[Bmw330]

I’ve just enquiried at the main dealers for the alpine retrofit kit price and a seperate labour price to fit ( just wanted to see if it was worth them doing it)

They have come back with £447 for all the parts inc door trims, which doesn’t seem too bad, but £1300 + vat for fitting!, supposedly a 10hr job! (No coding required either)

Obviously I won’t be paying £1300 + vat to fit, I thought it was only a 2.5 hour job?

[undecided1]

Originally Posted by Bmw330

I've just enquiried at the main dealers for the alpine retrofit kit price and a seperate labour price to fit ( just wanted to see if it was worth them doing it)

They have come back with £447 for all the parts inc door trims, which doesn't seem too bad, but £1300 + vat for fitting!, supposedly a 10hr job! (No coding required either)

Obviously I won't be paying £1300 + vat to fit, I thought it was only a 2.5 hour job?

I put a screenshot from 1st page of install manual in the technical forum recently - E92 Alpine Audio Help thread, says 2 - 2 1/4 hours install. Maybe print them their own manual, give it to them then ask for a price?!

[Bmw330]

Wow, 4/5 times as long!, I can only assume they either don’t want to do it or genuinely think it will take 10 hours.

They also said it didn’t need coding, but I’ve read elsewhere it does, so I’m confused ......

[Mani59]

Wow that's super expensive.

For the F30, this guy got it all supplied and fitted for less than £830. Not sure how much more complex the E9x is to the F30..

https://f30.bimmerpost.com/forums/sh...1248308&page=2

[richk84]

You can fit it yourself especially if your car is an LCI model as it's all plug and play.

[Bmw330]

Yeah I probably would fit it myself, I thought if it was £200 to fit (and code-although Bmw said it doesn’t need it) I’d just go that route. I can’t imagine it taking more than a few hours.

Can anyone confirm if it does need coding?

[undecided1]

Originally Posted by Bmw330

Yeah I probably would fit it myself, I thought if it was £200 to fit (and code-although Bmw said it doesn't need it) I'd just go that route. I can't imagine it taking more than a few hours.

Can anyone confirm if it does need coding?

Can't you just give them the retrofit guide to prove 2 hours and requote or ask other nearby more clued up dealers? Even at £100+ an hour standard labour rate the fit cost should be about what you were hoping for. Obviously if you fit yourself then cheaper but if you want it dealer fitted I wouldn't give up so easily when their price is clearly a total guess with no accurate information behind it.
Vehicles with SA 662 do not need coding

[Bmw330]

Yeah, I’ll print it off and take it over, I think they probably don’t want to do it....

Although this dealer has a obviously £130 +vat an hour!, I thought older cars get a reduced labour rate.....

[Bmw330]

Bought the alpine retrofit kit, not got it yet but wondered how the amp is mounted in the boot.

Is the amp just velcro’d onto the boot floor?

[Bmw330]

Also, there is lots of conflicting info regarding the coding of this kit,

The bmw instructions state ISTA/P, select ‘hifi Alpine’ via conversion path and follow instructions......

Could anyone confirm the correct method to code that works? Thanks

[R3tribut10n]

Your better off buying the kit from BMW and getting someone to retrofit the kit for you (can’t see it being more than £500 at the most)
There is a guy called Simon on Facebook who has retrofitted my cic and xenon lighting good job both times


It is a 2.5hr job according to bmw, here’s the instructions

https://www.e90post.com/forums/attac...1&d=1225484555

[Bmw330]

Ive no issue fitting the kit, and my local specialist will code it for £42 + vat, just wanted to confirm the correct method for coding if I decided to do it myself, as everyone seems to have a different method with varying levels of success .....

[R3tribut10n]

I think you would be better letting the coder decided as each has their own way of doing things, and if you haven’t coded before you may run into issues a coder can deal with versus yourself doing it
I thought it was the full Harman Kardon kit so the price I suggested is wrong and should be around £200 ish

[Bmw330]

I’ll more than likely just let the specialist code it as it removes any issues!, be interested to see what has been updated if it indeed does require a full update

[R3tribut10n]

Did they say they would update the software for your car? Be handy just Incase

[Bmw330]

Yeah, they gave me two options, either just code in the alpine retrofit, or update all the modules with the latest available and code too.

I think it was 42 quid to code the alpine or 80 quid for the full update and code, I’m assuming it’s probably been a while since being fully updated so I’m tempted with a full update

[Andy198712]

Is there any risk with that?

[Bmw330]

With the full update?, I’ve had the same done at bmw on a previous bmw and there were no issues, I assume they are used to doing it if required ....

[R3tribut10n]

The reason to upgrade all the modules is simple, compatibility

There are a minimum of 2 Alpine kits (prior March 2009 and from March 09 lci upgrade)

If your car hasn’t had the modules updated it could have older software which can cause issues

[Bmw330]

Fitted the alpine kit yesterday (I think you’d struggle to do it in 2 hours though as per instructions), hardest part is figuring out how some of the parts are removed.

Real big improvement in sound quality (not been coded yet), even my wife noticed! Well worth the upgrade ....

[Andy198712]

Good to know, I’ve had it on my watch list for ages!

[Bmw330]

I got mine from bmw_direct on eBay when they had a 15% off, then eBay offered a 10% off that too so worked out £304 for the kit minus the tweeter trims and foams.