I did some research and found a set of deployable side step on eBay from Taiwan for $2000. I offered them $1,500 for them but they finally accepted an offer of $1,800 shipped via 5 day UPS which is very expensive. Did anyone buy these? They're a lot cheaper than original ones and look identical. I asked them and they said that they copied the OE one including the harness and wiring. I'm expecting to receive them next week and will update on their quality.
Ebay deployable side step.
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I know OEM/OE accessories can be expensive and in some cases not the best of quality (although I haven't personally found any of the LR accessories I've added/purchased in the past to be sub-par), but nonetheless, my point being that some of the after-market retailers really do sell some very poor quality accessories and you need to be cautious. Curious how they look/feel when you get them and have them installed.
So i received the side steps yesterday. Opened them up and I gotta say the quality is excellent. They're metal just like the original ones and the design and finish are also identical. I compared them to a friends full size RR side steps and they look identical. I wouldn't be surprised if they're made in the same factory. The control module is an OEM LR module in original packaging as is the harness.
I had to take apart the whole trunk area to run the harness yesterday, everything was plug n play. It took me about 3 hours to do that. Today I will take apart the bottom paneling and install the actual steps. I'm thinking thats about 4 hours of work there. The total is 7 to 8 hours.
I will post pictures once everything is installed. So far I'm impressed with the way they look and feel.
I had to take apart the whole trunk area to run the harness yesterday, everything was plug n play. It took me about 3 hours to do that. Today I will take apart the bottom paneling and install the actual steps. I'm thinking thats about 4 hours of work there. The total is 7 to 8 hours.
I will post pictures once everything is installed. So far I'm impressed with the way they look and feel.
Sounds like you got pretty lucky. I know a lot of times with those overseas factories, the workers who make the real products often will make additional ones on their off time for extra income, so while the product may not be 100% OEM, you are right often they are made in the same factory by the same people.
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Great news it worked out for you! Post some pics when you get it all set up.
Did you get the end pieces on both ends of the step? I don't know the name but they look sort of like this for a nice OEM integrated finish. They are probably very cheap if you didn't get maybe you can even get them from dealer for cheap. Just curious as I can't see in your images and I didn't know about them until dealer told me they are separate pieces in the parts list. I was undecided if wanted mud flaps so they told me I needed to decide before they ordered as those pieces are different with mud flaps. Eventually decided against them as my car is Fuji and they don't show so well unless you have a darker color or your sides are unpainted as in your case.
![Light Yellow Wire Technology Room]()
I did get a bunch of plastic pieces and don't really know what they are for, i got 8 pieces in pairs. I think that they are for the full size RR. I might look into those end pieces but even without them unless you know what you're looking for you can't tell easily that they're there.
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