MINI2

daverees · Apr 28th, 2002, 05:35 AM

What size drill-bit do I use to drill the roof?? The dealer had never fitted the Roof rails before and wanted to charge me £140 (UK Pounds)which is 2hours labour!!

So I brough the rails to fit myself.
It comes with a fitting kit - Roof bolts x8, washers x 16, special wrench, ROOF MARKER TEMPLATES,
HOLE THREADER(?I think?), White roof caps(when rails not in use), installation information and the rails themselves.

The installation instructions are ONLY how to mount the rails once you have fitted the roof bolts.
THERE ARE NO INSTRUCTIONS ON HOW TO ACTUALLY DRILL AND ATTACH THE ROOF BOLTS!! AND MOST IMPORTANT OF ALL WHAT SIZE/WIDITH THE DRILL-BIT IS !!(in mm)

CAN ANYONE ADVISE?

---------------------------
UPDATE: 26th May 2002

After studying the 10 page BMW-intranet instructions (Kindly obtained by Santacruz) I priced up the tools to do the job. I couldn't find any DIY place that would do the exact tools and it roughly came to over £50. (2 drils and a small circular saw) So I whimped out and asked the dealer to fit. They originally told me 2 hours labour and when I went back they then said 3 hours labour! After much negotiating they agreed to do it for 2 hours labour. They had to keep the car for two days because they discovered they didn't have all the tools they needed (sounds familiar) and had already started the job (drilling). When I collected the car the dealer rep. said that it was a knightmare! and it took them over 8 hours to do!! ...and that they would be very reluctant to undertake the job again for anyone else! Fortunatle for me I had agreed the labour cost upfront and paid my £169.20

Apparently you have to drill through the roof and find existing bolts that the brackets screw into. The dealer said it may have been easier to drop ou the inter-roof to locate them. Maybe a small indentation in the roof to mark the spot would be better?!

The rails look good, secure etc. and look ok with the white plastic blanks when not being used but they do look like they could come off easily so I would recommend that you buy an extra set of plastic blanks.

They are a few fine, hair line dents on the roof between the front and rear rail brackets where the dealer has struggled to drill etc. but you can hardly see them so I'm not too bothered.

...It's on now and I'll find it useful for extra luggage if going away for a few days, carrying bikes etc. Not got a surfboard or ski's yet!

Lorien · Apr 28th, 2002, 05:41 AM

you might want to find out if this messed up your warranty agaisnt rust or color issues - as if you drill into the car, and something goes wrong: they might say its a result of your drilling.

personaly: i would just pay for it even though it is a lot..

noahe · Apr 28th, 2002, 12:37 PM

Actually, if you're handy, I think this is a great idea. Since you're doing it yourself, you can take extra care, and silicone all the holes properly, so rust never becomes a problem. Be sure to use a center tap so your holes dont wander when you start them.

It's pretty ridiculous that they don't include ALL the instructions. I'd write to BMW/MINI or call them to find out.

What did the kit cost w/o installation?

santacruz · Apr 29th, 2002, 06:24 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by daverees
What size drill-bit do I use to drill the roof?? The dealer had never fitted the Roof rails before and wanted to charge me £140 (UK Pounds)which is 2hours labour!! .......

Can you take some photos as you do it and post them here so we can see how the bolts fit into the roof and how the cover caps look when the rails are off the car?

Thanks and good luck.

PS my dealer has quoted me £190 all in (rails and fitting) I think that is steep although I believe the rails themselves are £155 (is that correct ?). I'm going to pay it as the work has to be at their risk!

moonshine · Apr 30th, 2002, 04:09 AM

I called John Clarks (dundee) last week and was I was told by that the roof rack and fitting pack are around £90 in total, with fitting around £80. All those prices inc. vat.

They also said that the fitting time (therefore the billing time, and cost) was dictated by BMW and that prevented them from overcharging a job on labour. I think it was 8 units of time (i dunno what they are tho? maybe 15 min segments therefore 2 hours labour)

Still not convinced i want them to drill the roof, nevermind do it myself!!!

Gerry.

daverees · May 1st, 2002, 08:28 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by noahe
Actually, if you're handy, I think this is a great idea. Since you're doing it yourself, you can take extra care, and silicone all the holes properly, so rust never becomes a problem. Be sure to use a center tap so your holes dont wander when you start them.

