OE 1042000301 — Water Pump for Mercedes-Benz

Treat it as a wear item: inspect every 20,000-30,000 km and replace at the first sign of leakage, noise or performance loss. Real service life swings widely with climate, road surface and duty cycle, so mileage on its own is a weak indicator.

Build-year coverage is listed row by row in the Applications table above. Where several generations share one number, the newer rows usually carry a revised suffix — compare the last four characters before buying, since a suffix change often means a different connector or bracket.

Export packing is a neutral carton with inner protection; custom labels, barcodes and box specifications are available for volume orders. Shipments move FOB Guangzhou or Shenzhen, with CIF and DDP terms negotiable.

Report it with the order number and packing-list line plus photographs. Because every carton is photographed before loading, we can trace the batch immediately and settle the claim against the inspection record instead of arguing from memory.

OEM means the part was produced for the vehicle maker's assembly line; aftermarket means it is made independently to the same engineering drawing. For a water pump the practical gap is usually tooling age and packaging rather than fit, provided the tolerance class matches.

Four variables explain most of the spread: material grade, whether the goods are new production or clearance stock, packing format, and whether the quote is ex-works or landed. Ask for the material certificate alongside the price — that is what makes a comparison like-for-like.