no problems.

Sold the E46 and got a E39 530D because I love them. Has been reliable so far, I've had it as daily for almost a year now and the only critical problems it has had are that the alternator gave out after a couple of weeks owning and EGR thermostat was bad.

Pros: reliable, no critical problems
Cons: alternator gave out, EGR thermostat bad
Vehicle: BMW
Mileage: 100000 km
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OEM BMW Alternator

I've replaced the alternator (failed on me), done waterpump & thermostat (180,000km done as a precaution).

Pros: done as a precaution
Cons: alternator failed
Vehicle: BMW
Mileage: 190000 km
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Duralast Alternator

2004 Limited with 310000 miles alternator went out so went to local service shop . They were able to get it in and repaired next morning other shops in the area are a week backlog.Parts we're 310.00 (Duralast alt.and Gates belt)

Pros: repaired next morning
Mileage: 498896 km
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OEM BMW Alternator
Existing-Mongoose-11
  • Warning light:
  • Lights:
Rating 3.0

This was the only non oe product in my car. When mine went it went . There weren\u2019t any bmw ones available for love nor money at the time. I get 13.8 out of mine as well. Can been fine for 12 months.

Pros: fine for 12 months
Cons: non oe product
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Duralast Alternator

I started having problems like my alternator was going bad again so I replaced it with a duralast alternator part number DL2618-6-11 because I had a lifetime warranty on it and it still didn't fix it so I was thinking it may be a wire shorting out was playing around with the wires that go to the alternator and the plug on the back that goes from the alternator to the PCM and it's started charging again ( I guess it finally connected the electricity) so I replaced the plug on the back of the alternator. It fixed it work for about a month then it happen again check charging system battery light on and battery going dead so I was done. I took it to the Ford place they wanted to replace the other side of the PCM to alternator connector which they did and the alternator so I got another AutoZone lifetime warranty alternator and when they did that they said everything is charging and running like it is supposed to be but your PCM is still throwing the battery light and check charging system because your alternator is charging at 14v and for the PCM to cut the light off it needs to be at 14.6 v. So they wanted to put another alternator on it because they said the alternator from autozone the voltage regulator wouldn't let it go to 14.6 volts. The car runs and drives and doesn't have any problems I just hate the light being on to be honest I have spent hours on the Internet trying to see if it's just these AutoZone alternators that aren't letting it get to the volts the PCM wants or not haven't found anything.

Cons: insufficient voltage output, battery light remains on
Part number: DL2618-6-11
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Other comparisons

Which alternator to choose — OEM BMW or Duralast?

If choosing alternator across many manufacturers, check the part ranking. If your choice is down to two brands, the PartReview part comparisons help.

We compare alternator across these categories:

Comparison of alternator OEM BMW and Duralast
  1. PR Score.
  2. Overall ranking.
  3. Vote balance.
  4. Average rating.
  5. Number of reviews.
  6. Feature ratings.
  7. Car owners’ choice.

Which alternator are better — Duralast or OEM BMW?

In March 2026 on PartReview, alternator OEM BMW were overall better than Duralast.

  1. OEM BMW received a PR Score of 62 out of 100, and Duralast scored 43 points.
  2. OEM BMW ranked 12 in the overall ranking, and Duralast ranked 18.
  3. The average rating is higher for OEM BMW (3.2) than for Duralast (2.6).
  4. Alternator OEM BMW have better feature ratings than Duralast:
    • Warning light - owners believe, that this property for Duralast is better than OEM BMW.
    • Lights - drivers claim, that this property for OEM BMW is outperforms Duralast.
    • Noise - reviews suggest, that this property for OEM BMW is preferred to Duralast.

Which alternator are more popular — OEM BMW or Duralast?

Alternator OEM BMW and Duralast were equally popular according to data in March 2026.

By vote balance, alternator OEM BMW surpassed Duralast:

  • For OEM BMW, the ratio of positive (30) to negative (18) votes is 12 votes.
  • For Duralast, the ratio of positive (74) to negative (98) votes is -24 votes.

By number of reviews, alternator Duralast surpassed OEM BMW:

Which alternator do car owners prefer — OEM BMW or Duralast?

In March 2026, according to PartReview, alternator OEM BMW and Duralast have not taken top places in car-specific ratings. You can help by adding your review about these manufacturers.

Other comparisons of alternator

If this comparison didn’t fully answer your question, there are many others on PartReview.

For example, comparisons of alternator OEM BMW with: Denso, Bosch, OEM Toyota, VALEO, OEM Honda, OEM Volkswagen, AC DELCO, OEM FORD, OEM Audi, OEM Nissan.

Also available: comparisons of alternator Duralast with: Denso, Bosch, OEM Toyota, VALEO, OEM Honda, OEM Volkswagen, AC DELCO, OEM FORD, OEM Audi, OEM Nissan.

You can also see who is better among other alternator manufacturers: Bosch or Denso, Denso or Duralast, OEM Toyota or Denso, Bosch or Duralast, Denso or VALEO.

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