It's pretty ridiculous that they don't include ALL the instructions. I'd write to BMW/MINI or call them to find out.

What did the kit cost w/o installation?

daverees: Thanks Noahe, I'll definately use a centre tap and silicone. The kit was £14.47 plus VAT.

daverees · May 1st, 2002, 08:36 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by santacruz

Can you take some photos as you do it and post them here so we can see how the bolts fit into the roof and how the cover caps look when the rails are off the car?

Thanks and good luck.

PS my dealer has quoted me £190 all in (rails and fitting) I think that is steep although I believe the rails themselves are £155 (is that correct ?). I'm going to pay it as the work has to be at their risk!

daverees: Thanks Santacruz, the basic rails with fitting-kit, plus the VAT was £99.01 without them "the dealer" actually fitting it. AND because they had not yet fitted any MINI roof rails yet they wanted 2 hours labour because they simply didn't know how long it would take...the one guy in parts even asked me to let him know how I got on.

I'll send some pics both on and off the roof...as already quoted on another stream you can see a pic with the rails off - in the mini assessories book, page 17 - the chequered roof.

daverees · May 1st, 2002, 08:41 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Lorien
you might want to find out if this messed up your warranty agaisnt rust or color issues - as if you drill into the car, and something goes wrong: they might say its a result of your drilling.

personaly: i would just pay for it even though it is a lot..

daverees: Thanks Lorien, I still may do that I.E. get them to do it. BUT if there were some actual instructions I could make a balanced judgement...I am reasonably handy and I often trust my work ethics more than others particularly if they have never do it themselves. AND if I do it myself I will use silicone to protect against rust.

santacruz · May 1st, 2002, 10:53 AM

daverees, guess what I got from my dealer today....instructions from BMW/MINI's intranet on how to install the roof rack mounting bolts. They are very comprehensive and list all tools etc required including drill sizes. I haven't had a chance to scan the document (10 pages of A4) but will try to do it tonight. Will try to upload it here later.

daverees · May 1st, 2002, 11:33 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by santacruz
daverees, guess what I got from my dealer today....instructions from BMW/MINI's intranet on how to install the roof rack mounting bolts. They are very comprehensive and list all tools etc required including drill sizes. I haven't had a chance to scan the document (10 pages of A4) but will try to do it tonight. Will try to upload it here later.

daverees: Santacruz, YOU ARE A SAINT! Let me know if you can't upload it here and I'll give you my email address...thanks!!!

santacruz · May 1st, 2002, 01:16 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by daverees

daverees: Santacruz, YOU ARE A SAINT! Let me know if you can't upload it here and I'll give you my email address...thanks!!!

St Santacruz sounds very nice

But enough of this ego massaging...my motovation is that I want the roof rack too but would like to see some photos of one done first to see what the mounting bolts look like (I've seen the picture of the cover plates in the) and reading the instructions reassures me that they wont leak (if carefully installed) and the dealer has confirmed that there are no corrosion warranty issues (and it does seem this isn't an after-thought by BMW as the mounting points are already in the side frames under the roof skin). Anyway send me a pm with your email address and I'll send the file as I've tried to up load and it didn't take the file (either too big or I've done something wrong and if it's the latter I'm a bit pressed for time to work it out ... going on holiday

