My dealer wants $120 labor plus $75 parts. With tax this will be over $200. Those of you who have had this done, what was your total cost? Seems like I remember several people saying it cost them $75 plus $45 or $50 programming. Did this include installing the toggles?

Thanks,


R.E.

 

I installed the kit myself. Got the parts from Classic Mini for something around $70. The install is easy and took less than a half and hour.

I had the lights activated by the dealership (P&W in Pittsburgh, PA) for about $40. Total cost = $110 plus some of my own time. Not to shabby.

No matter who does them for you, you will like the final result when the conditions get nasty out.

 

I too bought the switch from Classic, but I got mine activated for FREE. =) When I went in to have my software updated to V36, I asked them to activate the foglights too. Since the V36 updated was under warranty and it was already plugged into their computer, they activated them at the same time. I guess I lucked out.

If you need the update to V36, just have the foglight activation done at the same time. Besides, $120 for activation is way too high. Typically it should only cost about $45 or 1/2 hour of labor time. Good luck!

 

I got my switch plate from Classic MINI also, $70.00. Installed myself 10 screws out and in no problem. The plug on the switch is a litle weird. Called my dealer and since I purchased the car from them the cost was $0.00. I even had my "GIVE ME BRAKE A LIGHT" kit installed and after they activated the lights I showed the functionality with the kit installed. They really liked the functionality.

I think you need to really talk with your dealer, I could have bought the switch from them and had them install and activiate for about $125.00.

But if they will not move on the price call Classic and install it yourself. You can drop me email at minirolls@msn.com and I can give you some directions for installing.

Dave
MINI-Rolls

 

I installed the switch panel myself also, lists for $75. After kicking and screaming, my dealership reluctantly programmed them for free (being a repeat customer helped).

I think the labor charges are simply obscene; it's literally a 5 minute job to program, no matter how stupid or busy the service guy is. Installation of the panel will of course cost extra.

 

Yet another who installed it myself. $65 shipped from Classic, installed it myself, and had it activated free-of-charge when I had my next oil change. So $65 total for me.

I had previously called and asked how much for activation, and was told a 1/2 hour labor charge. But then they did it for free. I suspect that was because I was spending money for the oil change (non-scheduled maintenance), and that if all I had done was the activation it wouldn't have been free.

 

If you buy the parts from your dealer and have them do the installation you shouldn't be charged more than $135 total, that includes your parts and labor...

 

I had mine activated during the state inspection. They were also loading the version 36 at the same time but STILL charged me for initiating the rear fog program. :evil: Punks.

 

I had installed front and rear fogs plus the alarm system myself. I waited a bit while my car came due for it's 10k service stop, and they charged me 44 bux for the programming of all the options while I was there for the 10k oil change. Basically a half hour of labor. I could live with that.

 

I'm dealing with Roadshow in Memphis, (only a 250 mile one-way drive). I agree $120 plus $75 bucks for the parts is too much. I'm gonna call back and see if they want to do the whole thing for no more than $125. If not I'll consider doing it my- self or driving a few more miles to a different dealer.

I almost hate to touch anything myself because MINI might use it for an excuse if I have ANY sort of problem......even if it has no relation to installing the fogs.


R.E.

 

installed it myself and had the dealer activated for me. he charged me 50.00 because his word's "we may need to go into multiple screens to set it up." it literally took them 10 mins but i had to wait for an hour. how did i know it took him 10 mins? the car was sitting in the parking lot for 50 mins right in the view of the sitting area. s.o.b.

 

Classic sells the board for $60, you can install the switches yourself in 3 minutes if you know how to do it right. I'm gonna post a how-to for getting to the center stack a LOT easier than other how-tos on here sometime soon. $45 to get it activated though.

 

The dealer did the whole thing for $75.00 in parts and 1/2 hour labor. The parts are essentially the toggle panel and the installation included everything: toggle installation and software upgrade.

