Hi all,
I'm about to call a mechanic or two about swapping my coilovers for my stock struts and springs. What's a reasonable cost to expect for this swap? With alignment? I live in SoCal.

Thanks for your guidance!

 

500 to 700 depending on shop

 

Do it yourself, it's easy.

 

+1

 

Yeah - DIY is tempting but with a full time job, grad school, two kids, wife, etc, I just don't have time to do fun stuff like this anymore. I did my own intercooler and that was fun. My time is worth a lot to me these days. :\

 

So does $500 to $700 sound right to everyone? Seems high to me. But what do I know...

 

Give Danny at MINICORSA in Noho a call.

 

Thanks Oxy. Good suggestion. Noho. Never heard that one before. I had to look up Danny's site to figure it out. How appropriate.

 

Bummer, Danny's out until mid October. I sent him an email. Hopefully he'll reply. Anyone else?

 

call Dave at VIP Status.
19148 Van Ness Avenue
Torrance, CA 90501
(310) 618-8886
let him know you're one of Andy's (from Techna) friends. He will give you a good price.

 

why you going back to stock?

 

do it on the weekend it just takes about an hour or so. Those estimates are right on the money, plus you'll need an alignment.
remember your torque specs.

 

Why would an easy, one hour job cost $500-700 in labor?

 

Exactly what I was thinking.

 

it takes longer than 1 hour to r&r coilovers to struts and align. takes about 4 hours and the shop will charge book time which may be higher than 4 hours. depending on the shop rates can run from 70 to 140 a hour

 

but, this is los angeles and there are a lot of shops willing to do the work for a much cheaper flat rate. book time is for dealers only usually.

 

$500-700 is a joke. $200 to $300 tops, for a good job.

 

3 Hours for installing aftermarket springs in the stock dampers (shocks) in a Mini dealer ($300-$350). A coilover install should be less or the same. Alignment is extra.

 

Now add alignment and tax.

 

That is true, sorry. Forgot to mentioned that it was three guys doing this on a mini at my friends garage. each of us took one off and who ever finished first did the last one. it really isn't that hard so you should be able to DIY.
I did get a quote for 400-500 just the springs.
best of luck.

 

Thanks everyone.

AkFarina - Going to sell the MINI. Suddenly find myself in possession of 4 cars with only 2 drivers and the MINI's the only one with payments. It's my favorite but this makes the most financial sense. :\

 

$100

 

Deal.

 

im going to give that status autoworks a try, cuz there open on saturday mainly... i instaled my coil overs but i think i did a bad job and i hear lots of clanks and clunks soo i just need my stuff adjusted propery and checked. thanks for the link!

 

A real professional in a real shop should be about 2 hours labor plus the alignment if they don't have to take the coilovers apart for OEM parts. I know how long it took me on the floor as a total amateur. $250 plus alignment.