Greeeeetinzzzz,

I called a local BMW shop and said I have an R56 and want to install a rear sway bar which I already have. The guy said he hadn't done it before but probably about one hour of labor. Cool beans. He called back 5 minutes later and said he looked up in some book and it said 5 hours. Both he and I thought this was ridiculous.

So how long should it take a shop to install a RSB on an R56?


Also...is there any other mod I could/should do which is easy to do (not taking that much more time) while already installing a RSB? Make the most of my labor costs.

Lastly, anyone know of a place in the Northern Westchester/Hudton Valley that works on Mini's???

Thank you!!!
-Gene

 

I did mine last weekend in about 2 hours.

 

umm under an hour...LOL

 

Between jacking up my car, dropping both rear shocks, swapping sway bars, putting the shocks back on and lowering the car back down, it took me about an hour in my garage.

 

So I presume this full time mechanic with a lift should be able to knock it out in under an hour. Excellent. Thanks guys!

 

[QUOTE=phantasms;3490001]So I presume this full time mechanic with a lift should be able to knock it out in under an hour. Excellent. Thanks guys![/QUOTE
Definitely

 

I called a local mini shop and they too quoted me 5 hours...that was based on the guidelines provided by Mini Cooper...I am unsure if they would charge me less if it i fact took only 1-2 hours...it sure did not sound like it...

I will most likely opt to do the install myself when I install the lowering springs...

 

I only had to remove one shock when installing mine. Some pros can do it without removing a shock and just dropping the 4 bolts on the rear.

 

Then I'd go somewhere else if I were you. Tell them it takes an hour...as I've so learned.

That guideline book must be what my guy looked at. He said it sounded ridiculous. I made an appointment for Friday. Will post the price/feedback.

 

using my friends lift.i have done an 09 clubman s and my new coupe,never taken more than one hour either time.

 

I have a question, does doing this mod affect your 3 year 36 everything warranty in any way? Or are you all past that point anyway? Wondering

 

Ive had mine for months on the floor in my house and havent gotten around to do it. If it does take an hour I might just do it this weekend. To the OP why not do it yourself and save the $$?

 

With the use of a lift, air wrenches and prior knowledge it should take about 1 to 1 1/2 hours. On jack stands with armstrong wrenches and no prior experience it could take a tad longer depending how young you are. I installed mine in about two and a half hours, of actual installation labor using the second method-that doesn't include my snail paced prep time. If you have time and patience, it's an easy install by yourself and you can save some $$$$. Just scour the internet for diy videos and how-tos and you should find it easy. Good luck.

 

One guy working with a floor jack, jack stands, an electric impact wrench, going in cold with no manual it took me 2 and a half hours the first time. There are some short cuts that speed things up. You don't have to remove both shocks, the second side you only need to disconnect it from the bottom mount. Also on the opposite side you only need to loosen the subframe but you need to drop it on the side that you leave the upper shock mounted. The bar is pulled out on the side where you left the shock in. Reverse the order of everything you did to put the new one in. If you have done an R53 before it is easier on the R56 since there is no wiring harness to contend with..

 

I did mine yesterday. About 2 hours, on my back, no air tools. Really easy.

 

Did mine by myself two weeks ago in about two hours - did not rush... could have done it faster.