).
Do take some photos of the installation process and post them here

Apr 28th, 2002, 05:35 AM	#1
daverees MINI2 Newbie Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: Worcestershire, UK Local Time: 07:13 AM Posts: 15 Offline	Roof Rack fitting What size drill-bit do I use to drill the roof?? The dealer had never fitted the Roof rails before and wanted to charge me £140 (UK Pounds)which is 2hours labour!! So I brough the rails to fit myself. It comes with a fitting kit - Roof bolts x8, washers x 16, special wrench, ROOF MARKER TEMPLATES, HOLE THREADER(?I think?), White roof caps(when rails not in use), installation information and the rails themselves. The installation instructions are ONLY how to mount the rails once you have fitted the roof bolts. THERE ARE NO INSTRUCTIONS ON HOW TO ACTUALLY DRILL AND ATTACH THE ROOF BOLTS!! AND MOST IMPORTANT OF ALL WHAT SIZE/WIDITH THE DRILL-BIT IS !!(in mm) CAN ANYONE ADVISE? --------------------------- UPDATE: 26th May 2002 After studying the 10 page BMW-intranet instructions (Kindly obtained by Santacruz) I priced up the tools to do the job. I couldn't find any DIY place that would do the exact tools and it roughly came to over £50. (2 drils and a small circular saw) So I whimped out and asked the dealer to fit. They originally told me 2 hours labour and when I went back they then said 3 hours labour! After much negotiating they agreed to do it for 2 hours labour. They had to keep the car for two days because they discovered they didn't have all the tools they needed (sounds familiar) and had already started the job (drilling). When I collected the car the dealer rep. said that it was a knightmare! and it took them over 8 hours to do!! ...and that they would be very reluctant to undertake the job again for anyone else! Fortunatle for me I had agreed the labour cost upfront and paid my £169.20 Apparently you have to drill through the roof and find existing bolts that the brackets screw into. The dealer said it may have been easier to drop ou the inter-roof to locate them. Maybe a small indentation in the roof to mark the spot would be better?! The rails look good, secure etc. and look ok with the white plastic blanks when not being used but they do look like they could come off easily so I would recommend that you buy an extra set of plastic blanks. They are a few fine, hair line dents on the roof between the front and rear rail brackets where the dealer has struggled to drill etc. but you can hardly see them so I'm not too bothered. ...It's on now and I'll find it useful for extra luggage if going away for a few days, carrying bikes etc. Not got a surfboard or ski's yet! Last edited by daverees : May 26th, 2002 at 07:15 AM.

Apr 28th, 2002, 12:37 PM	#3 (permalink)
noahe MINI2 Master Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: Toronto Local Time: 02:13 AM Posts: 1,639 Offline	Actually, if you're handy, I think this is a great idea. Since you're doing it yourself, you can take extra care, and silicone all the holes properly, so rust never becomes a problem. Be sure to use a center tap so your holes dont wander when you start them. It's pretty ridiculous that they don't include ALL the instructions. I'd write to BMW/MINI or call them to find out. What did the kit cost w/o installation? Chilli Red/White Cooper S, Sport Pack & Sunroof. Delivered June 12th, 2002! Now with MCS Winter Tire Package.

Apr 29th, 2002, 06:24 PM	#4 (permalink)
santacruz MINI2 Regular Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: Edinburgh Local Time: 07:13 AM Posts: 150 Offline	Re: Roof Rack fitting Quote: Originally posted by daverees What size drill-bit do I use to drill the roof?? The dealer had never fitted the Roof rails before and wanted to charge me £140 (UK Pounds)which is 2hours labour!! ....... Can you take some photos as you do it and post them here so we can see how the bolts fit into the roof and how the cover caps look when the rails are off the car? Thanks and good luck. PS my dealer has quoted me £190 all in (rails and fitting) I think that is steep although I believe the rails themselves are £155 (is that correct ?). I'm going to pay it as the work has to be at their risk!

Apr 30th, 2002, 04:09 AM	#5 (permalink)
moonshine MINI2 Senior Join Date: Feb 2002 Location: Gourock, Scotland Local Time: 07:13 AM Posts: 606 Offline	I called John Clarks (dundee) last week and was I was told by that the roof rack and fitting pack are around £90 in total, with fitting around £80. All those prices inc. vat. They also said that the fitting time (therefore the billing time, and cost) was dictated by BMW and that prevented them from overcharging a job on labour. I think it was 8 units of time (i dunno what they are tho? maybe 15 min segments therefore 2 hours labour) Still not convinced i want them to drill the roof, nevermind do it myself!!! Gerry. MINI Cooper, Chili Pack, Xenons, heated washers, MFSW, ASC+T,

May 1st, 2002, 08:36 AM	#7 (permalink)
daverees MINI2 Newbie Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: Worcestershire, UK Local Time: 07:13 AM Posts: 15 Offline	Re: Re: Roof Rack fitting Quote: Originally posted by santacruz Can you take some photos as you do it and post them here so we can see how the bolts fit into the roof and how the cover caps look when the rails are off the car? Thanks and good luck. PS my dealer has quoted me £190 all in (rails and fitting) I think that is steep although I believe the rails themselves are £155 (is that correct ?). I'm going to pay it as the work has to be at their risk! daverees: Thanks Santacruz, the basic rails with fitting-kit, plus the VAT was £99.01 without them "the dealer" actually fitting it. AND because they had not yet fitted any MINI roof rails yet they wanted 2 hours labour because they simply didn't know how long it would take...the one guy in parts even asked me to let him know how I got on. I'll send some pics both on and off the roof...as already quoted on another stream you can see a pic with the rails off - in the mini assessories book, page 17 - the chequered roof.

