LSD install quote -- $3,700??

I've been going back and forth with a shop in CT for getting an LSD installed. They finally gave me some numbers yesterday... 16 hours of labor, plus anywhere from $1,100 to $1,600 depending on which LSD I choose (wave trac, peloquin, etc). After fresh fluid, new filter, hardware, etc it put me right around $3,000. If I want them to replace the DMFW it's another $700.

It's a DSG car so I understand there is a lot more involved, but can anyone else chime in roughly what they paid for their LSD install? There are some other shops in the area that can do the work as well but before I go wasting other peoples time I wanted to get a feel for what I should be expecting.

Thanks!

They are probably charging you book time, which is probably 16 hours. It's just what shops do, and it's the way it's been forever. Realistically, it probably is 8 hours work of work. And the DSG LSD is more expensive than the others. I'd say 3 grand is a pretty fair estimate. As for the dual mass, it is what it is for that price, although you can probably buy a Sach's unit off RockAuto for cheaper.

FWIW, I charge 900 for a manual DSG install, plus the materials and the LSD itself and this is doing it out of my home garage. I had someone ask me about a DSG LSD install and they had a previous quote from a local shop, and I just found the old text in my phone. Here is how they broke it down:

Labor for R&R the trans and install the LSD $1372+tax
Axle seals $40+tax
DSG Fluid $160+tax
DSG Filter $23

Total: $1691 w/tax (that's not including the LSD itself)

EDIT: I'd guess this shops labor rate is around $85...X16 hours = $1360, which is pretty damn close to their estimate of $1372, so I'd bet this shop did the same thing.

zef said:

I've been going back and forth with a shop in CT for getting an LSD installed. They finally gave me some numbers yesterday... 16 hours of labor, plus anywhere from $1,100 to $1,600 depending on which LSD I choose (wave trac, peloquin, etc). After fresh fluid, new filter, hardware, etc it put me right around $3,000. If I want them to replace the DMFW it's another $700.

It's a DSG car so I understand there is a lot more involved, but can anyone else chime in roughly what they paid for their LSD install? There are some other shops in the area that can do the work as well but before I go wasting other peoples time I wanted to get a feel for what I should be expecting.

Thanks!

Click to expand...

I paid 1200 for the install which included all seals and fluid. I got an MFactory LSD when it was on sale for 799, regular price is 999.00. Anyway it cost me 2000 for LSD install including the LSD.



I have a MKV DSG so my car is older so I also put in a fresh set of clutches.

I track the car so I also installed a cooling system for the DSG at same time.


All of the above cost me right at 3700 labor and parts. The LSD is a fantastic upgrade especially if you track your car.

I would only go to a shop where they have experience doing LSD installs in DSG so you aren't paying for their inexperience.

Here is a pic of the DSG cooling system, cost of parts was about 700. All this DSG work is in prep for a new forged motor and bigger turbo with a goal of 500+ whp.

*****2.0t said:

They are probably charging you book time, which is probably 16 hours. It's just what shops do, and it's the way it's been forever. Realistically, it probably is 8 hours work of work. And the DSG LSD is more expensive than the others. I'd say 3 grand is a pretty fair estimate. As for the dual mass, it is what it is for that price, although you can probably buy a Sach's unit off RockAuto for cheaper.

FWIW, I charge 900 for a manual DSG install, plus the materials and the LSD itself and this is doing it out of my home garage. I had someone ask me about a DSG LSD install and they had a previous quote from a local shop, and I just found the old text in my phone. Here is how they broke it down:

Labor for R&R the trans and install the LSD $1372+tax
Axle seals $40+tax
DSG Fluid $160+tax
DSG Filter $23

Total: $1691 w/tax (that's not including the LSD itself)

EDIT: I'd guess this shops labor rate is around $85...X16 hours = $1360, which is pretty damn close to their estimate of $1372, so I'd bet this shop did the same thing.

Click to expand...

Thanks man, sounds like I am not too far off then. Their rate is a little higher ($100/hr), but maybe if I come with cash they can give me a break on tax.

