Yes. I had one on my e39 (M54) for a long time. Probably put close to 75k miles on it before I sold it. It was the Bosch variant. No issues with it at all. In fact, it appeared to be a Bosch reman in an Autozone box. Hard to tell what the internals were but they looked exactly the same.
If anyone is curious, the 120a Bosch and Valeo alternators (rectangle ground connection) are completely interchangeable despite the statements online saying they have different pullies and mounting points. They are slightly different but everything lines/bolts up the same. The Bosch (left) is a decent amount larger in size, not sure why, but it fits perfectly with no clearance issues.
The forums are riddled with people who tried to save a few bucks & got what they paid for. The DME on an e90 is extremely fickle. DO NOT buy an alternator unless it\u2019s a Bosch.
Volvo tech here, Bosch. Just replace the whole thing, it's not worth doing the brush job only to find that you should've just done the whole thing first.
I ordered the genuine Bosch alternator for not even 300 bucks and installed it myself for him still good a year or so later and it was a very easy job
Get the Bosch, including the warranty from them, and be done.
B5/5.5 alternators come from two vendors, Bosch and Valeo. I've heard they're not interchangeable because of different pulleys.
Alternator. And unlike prior generations of Bosch alternators you can't replace just the regulator, which is usually what fails. Gotta buy the whole piece.
ended up going with a Bosch remanufactured alternator. Installed it today, went super smooth, charged up the battery as I was installing it, got everything buttoned up and started it up. Battery light still on, voltage is at around 11.9 and dropping. Will randomly jump up to 14.4 volts, no correlation with revving the engine or putting a load on the electrical system.
So I bought a new alternator off of Rock Auto that I was amazed that I had to re-use my old pulley? But when I went to put the pulley on, the nut stripped on the new alternator like instantly. The whole ordeal is trash
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