 

I purchased the panel from Classic and installed it myself. The dealer charged $45 for programming both the rear fog lights and the alarm. Fair price! :smile:

 

my mcs was in for the ecu upgrade to version 38 today and i asked the cost for programming the rear fogs (installed the part myself...less than 10 minutes work honestly). imagine, the car was hooked up to the computer and they told me it would take another 1/2 hour and cost $95!!!

what????????

when i asked for the cost of the part a couple weeks ago, they quoted me more than $90 (not bad considering the list price is $75 and i live in an area that does not have the highest cost of living in the country). as everyone has noted, classic shipped it out immediately, charged $60 plus shipping which ended up being about 35% less than what i would have paid my dealer with the sales tax.

now i only wish i could drive the car to classic for the programming!!!

 

These were posted on MINI2.com a while ago, and are what I used as ammunition to receive fair treatment on my rear-fog install. I think this is the original aftersales bulletin for the fog-light retrofit kit. Note the suggested "installation time" for rear fogs alone is .5 hours (This means installation of switch and "programming").

Hope this can be helpful...Shoot, well it seems these exceed the "600" side of the 800x600 limit, so I'm going to shrink them down a little. PM me if you want the "Actual" size.

 

Price sounds right... I saw the invoice on mine when it was purchased. I negotiated the rear foglights into the purchace price. They installed them for free. (of course, that was on a full MSRP car... so the hit on the dealer profit was minimal...)

 

Thanks MINI-stir for the parts bulletin - I printed it out to read it. It says you can't install the rear fog lamps if you have the clear taillights, so I'm out of luck as I have those. It says the clear lamp kit utilizes the rear fog light bulbs as additional brake lights to meet U.S. DOT lighting requirements. :smile:

 

JazMINI,

You should check that your rear-fogs actually ARE wired up to act as additional brake lights. Mine were NOT (which means, of course, that somebody screwed up when installing the clear tail-lights), so even though I was NOT supposed to be able to have the rear-fogs activated, they were easily able to do it anyway. For my dealer, it was either install the rear-fogs, or admit that they screwed up on installing the clear tail-lights. In my case, they chose the former.

You may be able to talk your dealer into hooking up the rear-fogs anyway, even if the lights are already wired to act as brake lights-- just don't let on that you know they aren't supposed to be installed with clear lights. Your dealer might be as clueless as mine regarding this and be willing to do it BUT...

keep in mind that you may have to pay additional labor charges for this work-- the "rear-fog install" instructions assume that all wiring is already in place, and IF yours are wired to act as brake lights there may be some "rewiring" that has to take place. Who knows what they might charge for that, but they won't have to stick to what the parts bulletin says.

 

There is a simple way to have the rear fogs activated as brake lights AND rear fogs, only, I'm not sure how to do it.

I had mine activated to behave as brake lights, but still have the option to use them as rear fogs if I decide to install the panel and have them activated.

Do a search here and on MINI2.

 

A search reveals there is a way to do this, you're correct, but it doesn't seem to be "official" (i.e. every, or even any, MINI dealer will do it).

My advice assumed one was to go to the dealership, rather than doing a "mod". :smile:

 

I have read of some people bringing in the directions from online and having the dealer do it for them.

It is a mod that literally takes moments to do yourself, though I didn't do it, a friend did, and it was not even a whole minute! The thing is, when the dealer installs your toggle panel and activates the lights, they never even go in there!! So, if that is a concern.....

 

As I am taking PKT RKT to europe, I pulled the trigger on the rear fog light. classic mentor said $127.00 the whole mess...I said Sold!.....

 

Northwest MINI charged me $200. $50 for the part and the balance to install/activate, which comes to a $300/hour labor charge, which is more than neurosurgeons get. I agreed in a weak moment 'cos I was in a hurry, but it was the first time I ever felt scr*wed over by Northwest MINI of Tacoma. Did you get that? Northwest MINI of Tacoma. Northwest MINI of Tacoma.

 

Bear, tell them very nicely that you know that you were ripped off, you are very disappointed, and that you want a substantial discount on a future service. Show them a copy of the MINIAftersales Parts Bulletin, you can find the attachment earlier in this thread.

I had an alignment done on a MINI with lowering springs. The dealership did the alignment, charged me full price, only thing is, they didn't really change anything, because of the springs they couldn't. They recommended rear adjustable lower control arms to get the proper alignment. Then it would need another alignment!!! Well, I don't remember exactly how I went about it, but I got them to agree to do the next alignment for half price after I got the control arms installed. They put a note in the computer system, and stuck to their word. Well, hey, it's something!