Finding your OE number

Every replacement part we sell is matched on the number the vehicle manufacturer gave it. If you can read that number off the part in your hand, or off the one still on the car, the guesswork ends there. This page shows you where to look, how to read what you find, and what to do when the number has worn away.

Keep the part, or a photograph of it, in front of you while you work through this.

What an OE number is

OE stands for original equipment. The OE number is the identifier the vehicle manufacturer assigns to a specific part, in a specific version, for a specific application. It is not a description and it is not a category. It points at one item.

Two things follow from that, and they are the reason we build the whole shop around it.

• The number is precise where words are not. "Front wheel bearing" describes hundreds of different components across the vehicles on the road. One OE number describes exactly one.
• The number travels. An aftermarket manufacturer making a part for the same application will list the OE number as a cross-reference on the box, in its catalogue or on its own label. The number is the common language between the vehicle manufacturer, the parts industry and us.

You may also come across a supplier's own number on the same part. Large components are frequently made by an independent manufacturer under contract, and that manufacturer stamps its own casting or production number alongside the vehicle manufacturer's number. Both are useful. Send us both if you have both, and tell us which is which if you know.

Why the model name is not enough

This is the single most common reason a part arrives and does not fit.

A model name is a marketing name. It stays the same for years while the parts underneath it change, and it stays the same across markets where the specification is different. Two cars can carry identical badges on the boot lid and take different components.

A worked example. Two cars, same model name, same nameplate on the back, bought a year apart. The first was built before the mid-life update, the second after it. During that update the manufacturer changed the headlamp housing: new mounting points, a different connector, a different bulb or module arrangement. Both cars are the same model by name. The headlamp from one will not mount, seat or plug into the other. There was no visible announcement, no change of model name, and the two cars can sit side by side in a car park looking near enough identical from ten paces.

Now add the other axes on which the same model name splits:

• build date, where a change lands part way through a production year
• market, where a vehicle sold in one region carries different lighting, mirrors, sensors or emissions equipment
• body style, drive layout and gearbox
• trim and options, where an item fitted on a higher specification changes the parts around it
• left or right hand drive

None of those change the badge. All of them can change the part. The OE number is the layer underneath all of it, and it is the only one that answers the question directly.

Where the number is physically written

Manufacturers mark parts in whatever way suits the material. Work through the list below for the kind of part you are holding. Good light and a clean cloth make more difference than any tool. A phone torch held at a low angle across the surface, rather than straight at it, makes raised or recessed characters cast a shadow and become readable.

Moulded plastic

Look on the back or the inside face, usually in a flat unstressed area away from the mounting points. Plastic parts are marked with raised or recessed characters formed in the mould itself, so the number is often the same colour as the part and easy to miss.

Bumpers, trim panels, covers, ducting, lamp housings, mirror bodies and interior mouldings all carry their number this way. Expect it to sit near a recycling code such as PP or ABS, near a date wheel, or near a small manufacturer logo. If the part has an obvious hidden face, that is the one to check first.

Stamped or cast metal

Look for characters pressed into a flat pad, a boss, a flange or a machined face. On castings the number is usually raised, formed in the casting pattern. On pressings and forgings it is usually struck in, and it may be shallow.

Brackets, arms, housings, pumps, manifolds, carriers and covers are marked this way. Old grease and road grime fill the characters, so clean the area with a rag and some degreaser before you decide the number is not there. On a corroded part, a light rub with a fine abrasive pad across the face will often bring a number back that looked completely gone.

Labels and printed plates

Look for a self-adhesive foil or paper label, a printed plate riveted to the body of the part, or laser-etched characters on a smooth metal face. Electrical and electronic assemblies almost always carry one: control modules, pumps, motors, compressors, actuators, sensors, blowers and switch packs.

A label often carries several numbers together. The vehicle manufacturer's number and the component manufacturer's number sit next to each other, with a serial number, a date code and a barcode. If you cannot tell which is which, photograph the whole label rather than transcribing one line.

Under a connector, a cap or a cover

Some parts hide the label deliberately, to protect it from heat, oil or light. Sensors, switches, small motors and modules frequently carry their sticker on the face that is covered when the plug is fitted, or under a clip-on cap.

Unplug the connector, with the ignition off, and look at the face underneath. On modules, look at the mating face against the bulkhead or the bracket. On a small motor, look at the end cap.

Glass

Look at the edge of the glass, in the black printed band, usually in a bottom corner. Glass carries a permanent etched or screen-printed marking block that gives the maker, the type approval marks and a part reference.

The block will not always contain the vehicle manufacturer's own number. Photograph the entire block, including all the approval marks and symbols, and we will work back from it.

Rubber, hose and belts

Look along the length of the part for printed or embossed characters, often repeated at intervals so at least one instance survives. Belts carry their profile and length designation, which is as good as a number for matching. Hoses carry a number on the outer wall, frequently near one end.

Anywhere else

If the part is an assembly, check every sub-component, because one of them will usually be legible. If the part is one of a pair, check the other side of the vehicle. The mirror-image part carries a number that differs from the one you want by only a digit or a letter, and it is far easier to find the correct number from a legible neighbour than from a destroyed original.

