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Replacing Motor / Engine Mounts with Pics

DIY: 
66K views 52 replies 34 participants last post by  thrty8street 
#1 · (Edited)
Since we don't have our own motor mount DIY, I figured I should add one. My car has 105k miles and the difference in new mounts was noticeable. I had some vibration issues prior to this work, and now those are almost completely gone. I would highly recommend replacing motor mounts at the 100k mark. It took a couple hours, but I'm slow and I was taking pictures.

As always, DIY at your own risk.

Primary tools:
-13mm socket (3/8")
-16mm socket (3/8")
-13mm socket (1/4")
-18" or so of 3/8" extensions
-3/8" torque wrench
-Philips screwdriver
-Jack
-Two jack stands
-loctite


Parts:
LEFT RUBBER MOUNTING WITH FLANGE 22111092895 $92.13
RIGHT RUBBER MOUNTING WITH FLANGE 22111092896 $92.13

Part #15 below:



-Jack up front of car and place on jack stands
-Remove front undertray with philips screwdriver

Right side mount:


Left side mount:




-Loosen and remove two 13 mm nuts from the bottom of each mount (I used 1/2" drive with breaker bar).




-Loosen and remove 16mm nut from the top of each mount. I used a bunch of extension on my 3/8" drive wrench to reach:




Right side:







After loosening the nut, I rolled under the car and grabbed it from below. I found it easier than using a magnetic pick-up tool to reach it from the top.

The space on the left side is really tight. I put the socket, u-joint, and short extension on from under the car. Then from above I inserted the rest of the wrench. I thought this was easier than shoving it in from above, but it may be tight either way.






-Next, I undid my air intakes to give clearance when lifting the engine. I have Dinan aftermarket ones so I don't know the necessity of that step for standard air intakes.




-Using a piece or two of wood to distribute the weight, jack up the engine from the oil pan. Do this slowly. I did not have to spin off my fan but some may find that easier.




-You can now remove and replace the mounts. The right side should come out first, then jack the engine a little higher to get at the left.

-On the left side, I found it helpful to back out this screw to give me a little more room to work. Make sure to tighten it back up when finished.




-I found it easiest to tip the mount towards the back of the car when removing and inserting. Pictures below show installation but removal would be opposite.








The upper mounting stud goes through the forward mounting hole on the engine support:




-After both mounts are in (but before engine is lowered) put loctite on the upper threads.

-Slowly lower the engine, taking care to line up the studs with the correct mounting holes.

-Once it is lowered, add loctite to the lower studs and install all of the nuts. On the upper studs I placed the nut on from below and then tightened from above (like removal pictures above).

-Tighten lower 13mm nuts to 22nm and the upper 16mm nuts to 47nm.

-Install the lower undertray, lower the car, re-attach intakes and you are done. Go for a drive to feel a nice smooth engine!

The old mounts were not visibly cracked, but the difference in driving feel was still noticeable. Here is an original mount compared to the new one:

 

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#8 ·
I have some vibrations at a few points in the 1200-3000 rpm range. They happen either in gear or neutral (moving or stationary), so it is not a driveline problem.

The new motor mounts made the car feel quite a bit smoother, but they didn't solve the problem. I'll probably do trans and exhaust mounts next to see if that helps anything. Nightkrawler has a big thread exploring vibration issues; I've been using that as a reference when tracking down some of my problems.

One of the better written / photographed / presented DIYs I've seen.
Coming from the keeper of the DIYs, :)
 
#7 ·
Been looking to do this too, so many thanks for the additional info :)
 
#10 ·
Thanks! You still thinking about rod bearings this summer?
 
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#13 ·
Motor Mounts

You make it seem easy, friend. I will start thinking about this when I get near a 100k miles in 40k miles. Don't know how long thats going to take. Excellent write up (this should be the standard). Thank you for taking the time to compose this.
 
#15 ·
Changed my motor mounts yesterday, decided to do this proactively as part of general maintenance having not long past 100k miles. I was surprised at how these are comparitively inexpensive and this helped my decision to replace them. But the best thing is the car is noticeably smoother to drive :) Will be swapping out the transmission mounts next.
 
#16 ·
It surprised me how little they cost, compared to some other cars. Indeed, how relatively simple they are to do as well, it doesn't seem as though there are any tight spots to try and man-handle things around/into either. Same goes for the transmission mounts, just up and down onto the new ones.
 