GIACUser said:

I paid 1200 for the install which included all seals and fluid. I got an MFactory LSD when it was on sale for 799, regular price is 999.00. Anyway it cost me 2000 for LSD install including the LSD.

I have a MKV DSG so my car is older so I also put in a fresh set of clutches.

I track the car so I also installed a cooling system for the DSG at same time.


All of the above cost me right at 3700 labor and parts. The LSD is a fantastic upgrade especially if you track your car.

I would only go to a shop where they have experience doing LSD installs in DSG so you aren't paying for their inexperience.

Click to expand...

$3,700 with clutches is pretty darn good. I am confident the shop has the experience, they're pretty well known and are local which is a plus. Are you still on your original DMFW? I saw the mfactory unit, but unfortunately my version is the original $999 price + shipping costs.

zef said:

Thanks man, sounds like I am not too far off then. Their rate is a little higher ($100/hr), but maybe if I come with cash they can give me a break on tax.



$3,700 with clutches is pretty darn good. I am confident the shop has the experience, they're pretty well known and are local which is a plus. Are you still on your original DMFW? I saw the mfactory unit, but unfortunately my version is the original $999 price + shipping costs.

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Should check the website again... Looks like it's $599 plus whatever shipping is.

http://www.teammfactory.com/catalog/partno/MF-TRS-05DSG6

Send M factory a message... comes out to be around $640 shipped...

I'm waiting to get mine installed... just getting some additional parts together such as refinishing my BBK and preventatively ordering a rear main seal

Honestly I wouldn't drop almost 4 grand on just an LSD. As much as it is praised by everyone, it's not worth 4 grand lol. You should keep asking around and don't buy parts from the shop, rather order them yourself and have them install it.

Darn, I bought the mfactory LSD when it was full price. The shop I had it installed at (GRD) charged me 2000 for labor, so it ended up being $3000 for parts and labor. They are the only shop in my area that I trust to do work on my car though.

onefastGTI said:

Honestly I wouldn't drop almost 4 grand on just an LSD. As much as it is praised by everyone, it's not worth 4 grand lol. You should keep asking around and don't buy parts from the shop, rather order them yourself and have them install it.

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If you're planning on keeping the car for a good long time might as well do some preventative things such as replace the rear main seal or maybe your rear main seal is already leaky. At that point might as well upgrade to an LSD at the same time.

You can get it all total under $2k easily.

If you have a larger turbo on a DSG car... might even be a good idea to upgrade the clutches as well which brings it to around the $4k you mention.

Since my clutches where already replaced under warranty for prematurely wearing out about 20,000 miles ago I'm sticking with the original clutches for now... but I am almost tempted to do it preventatively to save on the future labor costs.

onefastGTI said:

Honestly I wouldn't drop almost 4 grand on just an LSD. As much as it is praised by everyone, it's not worth 4 grand lol. You should keep asking around and don't buy parts from the shop, rather order them yourself and have them install it.

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That is what I was struggling with for awhile. The XDS system does a decent job but at the end of the day it's still an electronic diff which will never be superior to a mechanical. Especially once you start adding power.

The problem with ordering your own parts is warranty issues. Shops will not hesitate to pass the hot potato if shit hits the fan because they'll claim it was the part you ordered.

fuelforfire87 said:

Darn, I bought the mfactory LSD when it was full price. The shop I had it installed at (GRD) charged me 2000 for labor, so it ended up being $3000 for parts and labor. They are the only shop in my area that I trust to do work on my car though.

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Him so it sounds like $3k is more or less the going rate. Wish I just saved for another year or two for the MK7 w/ the performance package...would've came standard lol. But I guess for the price I got my mk6 for I really can't complain.

zef said:

That is what I was struggling with for awhile. The XDS system does a decent job but at the end of the day it's still an electronic diff which will never be superior to a mechanical. Especially once you start adding power.

The problem with ordering your own parts is warranty issues. Shops will not hesitate to pass the hot potato if shit hits the fan because they'll claim it was the part you ordered.