How to read the number you have found

Once you have characters, write them down exactly as they appear, then check them against these points.

Copy every character. Do not tidy, shorten or reformat. Leading zeros matter. Trailing groups matter.

Separators are not always meaningful. The same number may be printed with hyphens, spaces or nothing at all depending on where it appears. Send us the characters and we will handle the formatting.

Watch the confusable characters. In stamped and moulded text, the pairs that catch people out are 0 and O, 1 and I, 5 and S, 8 and B, 2 and Z, and U and V. If you are unsure, photograph rather than transcribe.

Suffixes and revision letters. Many numbers end with an extra group after the main block, such as a two digit suffix or a single letter. That group is not decoration.

• A revision or version suffix marks a later iteration of the same design. Sometimes the versions are interchangeable and sometimes they are not, depending on what changed.
• A colour or finish suffix is common on trim, mirrors and interior parts. The base number is the shape, the suffix is the colour or the surface finish.
• A variant suffix can separate the left and the right part, or a version with a feature from a version without it.

Give us the full string including the suffix. If the suffix is illegible but the main block is clear, tell us that, and tell us the colour and the fitted features of your part so we can work out which one applies.

Supersessions, when the number has been replaced

Manufacturers replace numbers. A part gets a design change, a supplier change, or a correction to a fault, and the old number is retired in favour of a new one. This is normal and it is not a sign that anything is wrong.

What it means for you:

• The old number is still the right thing to search for. A retired number remains the correct route to the current part. Our search follows the chain forward.
• A supersession can go through several steps. A number retired years ago may have been replaced twice since. The end of the chain is what you fit.
• The replacement is usually intended to fit the same application. Where a manufacturer replaced a part with a revised version, the new part is normally the one to use, and often it is an improvement on the original.
• Occasionally a supersession splits. One old number becomes two new ones, separated by build date, market or specification. When that happens we ask you for one more detail to pick the correct branch, and that detail is usually the build date from the identification plate.

If you enter an old number in the OE number search and land on a part whose number reads differently from the one you typed, that is the supersession working as intended. If you want it confirmed before you buy, ask us.

When the number is worn away or the part is missing

You still have routes. Work down this list in order.

1. Check the opposite side of the vehicle. For any part fitted as a mirrored pair, the other side is legible far more often than you would expect, because it has had a different life. Get that number to us and tell us which side you actually need. Left and right are always counted from the driver's seat, facing forwards.
2. Check the part next to it. A number on a neighbouring bracket, carrier or housing tells us the assembly, the generation and the specification, and that is often enough to identify the part you are missing.
3. Read the build date off the vehicle. It is on the identification plate or the door pillar sticker, and it is more reliable than the registration year because a car registered in one year is frequently built in the previous one. Send the build date with your request and it settles most of the questions a model name leaves open.
4. Ask a franchised dealer parts desk to look up the number from your VIN. They have the manufacturer's own system and can read a part number off a vehicle identification number in minutes. Most will tell you over the counter or by phone, and you do not have to buy the part there. We cannot do this ourselves. We do not have access to a system that resolves a VIN to a build, and we would rather send you to someone who does than guess.
5. Use the vehicle finder. Select your vehicle and browse to the part by system and position. Then use the OE number shown on the product page to confirm against anything still legible on your own part. Read Fitment and compatibility for how to check the fitment table properly before you order.
6. Send us photographs. This works more often than people expect. See below.

Sending us a photograph

If the number is unreadable or gone, photographs of the part will usually get you there. Send them through the quote form or on WhatsApp at +49 171 9288082, and we answer within 24 hours, usually within a few hours.

What to send, in this order of usefulness:

• The whole part, front and back. Fill the frame. We need the shape, the mounting points and the connector. This is the single most valuable thing you can send us.
• Any marking you found, close up. Hold the phone steady, tap the screen to focus on the characters, and use light from the side rather than from the front. Take three frames at slightly different angles if the characters are shallow.
• The connector, close up. The number of pins, the shape of the housing and the colour of the plug narrow a search fast.
• The part in place on the vehicle, if it is still fitted. Context tells us position and orientation.
• The build date from the identification plate or the door pillar sticker.
• A note of what the car is. Model name, year of first registration, body style, gearbox, and anything unusual about the specification.

If you can, put a coin or a ruler in one shot for scale. If a measurement is easy to take, such as the diameter of a disc, the length between mounting centres or the width of a belt, include it.

We will come back with a number and a link, or with a question if something in the photographs is ambiguous.

Quick checklist

• Clean the surface and use light from the side.
• Look on the hidden face first: the back, the inside, under the plug, under the cap.
• Photograph rather than transcribe if the characters are ambiguous.
• Copy the whole string, including leading zeros and any suffix.
• If the number is gone, get it from the opposite side, from a neighbouring part, or from a dealer parts desk using your VIN.
• Search the number, and if the result carries a different number, that is a supersession.
• Ask us before you buy if anything is unclear. It costs nothing and it saves a return.

If it still turns out wrong

We would rather you asked first, but if a part arrives and it is not the one you need, you have 30 days to return it and a 24-month guarantee on what you keep. Where the error is ours, the return costs are ours. The details are on the returns page and the warranty page, and you can reach a person through the contact page at any point.