#19 ·
As in cost? They for got around $60-65 each in the U.S.


Not sure about a proactive replacement - my car has 261,000 miles - original motor, rear end and transmission mounts - no vibrations.
Probably many factors that go into whether or not they need replacement proactively - I'd guess power (and torque) and climate have a lot to do with it.

They may not necessarily "break", but there has to be some level of degradation over the years/miles.
 
#20 · (Edited)
Great writeup, thanks. Replaced these two in about an hour this morning. Observations from a stock car:

As mentioned, if you have stock intakes you are probably better off removing them (the entire box). The reason isn't so much for access to the top bolts (although it would help a bit on the driver's side), but because the amount of room you need to lift the engine. Otherwise you might hear some noises of things getting a bit stressed as you get the engine up high enough to pop the mounts out. All this said, I did not remove the stock air boxes.

Second, I did not need to remove the additional bolt to assist with access on the driver's side, but I did use a bit of persuasion to pop it out. The new ones just popped right in.

Third, and finally, I didn't need the wobble joint. I found direct lines of sight in both cases.

I think my mounts weren't that bad off. In fact, I think they were probably replaced by the last owner from the looks of things - but now I know for sure. The car does feel a bit tighter coming on and off throttle, but it might just be my imagination. ;)
 
#22 ·
Thanks for your observations, meepmeep. Glad to have the perspective from a stock car.



2001 as well. Not mine, but a family member's summer DD. I think it's a great compliment to the M5. When I don't want to destroy my rod bearings at 7k rpm I just take the little Honda up to 9k! Combined with the gearbox and handling it is a good weekend toy, definitely.
 
#23 ·
My car has close to 86k miles. If I blip the throttle at idle with sport mode on (to ~4k RPM) the chassis flexes a little, is that normal or signs of worn motor mounts?
 
#24 ·
My car has close to 86k miles. If I blip the throttle at idle with sport mode on (to ~4k RPM) the chassis flexes a little, is that normal or signs of worn motor mounts?
Are you sure your not getting vibrations at 2.5k instead of 4k? Many people have trouble with the 2500k vibrations at both highway cruising speeds and idle. Try revving it to 2.5k and holding it and see if you notice any vibrations.
 
#26 ·
I'll take a brave stab and say that's just 5 litres of longitudinal V8 waking up! Seriously, just internal forces and the orientation of the engine, I like it when mine does that ;)
 
#27 ·
WOW! I just did mine...30-35min job if you're hauling ***. I had a very scary symptom. When my tires would break loose everything would bounce around. I thought it was my diff or something electrical...nope! bad engine mount. The base of the mount was totally separated from the rubber...I mean completely! So the engine was literally bouncing. New mounts, now its perfect!!!! Thanks for the awesome guide! It helped me get the courage to do it myself. I did have to be careful when jacking the engine up...had to bend the fan blades to clear the radiator housing.
 
#28 ·
OP - Thank you for the write up.

Followed your steps to replace my motor mounts this weekend and wow - what a difference. At 111K miles the new mounts made a huge difference and the car feels a few years younger :)
 
#29 ·
Does anyone know if I can replace just the rubber portion of the motor mount? Called the dealer today and they asked me if I want just the rubber part or the metal casing as well. I was under the impression that they are one piece. thanks in advance
 
#31 ·
Its all one bit i think when i did it - the rubber section looks like its been formed in the metal housing. I think these may be oil filled which is something BMW seem to like doing in suspension bushes etc as well - great until they fail! Check detail on realoem.org for part numbers - i think this page is what you need:

RealOEM.com   BMW E39 M5 Engine Suspension

Says the rubber mount comes with flange on here - best quote the part numbers here to your dealer.
 
#32 ·
Agreed, when I've looked for this, I'm sure it's a single part. I've got down to replace the nuts and bolts with them too, so I'm being thorough. Postive it's one part, check they're looking at the right thing.
 
#33 ·
Thanks to this DIY, I replaced my engine mounts yesterday without too much hassle. Dealt with a rounded left side top 16mm but but for it out after a fight. Used a 5/8th socket to get it out.

I didn't have to remove anything extra like the fan nor the other nut on the left side as mentioned in the diy. I jacked mainly from the left side on the oil pan because I didn't want to damage the pad heater and it worked very well.
 
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