What did you pay for your Spring install in your area ?

[iforgettopee]

My local dealer won't even touch my car. LoL. Their alignment rack couldn't get the car on it without scraping when at stock ride height.

call around and ask if their alignment rack is flush mounted - AKA level with the ground - all you do is roll onto the rack, no ramps.

there are a handful of shops in southern california that have flush mounted racks... I'm sure there's one near you too

https://www.hunter.com/alignment-racks/scissor-lifts/?#overview

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[Mobias]

Yeah I am aware. I took the car to a local "performance" shop with an in ground rack. That's who trash talked the car and me, while also doing the alignment wrong.

 

[TheFactor]

Yeah I am aware. I took the car to a local "performance" shop with an in ground rack. That's who trash talked the car and me, while also doing the alignment wrong.

That’s really messed up so sorry to hear that. I also had a bad experience with my new 2022 BMW M240i fully loaded with track/performance package.I took in for its first free oil change were I bought it and the Tech disconnected my front and rear cam took it for a 5 mile joy ride and forgot to plug it back in . When I got in the car it smelled like burnt rubber and saw the camera cables unplugged . Yeah I was pretty pissed off but luckily I didn’t end up going to jail. The tech actually sent me a video call prior when I was waiting watching TV sipping on a cup of coffee with my pinky extended in there waiting room giving me a walk around while it was on the rack introducing him self . I thought wow welcome to BMW and there red carpet treatment ?I can laugh now but wasn’t then?. More to the story but just thought I’d share a piece of my experience to make you feel better and to know it could have been much worse lol.
I blasted them on every social media and every review option I could find to warn others. Now when I take any of my cars in I sternly say no test drives lol. But definitely scarred me emotionally and my trust level.
Brooklyn Grey and yeah I’m a little partial to grey I guess that’s why my FL5 is SGP

 

[Allthingsfl5]

Yeah I am aware. I took the car to a local "performance" shop with an in ground rack. That's who trash talked the car and me, while also doing the alignment wrong.

Where is this, so I know to avoid it. Are you familiar with pure tuning in Ohio? Only performance shop near me, have yet to go though.

 

[Mobias]

I am familiar with pure tuning. Never personally had work done there but a few friends have. This place was in North ridgeville Ohio.

 

[TheFactor]

Yeah I am aware. I took the car to a local "performance" shop with an in ground rack. That's who trash talked the car and me, while also doing the alignment wrong.

At that point I would have said thanks for your time and left so they wouldn’t have had the Chance to screw up the alignment.
But hey I know a great BMW dealer you can go to ?

 

[iforgettopee]

South of LAX

I've heard good things about this shop: https://southbayadascalibration.com/

 

[gosling]

As an enthusiast I can feel everyone's pain on this thread in regards to the price of suspension install on FL5/DE5. I can also weigh in and give some thoughts as a shop owner.

Prices for labor are reflected on by many key factors, of which TIME is the most important. For those that don't know, Technicians are paid by a flat-rate scale; which means that a job can take x amount of hours to do, but will only pay out a set amount of time no matter what - whether you complete it in a faster amount of time, or take longer to complete it; it pays the same labor time. To calculate labor rates, I use the formula commonly used at dealerships for COD jobs which is:

warranty time x 0.8 = x; then x + book time

Labor Operation #: 4141C0 which is FRONT SHOCK ABSORBER REPLACEMENT on FL5/DE5 is 4.1 hours. 4.1 x 0.8 = 3.28. 3.28 + 4.1 =7.4 hours for front spring installation.

(there is no labor operation for JUST springs; but you're basically doing a shock absorber replacement when installing springs)

Labor Operation #: 417121 which is REAR SPRING REPLACEMENT on FL5/DE5 is 0.7 hours. 0.7x0.8 = 0.56. 0.56 + 0.70 = 1.30 hours.

8.70 hours of labor for the suspension install.

Then you just simply multiply the labor rate to get your total labor costs to carry out the job. in this case, to make things easier, we'll use a labor rate of $100/hr.
100 x 8.7 = $870.00.

Shop labor rates will vary from job to job / vehicle to vehicle. For example, a suspension install labor rate on a HONDA might differ when compared to an AUDI. Same mechanical principles, but some jobs are higher risk / require special tooling / might even require coding when complete. Same holds true for vehicle's of the same make. A suspension install on a FL5 / DE5 might differ greatly when compared to a S2000. Same mechanical principles, but the professionals who have done suspension installs on the FL5 knows how badly it can go if you don't know what you're doing and end up pulling an inner CV joint out.

Keep in mind that when you pay for this service to be done, you're also paying for peace of mind that nothing will be messed up, you can have your car back in a timely fashion, and that most importantly, you'll save time so that you can continue going about your business. You won't have to be in a driveway sweating and working under a time crunch to get your car back on the road by Monday. You won't have to get UBER rides to autozone to rent a tool. You won't have to worry about breaking something. And you won't have to worry about injury using a spring compressor.

I recently did lower camber ball joints installation on a clients FL5 (among other things) and the formula for calculating labor above was used and came out to be 4.8 hours. I'd like to think that he was happy to pay because he just wouldn't have to deal with it.

I get it, DIY is DIY and can be fun and rewarding. However, sometimes when things are out of your skill level, it's best to just have someone do it for you. The price.. is the price. Gotta pay to play.

I really appreciate this take because of all the things to potentially mess up on this car suspension is the one I wouldn't want to mess around with. The shop I'm scheduling my install with happens to be a more reputable location and quoted just shy of 1k (that includes CT state tax) including alignment. It's a significantly harder pill to swallow but I'd rather know that an extremely reputable shop with experience working on FL5s and FK8s will know how to handle it the right way. It's better to bite the bullet and do it correctly the first time than to end up paying for it again should something go wrong.

Like you said, peace of mind

 

[iforgettopee]

I'm looking for an overall tuner shop that can do suspension, exhaust, engine work..

https://www.evasivemotorsports.com/

 

[ctechauto]

If you want a recommendation on a good shop in the LA/socal area for Type R specialists, go to RCraft in El Monte.

https://www.instagram.com/rcraft_spl/?hl=en

 

[egxflash]

If you want a recommendation on a good shop in the LA/socal area for Type R specialists, go to RCraft in El Monte.

https://www.instagram.com/rcraft_spl/?hl=en

Thanks for this!

 

[TheFactor]

If you want a recommendation on a good shop in the LA/socal area for Type R specialists, go to RCraft in El Monte.

https://www.instagram.com/rcraft_spl/?hl=en

For those that don’t have instagram I found a YouTube video with their grand opening last year . Lots of nice Hondas no doubt and the shop looks huge !

 

[ctechauto]

Thanks for this!

Absolutely. Gotta network and support the other small businesses like our own!

We did have a BMW in the shop the other day. It was odd

 

[TheFactor]

Absolutely. Gotta network and support the other small businesses like our own!

We did have a BMW in the shop the other day. It was odd

I bet the BMW felt the same way like a red headed step child ?

 

[FL5HondaGuy]

I got new tires installed- mounted -balanced- Spacers- Springs and alignment for $750.00. I also have my AMG in there for winter swaps so he hooked it up a little.

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