I'm getting ready to order my Mini S JCW and sent for some price quotes from 3 dealers. One of the options I am thinking about is the JCW door sills priced at $78. They want an extra $170 to install them.

My question is are they that hard to install?? I've run stereo wire through 3 of my previous cars door sills and they just snapped off and back on, like 2 minutes total?? Am I missing something here....what gives???<img>

 

If these are the JCW sills that DON'T light up then they just stick on. Thats it. They stick on.

 

I believe the light up one cost more than hundreds. For $78, that doesn't sounds like it is.
Probably the dealer is charging 2 hrs of labor for applying 2 stickers.

 

I think that you have to be certified to stick those on. (that is only if you expect to get the HP gain).

 

The only thing that I can think of for the labor charge is that you have to remove the residue that the previous sill plates leave behind. I'm changing mine right now and it took me 2 minutes to remove the old sill plates and about 1.5 hours to get all of the residue off. Of course it's winter and the outside temp is about 30 degrees but that aside it isn't hard, just takes a few minutes.

 

Thanks guys, sounds like I will install them myself.

 

I bet you are the certified JCW installer

 

Maybe I should charge myself $170<img>

 

The sills even come with a small vial of acetone for cleaning the area prior to sticking on the plate, and a disposable glove to keep the acetone off your skin. No tools, no nothing...required!

Some people remove their old ones first, but there are two screw holes beneath the old ones that can create dimples that show through when you install the new ones.

The preferred method is to simply install the new sills over top of the existing ones. It's as easy as installing a bumper sticker, and you won't have the screw holes causing the dimpled effect.

Even if it were free at the dealership, I'd still consider this a self-installation project.

 

Thanks Tarzan, that is great advise and looks awesome!! Thanks for the pics!!<img>

 

When I picked up my car, the door sills were not on. As we filled out the final paperwork, they had their graphics guy come running and he "installed" them in maybe 5 minutes top. Food for thought.