I recently purchased the 25w bixenon retrofit headlight kit for my 2013 MCS (currently on the halogens). From what I have read, it seems like the installation is pretty straight forward. Still not sure if I have to worry about the headlight leveling though (I hope not).

Anyway, my question is regarding the programming of the car to work with these headlights. It looks like this is a dealer thing. Few of the indy shops that I called could not do it (in San Diego). In fact, some of them recommended going to a dealer. The best quote that I have so far is $180 for programming only (4 hrs of labor ).
Is going to a dealer my only option for this programming?

 

Were these BMW/MINI specific shops? I believe a shop should be able to do it if they have the proper equipment. Otherwise, you may have to try your luck at the dealer. Try this site for some more indy shop options: http://www.minirepairshops.com/.

 

Thanks for the info. Yeah I called BMW/MINI shops and everyone says that only the dealer can do something like this. Looks like no one wants to deal with this coding/programming

 

Sounds like it. The Audi/VW shop I worked at we would do headlight conversions and do the programming no problem (we had the proper equipment to do so). Anyways, good luck and let us know what all they had to do, programming wise.

 

Hey again, hope you saw my PM. Checkout LTMW they did it for me in less than 15 minutes

 

I have a friend who can do the coding for minimal charge, send me a PM

 

Oh man... I wish u guys had contacted me a little earlier... the mini is already at mini of escondido for the coding work!
They initially quoted 4 hrs... now it looks like even they're having trouble with it. The car has been with them since Saturday and I've still not got it back! They have actually called in a mini engineer to complete the coding since the high beam / turn signals are not working.
Either they have no idea what they're doing or this programming is really complicated...
At least I'll have some peace of mind that if anything goes wrong, its on their head to fix it.

 

Sorry to hear! When I first started contacting Mini dealerships for coding quotes, it honestly seemed like they have no experience with these 25w headlights. I hope it works out!

 

Any updates? Anyone know coding in the Michigan area?
Thanks!

 

Got mine coded at the dealership... they had the car for 2 days. But in the end they were able to code it properly.

 

Detroit Tuned told me they can do it.

 

can you friend still do the coding?