Labor charges have always been the hidden cost on these things. If you have to hang on to them for a while... don't beat yourself up. You just spent a large chunk of mod budget money on gears.

 

What is the going hourly labor rate these days? I have to imagine it's $100-$125....

 

I have a tech. I can pay on the side, but then it is just a matter of when he has the time to do it. So, not the end of the world. I just wanted to warn people as Z1 never seems to tell people the level of involvement with some of their mods.

That sounds about right. I think our Nissan shop is 112/hr. and Infiniti is more. I do get a pretty good deal as an employee though so it is never too bad.

 

When I brought this up with my old mechanic, he said it was a half day job, at least. So in big round numbers, I'd guess $500.

 

I was under my car trying to get a serial number off of the radiator for a warranty claim when I noticed my Zspeed aluminum undertray seemed to be separated from one of the mounts. Sure enough it broke right off.

It still has plenty of attachment points so it is not a big deal, but it finally gave up the goat after a number of contacts with speed bumps and pot holes. Very glad I got this part as it has probably saved my car from some much more expensive repairs.

 

That shield is one of the best purchases. Hit an unavoidable 2'x3'x5" pothole a while back. I was on a narrow path with an oncoming car and couldn't avoid it. The shield took the brunt of the impact as my wheel sunk into the hole and the car bottomed out. Sway bar bushing pierced the shield, but stopped the impact short of the lower oil pan.

Now I'm wishing they made a bolt on full underbody shield.

 

I had a similar experience where the zerk fitting actually poked through the shield!?!

 

Same.

Saw you were going to the Shelby club track day at Road America. It's super tempting but not enough lead time for prep and logistics for me. Plus, the weather is still too unpredictable.

Thinking of doing BMW club track day at autobahn. The weather should be better by then too.

Link

 

Where are you from? The weather looks good all this week- I just hope it is warm enough to melt all the snow from last weekend.

There are a number of good track days I am interested in this year. The BMW club event at Autobahn- have you driven with that club before?

I am really rushing to get everything ready in time too. I just finally got my summer tires on today. If you look close you can see the ridiculous snow banks from the biggest snow storm in 129 years that we had last weekend.

 

Speaking of snow, I may be getting rid of my snow rims and tires if anyone is interested.

 

I'm in Chicago and being a wuss about the weather. Been tricked one too many times.

Enough excuses. Never drove with the beemer club before, but the last time I was at ACC there was a good number of m3s and m4s. Going to give that a shot and while eyeing the Blackhawk Farms and RA events.

 

I don't blame you on the weather with the crazy storm we just got. Fortunately, it was very warm yesterday and today- 65 degrees!! Fingers crossed that the snow is all melted at Road America this weekend.

Autobahn is a fun track to drive. I might do Blackhawk farms later this year too. I was asking about driving with the BMW club because I have not driven with them before and sometimes certain clubs can be real jerks to those in cars with different emblems out front.

 

Sadly I’m in Chicago for work... it’s 10 degrees warmer today at home in Canada. Shouldn’t work that way when you fly south

 

Oh that sucks! It was pretty warm here today- about 65F and sunny.

 

In preparation for my track day on Sunday I upgraded the engine and rear differential oil and also used heat wrap around the exhaust to try to keep additional heat off the rear differential. For those of you keeping track at home, this is step 3 in "try to save your rear ABS sensors during a track day."