Hey guys...I'm trying to get anyone's input about the cost for the dealer install of the MINI OEM Roof Rack. I'm selling my MC (or trying) and the buyer needs a roof rack to transport his surfboard, this is California of course!

Long Beach MINI apparently quoted him $1,000 in LABOR alone, and admitted that they don't do very many of them. I've searched the forums and seen labor quotes across the country ranging from $250-$600.

If anyone has had the roof rack installed from the dealer, can you please post the labor cost. Alternatively, if anyone has had the MINI OEM roof rack installed by a 3rd party installer, please let me know! Thanks in advance!

 

Ask them how long the MINI instructions say the install should take. I need to go digging to find out what it cost me as I don't remember anymore (delivery day is now a blur). It's not a fast install though, I believe it's like a 2 or 3 hour job but I'm not positive, so don't quote me on it...

 

Thanks Michael...even if its 2-3 hours, at the hypothetical labor rate of $100/hr, wouldn't that bring it max to approximately $300ish? I'm wondering what part of their body they are pulling this quote of $1000 out of?

EDIT: I opened the pdf of the Official MINI Install Instructions from outmotoring.com and they quote an install time of 1.5 hours ("depending on the conditions of the car and the equipment in it") Now I'm even more baffled!?!
http://outmotoring.com/MINI_Cooper_how_to.htm

 

Roof rail is 24 FRUs
retrofitting basic rack and cross brace is 18FRUs

There's also rear rack which is 60FRUs.

there's 7.5 minutes/1 FRU

 

I'm sorry, can you please translate that last post? FRUs?

 

I paid $600 for parts and labor.

 

FRU=Flat Rate Units. This is how much it pays the tech.

Each FRU are 7.5minutes so to figure out how much hrs/minutes it takes just multiply the FRU by 7.5minutes.

For example: 24FRU= 3 hrs
18FRU=2hr 15mins
60FRU=7.5hrs

 

Are you a dealer insider, where did you get this FRU total from? Im even more confused as those MINI Installation instructions quoted 1.5 hours? That seems underestimated, but 7.5 hours sounds excessive...

Hell, one NAM member here (Francois) did it himself in 3! I'm shaking my head in the disparity here...now I have to wait until Monday for service depts to be open in Southern California to get this sorted out. :impatient

 

I suppose you can call me an "insider" lol These are BMW labor rate guide.

I saw the install guide and how it calls for 1.5hrs...It might be that I'm looking at the wrong labor rate charges...Other than that I do not know what to tell you. They are official MINI instructions, and it does say 1.5hrs on them.

 

Well Barnabas, thanks for replying anyway...I guess we'll see what the real quotes are when the service depts are open on Monday. It will be quite interesting to see what the variability is between California dealers, I'm sure

 

It can vary a good deal. You might want to call around and see who gives you the best prices.

 

As an option you dont have to get the factory roof racks. Aftermarket brands like Thule and Yakima, both make fit kits for the Mini. Plus they have tons
of accessories for them. I dont think Mini makes a surfboard attachment for
their racks, but I know Thule does. And they cost less. I have Thule racks on my Mini and they work just fine. If you are worried about warranty issues,
they can be removed in minutes. Best of all, no holes in the roof.

 

I paid $475 if I remember correctly. I was willing to pay this rather than do it myslef as if it gets screwed up, the dealership is resonsible for replacing your car, not you!

 

However there have been several reports of these "clamp-on" type roof rack causing damage...

 

In response to the suggestion of the aftermarket racks, the situation is that the roof rack is not for me, and the buyer has apparently investigated the aftermarket racks and would rather pay for the MINI OEM rack and have the dealer do the install, so he can feel better that the dealer did it and take it back if there are any issues... So I investigated and found the following range of LABOR ONLY install costs. I am suggesting to my buyer that he order the rack from Classic MINI with the NAM discount. Even with shipping the total cost is $170, so you still save $20 off the retail price of the parts!

Here's the list of California dealers and their cost for labor for the install of the MINI OEM roof rack and the # of hours they claimed it would take:

• Crevier - $550 - 4 hrs.
• Long Beach - $732 - 4 hrs.
• Irvine - $553 - 4 hrs.
• South Bay - $900 - 6 hrs.
• Bob Smith - $508 - 4 hrs.
• Universal City - $320 - 8 hrs.
• Assael - $600 - 5 hrs.
• Nick Alexander - $575 - 5 hrs.
• MINI of Mt. View - $280 - Forgot to inquire
• Classic (Ohio) - $238 (I asked just for kicks)
• Brecht - $440 - 4 hrs.

So there you have it. I called ten California MINI dealers, they quoted labor only per my request and thats the variation that abounds. One of them told me that dealers have the liberty of setting their own labor rates. LB MINI would not give any kind of discount for buying the MINI there, which is the only downside I have run into from them and interestingly enough MINI of Universal City was nice enough to tell me they would honor the $320 even though the MINI was not purchased there, but it was normally their 'dealer' discount for their customers. I still don't understand why they quote 8 hrs. worth of labor and still come in way below the others though.

I also called Steve's Auto Clinic (North Hills, CA) after being referred there by db and Steve could not give me a $$$ but said 'he could beat' the lowest dealer cost, although he said he had not done many of them. So I've given this all to my (hopefully) buyer, and will let him do with it what he will. Ultimately, I may need to find another buyer if the cost is too high for him, logically. We'll have to wait and see. Thanks for everyone's suggestions! Wish me luck!

 

mini of murray in Utah quoted me i think $250-300 for installation. but i'm cheap so i installed the roof rack myself, spent $40 on special mini installation parts. i took my ever livin time installing it and i think overall it was 5-6 hours and i think i might say that i did one hell of a job.

 

Wow! I guess I did alright getting it done for $475.

'Course here in AZ we have exactly 1 choice for MINI dealerships, so I got the highest and lowest price all rolled into 1!

 

So did you drill the holes in the roof yourself? I'm thinking of doing it on mine. How did you line up the papers exactly? I can see the paper template for the back holes line up with the edges of the car and the back but the front ones aren't so easy. Do I measure from some point to line up the template???