So i live in nj in the toms river area and my mini is having a lot of problems, i need a new clutch assembly, shifter assembly, upper hydraulic motor mount, lower control arm bushings, brake fluid flush, all 4 tiers and a wheel alignment.

so i brought my car to mini in monmouth and the told me thats all the stuff i needed to be fixed.
(they quoted me a price of 5000 dollars)
so am i getting ripped off or does that sound reasonable?

also if anyone knows of any repair shops in my area that wont charge me an arm or leg please let me know!!!
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For my '06 Chili Red cooper S: Tires - I have the Dunlop runflats and spend about $350 per. I regularly rotate them (5k miles) and get about 25k miles. Since I'm a little cheap, but like the tires, I replace an axle pair at a time. An alignment job shouldn't cost you more than $100 at a tire shop. I bought a pressurized brake bleed system from Bavarian Autosport for $55 plus $25 for 2L of ATE brake fluid. It's easy, and at least half the price of a dealers charge. My clutch, gearbox, AND hydraulic motor mount needed to be replaced just under 50k miles so no charge. Can't suggest a local mechanic, but believe that your dealer is going to charge you a LOT more than a recommended mechanic. The hydraulic motor mount is relatively easy to replace, based on research I've done, and the shifter assy seems like a BS job - they can't adjust rather than replace the assy? My girlfriend had a hard-shifting shifter on her '05 Coop and our Hartford dealer made some adjustments for free, after warranty. I think you can have all this done for 50-60% of the dealer charge. P.S. I did my own brakes with parts ordered from Detroit Tuned (they helped get the right pads, rotors and wear sensors (2)) all for about $500, and it only took 4 hrs to complete. This too was about half the price the dealer wanted, my labor, but time well spent with my baby.

 

Mini of Ontario (ca.) said my 06 with 25000 miles needed front struts (leaking), front control arm bushings, front brakes, motor mount, brake fluid flush, fuel injection service, and tires. Everything they were telling me was over $3000. I had them do the control arm bushings, motor mount, and FI service. Total was $1650. My wife's mechanic looked at everything else and said I needed tires but my struts showed no signs of leaking and my brakes were simply getting low but still had some miles on them, he also said, based on the invoice Mini gave me that I was way overcharged on labor...which was $1150. I can't help you find a mechanich, but I will suggest you get second opinions and see what prices other mechanics charge in labor.

 

Not from NJ myself so can't suggest a shop but try finding a shop that specializes in BMW's. Chances are they will have had a few Minis come through.

 

It might be a little drive for you but, give Helix Motorsports in Philly a call. Good guys and well worth the trip.

 

Run away from the dealer...
cost for parts will be 25%+, labour 50+% compared to many indie shops...
A good independant shop would look at the stuff....
and devolp a triage list...some items might be ok for a bit (depending on the item, drive style, and your $$ situation).
Helix has a good reputation down in philly for a day trip to a well known mini shop, but it is likely there might be another mini centric shop within a couple hours drive.

 

yeh you really should go to helix, it's worth the trip. i've gotten an alignment at advanced tire in keyport which is a lot closer to you. they're good and they do general work but helix is the best for minis.

 

My dealer quoted me $3200 for the clutch alone, so I'd say you're spot on. Independent shop did it for literally 1/2 that.

 

Man, dealerships charge labour as if the MINIs were bespoke vehicles. Crazy!

 

HOLY CRAP!!!! Thats unreal!! Now keep in mind though, please dont judge all dealers as bad apples!!! I've worked hard to be a part of the MINI community in south Florida and I take pride in the fact that a large amount of them still bring their MINI's in for service regardless of warranty or not. Sad to see some fo these horror stories. Sorry.

 

Give us a call. We'll take care of you.

 

Other than differences in hourly labor rates from dealer to dealer, shouldn't you all be quoting the same prices for things like clutch replacements anyway? Don't you all get your parts from the same place and use the same "flat-rate" manuals to calculate labor time?