So.... I look stupid, huh? (Crazy install price)
 

Okay, so Im in Houston, and I go to a local car stereo installation place tha't pretty high in recognition for their work. I run down the list of the things I will need installed (being that I have/will have all of these parts myself):

AVIC-Z1
Ducatiboy Bypass
Ipod Interface
Bluetooth Module
PACS Steering Wheel Controls
XM/NAVTRAFFIC Unit
iLink iPod Connection (For Video & 3rd party GUI)
Rear View Camera (w/ Night Vision)
Front View Camera (w/ Night Vision) ["Look Ma, no headlights!"]
Directed Electronics Video Switcher
DLS-UP6's in front and rear
JL-Audio Stealthbox
Zapco Reference 360.4
Zapco Reference 350.2

The guy at the counter hits the calculator and comes up with a figure: $2990

Im thinking WTF? I mean, come on - im not asking for custom speaker pillars or some tricked out amp rack - you got to be BS'ing me with 3k for labor only. Did i have:loser: written on my face? I might as well ship my car to Unique Autosports and have Will do it, if that's the case. So, i politely took his card and told him that I would get back to them. Afterwards (and while still in digust), i call another car shop (Mobile One), and they give me a price for under 1K, with a custom bezel for the unit and possibly a false floor for the amps. The only thing they won't do is bypass the Z1 for full functionality in motion.

Comments/Feedback?

Kryptonite

Believe it or not
It should cost between 3000 and 4000 with parts.
Dont even take your X to the place that quoted you 1000.
Things are going to not work after a couple days, they wont fix the problems for weeks.
Thats like paying 500 for an engine swap.....not possible.
Good shops charge more because they do the installs properly.
BTW , all the speakers besides the tweeters in the front door require some custom install.
Go to a couple other places and get some more quotes.
You'll find them close to 3k


Oh ya
send your car to Will at unique and get shocked with a 5-10k bill

3-4K with parts is understandable. But when I HAVE EVERYTHING (which was 3-4K alone) and to spend another 3-4K on INSTALL ALONE, I might as well have not bought any gear and just shipped it to Unique and have him do parts and labor. But for me to get a quote from a nationally known car install franchise (that only does car setups/installs) that is totally opposite of a quote from a "stand alone" shop, that kinda bothers me a bit. Some places won't touch it because its a BMW, and some other places I won't let touch it because its a BMW. Nevertheless, I just don't see how you are coming up with a justifiable $3,000+ to install a head unit, 2 sets of components, 2 amps, a "plug n play" sub enclosure, some additional HU components, and a couple of cameras.

I asked car toys how much to install a srx radar and they said about $500. install prices are wack. I will install my srx myself in a couple hours, definatly not worth the price these installers want.

Let me know when you're done, pally.

I think the last SRX we installed we did in a full day. We backloaded the indicator LED in the highbeam indicator. We flushed the controller into the ashtray. We charged $600, I think.

My standard prices:

AVIC-Z1 ($175-200)
Ducatiboy Bypass (No idea)
Ipod Interface ($50 with glovebox cable, $100 for center console cable)
Bluetooth Module ($0)
PACS Steering Wheel Controls ($100-125)
XM/NAVTRAFFIC Unit ($150-175)
iLink iPod Connection (For Video & 3rd party GUI) ($75? No idea)
Rear View Camera (w/ Night Vision) ($150)
Front View Camera (w/ Night Vision) ["Look Ma, no headlights!"] ($150)
Directed Electronics Video Switcher ($75)
DLS-UP6's in front and rear ($200 x 2)
JL-Audio Stealthbox ($25 or so, depending)
Zapco Reference 360.4, 350.2 ($400-up, depending on if there's a removable rack like in the pics I've posted or what).

So we're around $2K, without any cables or wire at all, without any clarity on the amp rack or this mod that we probably wouldn't install anyway.

This isnt a cheap hobby.

I dont know if you trust circuit city but they are pretty cheap with installs.

However big projects like that I would avoid with CC. Small ones I would do because you could watch them the entire time

If you have anything more complex than installing for example a Basslink in a BMW you DO NOT go to Circuit City or any of this quick install shops for that matter. You go to an audio professional who knows the particularities of BMW audio systems.

2-3K is high, but not unreasonable. You REALLY get what you pay for when it comes to 12V install. And what you are buying is someone to fix the problems (that will 99% be there) right and right away rather then when it is easy for them.

Also, your best bet ALWAYS is to get all the gear from the install shop (they will do discounts and package prices). The money you spend on the parts that is more then getting them yourself, you will almost always save on labor. 12V shops (all shops) would rather sell you the whole deal and it will (would have been) cheaper in your case if you just would have gone to a good shop, shown them your street prices and let them give you one package price installed and warrantied. Just an FYI.

Thanks
Brad

Kryptonite, it is hard to appreciate how much work is involved unless you do it yourself. As you know, I just installed a Z1 in my X5. It took me weeks to do it (and I am still not completely finished). It was a lot of work. Some of it was very frustrating.

I would easily pay $2000 to have this done if I wasn't such a do-it-yourself type of person.:)