Dealer Recommendations - Central belt

[Fluoxetine]

Hi folks,

An impulse purchase led to me being in possession of these:



I've seen the online guides, and would be inclined to have a go at fitting myself (my brother in law's a mechanic, and would help out), however I'm really pushed for time over the next few weeks, and may have a dealer fit them instead.

I popped by Menzies Stirling on Monday, but the chap on the service desk didn't seem to be aware of an official DRL kit ("We only fit BMW approved parts..." - "Yes; that's what I'm asking you to fit!")

He was supposed to get back to me on Monday with a price quote, but hasn't - I'm not filled with confidence, but I will chase them up today.

Book time is supposed to be an hour & a half.

Do NMS have a favoured garage, who'd be able to do the work, and is there any discount arrangements on labour rates?

[Stewart]

I would not worry about the parts department my official MINI part front aero grille for my Cooper did not exist even when I had the right part number as far as my local dealer was concerned. I even took the guy out and pointed to one of the cars on the lot and said that grille and pointed to my chrome one and said there trying not to be pratish about it and he still said nah MINI don’t do it.

Good luck with the fit, looks a nice wee addition and welcome to the site. I seen on the other thread, very nice Works!

[Craig]

I would just use an auto electrician as I take it these do not need coded to the car??

Stirling Auto Services are very good and reasonably priced. They used to be Stirling Auto Electrics

[Fluoxetine]

Cheers folks - The lights don't need coding, but I'm fitting some seats soon which will require the passenger seatbelt reminder to be switched to a 'Retrofit' coding, so was keen to find the best place for future work also.

I've used Stirling Auto Electrics many moons ago (1999!) to bypass a faulty immobiliser on my old Elan SE, which left me stranded.

Couldn't fault their work, but as fitting the DRL's requires the front bumper / possibly wheels & arch liners to be removed, I figured they wouldn't be too interested.

I'm keen to find a dealer who's done the work before - Apparently there's an error in the printed wiring instructions for the footwell module, so I was hoping the workshop would be aware of this. (DRL's were only added to the accessories catalogue in late April, so they're pretty new).

Will let you know how I get on! :)

[Tam1314]

Quite fancy these as replacements for the current ones. Let me know how you get on.

Interesting user name by the way.

[EcosseGP]

I must just be lucky as I've never had a problem with Menzies although they never rush to phone you except Callum, in the parts department, who always calls when my parts come in.

You're right though they will not fit anything that isn't OEM but if it was me I'd just give them another call and ask again if they've got you a price. If you know the fitting time you'll have an idea of the cost given you're only going to pay the labour.

I had them fit centre consul gauges to the car a few months ago, job sheet said 75 minutes but it took them 8 hours, however I only paid the 75 mins labour. Great job and all done without an issue for me. If you didn't want to use them like Craig says maybe an auto electrician will do them for you they'll not bother about removing trim


I intend to live forever ... So far so good !

[Fluoxetine]

Cheers folks - They got back to me this afternoon, and the car's booked in for next Thursday morning.

In their (slight) defence, I changed the requirements from my initial query (originally I wanted them to fit a GP2 diffuser for me, but they didn't know what that was, so I'll leave it for now and fit it myself in a few weeks).

DRL fitting time on the Mini Accessories website is 1.5 hrs, and that's what they've quoted for. (The OEM p/n is: 6312 2338 554)

I'm keen to use them, as the front bumper definitely needs to come off to fit the DRL's, as does the grill - If any of the trim clips break in the process, at least a main dealer should have them to hand.

Will let you know how things go, and hopefully post some pics next Thursday!

[KenL]

Dealers never have anything to hand in my experience!

Good luck with new bits and please post pictures.

[Fluoxetine]

Just collected the car this evening - Happy with the end result... Pics below:

DRL Mode - With headlights on 'auto', comes on when you put the key in the slot.



Sidelight mode (Top half of the ring illuminated).



Xenon fog light mode



Nice bit of detail -




(Excuse the questionable number plate stickers - The car will be spending some time in Ireland, and I want to make clear it's a Scottish car, rather than risk a possible keying...!)

[Stewart]

I like that! So how much were you out of pocket all in for the lights and fitting?