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Don't know if you've done it yet, but there is a way to program your xds to be more aggressive as a virtual LSD via vagcom. Essentially programs it to the same settings used in the front wheel drive scirocco R. I thought it worked pretty good in my GTI when I had it. The front end would pull tighter into the turn the more gas I gave it until I was at the limits of the front tires.. Another thing to remember... there's a supercar that doesn't have an LSD and uses a system very similar to xds... it's the mclaren.

Now that I have the power parts from my old gti in a VW CC... there is no option to activate xds so the front end just goes wide in an unpredictable manner when giving it the slightest throttle input in the middle of a turn which is why I've ordered and LSD.

PandaGTI said:

If you're planning on keeping the car for a good long time might as well do some preventative things such as replace the rear main seal or maybe your rear main seal is already leaky. At that point might as well upgrade to an LSD at the same time.

You can get it all total under $2k easily.

If you have a larger turbo on a DSG car... might even be a good idea to upgrade the clutches as well which brings it to around the $4k you mention.

Since my clutches where already replaced under warranty for prematurely wearing out about 20,000 miles ago I'm sticking with the original clutches for now... but I am almost tempted to do it preventatively to save on the future labor costs.

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OEM clutches hold 700hp no issue, gears break first, personal experience.

Also only cooling that works is like above, I have a DQ250 pan with welded bungs and a high end tstat (machined 180 deg, way nicer than the mocal ones) and an oem cooler bypass plate for same if anyone wants to buy them, pump and earls cooler some fittings and line and you would be all set.

PandaGTI said:

Don't know if you've done it yet, but there is a way to program your xds to be more aggressive as a virtual LSD via vagcom. Essentially programs it to the same settings used in the front wheel drive scirocco R. I thought it worked pretty good in my GTI when I had it. The front end would pull tighter into the turn the more gas I gave it until I was at the limits of the front tires.. Another thing to remember... there's a supercar that doesn't have an LSD and uses a system very similar to xds... it's the mclaren.

Now that I have the power parts from my old gti in a VW CC... there is no option to activate xds so the front end just goes wide in an unpredictable manner when giving it the slightest throttle input in the middle of a turn which is why I've ordered and LSD.

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Can anyone confirm this? I will get rid of my LSD if this is true. Way cheaper route.

Wrong.
I was the first one to figure out the Scirroco R settings back when.
It is no substitute for a real LSD.
It eats brake pads and overheats them because not only are you using brakes during braking but also while accelerating, destroys smoothness through turns and destroys the tires because it is so disruptive to whatever line you are trying to make.
At setting 2 it still disrupts the car even when it hs an actual LSD. Best setting till now is Low.

BuiltforSin said:

Can anyone confirm this? I will get rid of my LSD if this is true. Way cheaper route.

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I've had multiple other cars with proper limited slip differentials pushing power to the front wheels and I'm not dissatisfied with the performance of XDS on the stock setting. With that said, XDS is not a 100% replacement for a mechanical limited slip differential.

XDS is nice because it does genuinely work as long as you pay close attention to what's happening at the front wheels. If you hit the sweet spot it's great, but if you're a bit too greedy on the throttle the engine overpowers the brake caliper on the wheel with the least grip making the system ineffective. What's tricky about it is that you don't get much feedback as a driver. With a mechanical limited slip you can usually feel it through the steering wheel, with XDS the only way you can tell is listening to the engine to get a sense if it's spinning up one of the driven wheels.

Another reason why XDS is nice is because is because you don't really get power-on understeer with it. If you ham fist the throttle coming out of a corner the inside tire is going to spin and the outside tire is going to keep grip and allow the car to track more or less where you tell it to via the steering wheel.

Please note that this is not the same as understeer due to more momentum than the tires can handle, even if the throttle is open to some degree, this is not what I mean by "on-throttle understeer." Typically when people say "power on over/under-steer" they're referring to what the car does when you apply more power to the tires than they can handle. What a car does when you ask it to cut a tighter arc than the tires have grip is more a handling balance thing best addressed by suspension adjustments.

But as everyone here is quick to point out, XDS simply cannot put power down as well as a mechanical limited slip. At stock or near stock horsepower XDS is fine, IMO. But when you get to the point where you can't effectively put down power in third gear, it's probably time to upgrade that differential.