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Apr 28th, 2002, 05:41 AM	#2 (permalink)
Lorien GP 1986 My Classifieds Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: Provincia di Cuneo Local Time: 10:13 AM Posts: 401 Offline	you might want to find out if this messed up your warranty agaisnt rust or color issues - as if you drill into the car, and something goes wrong: they might say its a result of your drilling. personaly: i would just pay for it even though it is a lot..

May 1st, 2002, 08:28 AM	#6 (permalink)
daverees MINI2 Newbie Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: Worcestershire, UK Local Time: 07:13 AM Posts: 15 Offline	Quote: Originally posted by noahe Actually, if you're handy, I think this is a great idea. Since you're doing it yourself, you can take extra care, and silicone all the holes properly, so rust never becomes a problem. Be sure to use a center tap so your holes dont wander when you start them. It's pretty ridiculous that they don't include ALL the instructions. I'd write to BMW/MINI or call them to find out. What did the kit cost w/o installation? daverees: Thanks Noahe, I'll definately use a centre tap and silicone. The kit was £14.47 plus VAT.

May 1st, 2002, 08:41 AM	#8 (permalink)
daverees MINI2 Newbie Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: Worcestershire, UK Local Time: 07:13 AM Posts: 15 Offline	Quote: Originally posted by Lorien you might want to find out if this messed up your warranty agaisnt rust or color issues - as if you drill into the car, and something goes wrong: they might say its a result of your drilling. personaly: i would just pay for it even though it is a lot.. daverees: Thanks Lorien, I still may do that I.E. get them to do it. BUT if there were some actual instructions I could make a balanced judgement...I am reasonably handy and I often trust my work ethics more than others particularly if they have never do it themselves. AND if I do it myself I will use silicone to protect against rust.

May 1st, 2002, 10:53 AM	#9 (permalink)
santacruz MINI2 Regular Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: Edinburgh Local Time: 07:13 AM Posts: 150 Offline	daverees, guess what I got from my dealer today....instructions from BMW/MINI's intranet on how to install the roof rack mounting bolts. They are very comprehensive and list all tools etc required including drill sizes. I haven't had a chance to scan the document (10 pages of A4) but will try to do it tonight. Will try to upload it here later.

May 1st, 2002, 11:33 AM	#10 (permalink)
daverees MINI2 Newbie Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: Worcestershire, UK Local Time: 07:13 AM Posts: 15 Offline	Quote: Originally posted by santacruz daverees, guess what I got from my dealer today....instructions from BMW/MINI's intranet on how to install the roof rack mounting bolts. They are very comprehensive and list all tools etc required including drill sizes. I haven't had a chance to scan the document (10 pages of A4) but will try to do it tonight. Will try to upload it here later. daverees: Santacruz, YOU ARE A SAINT! Let me know if you can't upload it here and I'll give you my email address...thanks!!!

May 1st, 2002, 01:16 PM	#11 (permalink)
santacruz MINI2 Regular Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: Edinburgh Local Time: 07:13 AM Posts: 150 Offline	Quote: Originally posted by daverees daverees: Santacruz, YOU ARE A SAINT! Let me know if you can't upload it here and I'll give you my email address...thanks!!! St Santacruz sounds very nice But enough of this ego massaging...my motovation is that I want the roof rack too but would like to see some photos of one done first to see what the mounting bolts look like (I've seen the picture of the cover plates in the) and reading the instructions reassures me that they wont leak (if carefully installed) and the dealer has confirmed that there are no corrosion warranty issues (and it does seem this isn't an after-thought by BMW as the mounting points are already in the side frames under the roof skin). Anyway send me a pm with your email address and I'll send the file as I've tried to up load and it didn't take the file (either too big or I've done something wrong and if it's the latter I'm a bit pressed for time to work it out ... going on holiday ). Do take some photos of the installation process and post them here

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