That is exactly what I was quoted when I built my last boat - for twins.

I know for a fact Oem on 525/xr twin is 66k, not sure about the 8.2 ho/xr but I believe it is in 48-50k range, hence 16k. I was just going off of someone else's number on the earlier ho package. And yes I'm sure it is a 25-30k upgrade. The active thunder guy said it is more to rig 525, which I don't see how.

I would suspect it would be more to rig Merc racing engines, just in parts to finish off the exhaust and perhaps better motor mount systems etc.

In 2006 the OEM price on a 525 XR set up was 31K, 40.5K for 600s (per engine) That OEM price is just what the manufacturer pays to get the engines to their place. Now add additional parts to rig, direct labor, fixed and variable costs of factory, indirect labor and quickly you get to where those prices aren't close to what it costs to put those engines in your boat. My guess is the bulk of the costs other than parts and maybe some direct labor are pretty much equal for whichever package you choose.

Bottom line the comment that started the debate is :bsflag:

Thats Great!!!

Sorry, I thought this was a boat ordered for a dealer stock or inventory. If it was a customer ordered boat, he obviously was not interested in overall performance and resale of his Cigarette but must have been on a tight budget trying to lower the cost of the finished boat.
As for builder rigging , the experts here are correct that the racing engines and their fuel, mounts and exhaust systems take extra labor and parts to rig in the boat.

And you are absolutely correct, Profit is not a dirty Word! It's the foremost component that will keep us as builders and suppliers around to fill the needs of the performance boaters!

Best Regards,
Ray @ Raylar

Mr. Raylar, can you explain the extra rigging costs between the 8.2ho and the 525, just don't understand a difference, they both run 87 octane, weigh the same, and both have stainless tailpipes.

Your misinformed on the cost of the 502s by quite a bit. I won't disclose the exact cost since I feel it is not relevant to what I sell a boat for.

I will say that the 8.2s are the perfect engine for the 33 AT boater since the $40k upgrade is a larger percentage of the sale price of the boat. Plus it being smaller it performs very well.

However I will say that 90% of the boats we build are with Mercury HP 525 EFIs and Bravo XR drives. That says a lot.

Thank you for explaining that to him. I believe the average mark-up to cover all the expenses of any manufacturing process is much, much higher than 30%, agreed?

I am sure some rigging experts here on OSO can elaborate on this subject better than I, however I will try to impart my limited knowledge.
Mercury Racing engines have full front and rear mounting plates and strut rods and require special additonal attachment brackets to the boats stringer systems. This is versus standard Mercruiser engine mounts of a single base at the front of the engine only.
These engines generally have Smart Craft systems and require addtional connections and mountings at the helm with addtional wiring in the harnesses.
Most Mercury racing engines require greater fuel flows from the feed systems from tank to engine and require larger line sizes and fittings to deliver appropriate fuel flows.
Many mercruiser engines such as the 502EFI as discussed here use a simple flexible reinforced rubber hose connection from the riser to the transom tips and generally the racing engines and their tips are fully stainless jacketed with sometimes direct connections to the transom tips.
These are just a few of the items I am familiar with, and there may be several more I am not even aware of as I am not a rigging expert.

Best Regards,
Ray @ Raylar