Engine Mounts

[Roscoe458]

Greetings from Memphis TN! Anyone change engine mounts on a 3.0 Z3? Any info out there yall know about on how to do it?
THANKS!

[zellamay]

I imagine you'll find it here: https://www.bimmerforums.com/forum/s...ked-Questions)

[BimmerBreaker]

Use an engine support bar to support the engine - unbolt the mount, remove/replace... use the lift bar to lift the engine slightly if needed for clearance. Do one side at a time

[solimans]

saw a video of guy who loosened up one side with the other side completely free. with the jack below the engine (use a block of wood) he jacked up and it twisted the engine slightly for clearance on the free side. reverse for other side...video on youtube.

[Potes]

I recently did them on an 01 3.0 and its not bad. The engine doesnt actually sit on the engine mounts, there’s 2 brackets (on either side) that come out the side of the engine and sit on top of the mounts. If you can hold the engine in place, you can just remove the brackets off the motor with the mounts still attached to them lol. Put new mounts in and put the brackets back, I think its only 4 bolts that keep the brackets on the side of the engine. I hear people drop the subframe and I dont exactly know what that involves but its a lot worse that two lil aluminum brackets. Havent heard this method discussed before but you cant find everything online sadly

[BimmerBreaker]

I recently did them on an 01 3.0 and its not bad. The engine doesnt actually sit on the engine mounts, there’s 2 brackets (on either side) that come out the side of the engine and sit on top of the mounts. If you can hold the engine in place, you can just remove the brackets off the motor with the mounts still attached to them lol. Put new mounts in and put the brackets back, I think its only 4 bolts that keep the brackets on the side of the engine. I hear people drop the subframe and I dont exactly know what that involves but its a lot worse that two lil aluminum brackets. Havent heard this method discussed before but you cant find everything online sadly

Thats creative

But if you can support it from above like you did why not just remove the mount itself? Removing the mount arm only adds extra work

[Potes]

Thats creative

But if you can support it from above like you did why not just remove the mount itself? Removing the mount arm only adds extra work

you are correct , but you have to raise the engine pretty high to clear getting the mounts out by themself. My method uses minimal lifting, but again , youre not wrong. Most people dont have a cherrypicker/ dont want to jack the oil pan (i think)


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[Roscoe458]

I recently did them on an 01 3.0 and its not bad. The engine doesnt actually sit on the engine mounts, there’s 2 brackets (on either side) that come out the side of the engine and sit on top of the mounts. If you can hold the engine in place, you can just remove the brackets off the motor with the mounts still attached to them lol. Put new mounts in and put the brackets back, I think its only 4 bolts that keep the brackets on the side of the engine. I hear people drop the subframe and I dont exactly know what that involves but its a lot worse that two lil aluminum brackets. Havent heard this method discussed before but you cant find everything online sadly

What if I don't have a cherry picker?

[rf900rkw]

Holy crap. It's two nuts per side. What is the big deal?

Remove two nuts. Pick up engine on that side with whatever you have, Push it up, pull it up, don't care. You only have to lift about an inch at the centerline. Change the mount. Set motor down, install nuts. Repeat on the other side. the hardest part is the top nut on the right mount. It's still a whole lot easier to do in the car than stripping all of the heat shields and trying to reach the pedestal bolts behind the A/C compressor. Believe me. I remove the pedestal when changing out the cats. It's not easier.

[pine1000]

I used the block of wood under the oil pan method.

There are some comments on this article about doing this with the 3.0 engine:

https://www.pelicanparts.com/BMW/tec...eplacement.htm

[s8ilver]

Use an engine support bar to support the engine - unbolt the mount, remove/replace... use the lift bar to lift the engine slightly if needed for clearance. Do one side at a time

Got any leads on a decent, cheapish bar? I was thinking of doing mounts in my S52 this year, and a bar sounds way safer and easier than the wood-under-the-oil-pan method. Plus with my supercharger, not sure how I'll get to upper nut without removing a bunch of plumbing. I recall staring at the mounts last oil change (they're quite squished) and couldn't see how DS could come out easily without some decent height and/or the xmbr removed. I've had new mounts sitting on the parts shelf for probably 2 years now...might as well get them in.

I then looked at my Coupe for comparison (mounts replaced when manual swapped) and they look 10x better than the M:

20160828_172948.jpg

(I was really just admiring the headers but noticed the mounts looked as new as PO stated they were).

Thought on this?:
https://www.amazon.com/Goplus-1100lb...gateway&sr=8-3

I imagine I can just use one lift point from the center as obviously the rear of the motor is supported by the tranny. I could use our Lemons engine hoist, but then the legs of the hoist will live exactly where I'd wanna be.

[BimmerBreaker]

Got any leads on a decent, cheapish bar? I was thinking of doing mounts in My S52 this year, and a bar sounds way safer and easier than the wood-under-the-oil-pan method. Plus with my supercharger, not sure how I'll get to upper nut without removing a bunch of plumbing. I recall staring at the mounts last oil change (they're quite squished) and couldn't see how DS could come out easily without some decent height and/or the xmbr removed. I've had new mounts sitting on the parts shelf for probably 2 years now...might as well get them in.

Harbor Freight sells the one Ive been using. Got a lot of use out of it too, would not hesitate to buy another (and Im not a huge HF fan...)

[s8ilver]

Harbor Freight sells the one Ive been using. Got a lot of use out of it too, would not hesitate to buy another (and Im not a huge HF fan...)

Good enough for me. I'll probably use it 2 or 4 times (2 if I remember to do OP gaskets while I'm under there...M is dry but Coupe is the opposite of dry).

[raubritter]

I just did this on my 3.0 roadster. I also used the 'jack under the oil pan with a block of wood' method. I did not have to remove either of the pedestals (brackets) to replace the mounts. It was tricky, but turning the mounts this way and that I was able to get them out and the new ones in. I also didn't remove the x-brace. In fact I didn't remove anything except my strut brace. In case it makes a difference, I do not have a mechanical clutch fan in my car, not sure if it would cause problems doing this.

For getting the top nuts loosened at the start of this, a universal joint and extensions for the ratchet are extremely helpful (I would say necessary). I was able to snake the extensions+universal joint+16mm socket from the top to the top nuts on each side and get them broken loose without much trouble. Was able to reach the lower nuts through the holes in the control arms. Driver side is a little more cramped and difficult, passenger side more open as far as maneuvering the mounts goes.

As others have said, mine (at 85k miles/17 years) were dry rotted/cracked a bit and about 1cm shorter than the new ones. No problems or symptoms, I just wanted to replace them. I replaced with Lemfoerders.

Edit: as Randy says a few posts further down, I did one side at a time. After loosening all 4 nuts, I backed off the 2 on the side opposite of the one I was going to remove as far as I could while keeping all the threads of the nuts engaged (hoping to give a little more room for the engine to lift, while still keeping it oriented). Then removed the 2 nuts on the side I was working on, then removed mount.

I also found that the Lemfoerder studs were longer and add to that the fact that the old mounts were compressed... So I had to jack the engine up further to get the new ones in. The limiting factor for me was the plastic engine cover contacting the plastic wiring conduit running across the firewall. I stopped just short of that, and it was enough.

Last note, the 4 nuts are supposed to be replaced with new ones (they are 'one use only').

[solimans]

I just did this on my 3.0 roadster. I also used the 'jack under the oil pan with a block of wood' method. I did not have to remove either of the pedestals (brackets) to replace the mounts. It was tricky, but turning the mounts this way and that I was able to get them out and the new ones in. I also didn't remove the x-brace. In fact I didn't remove anything except my strut brace. In case it makes a difference, I do not have a mechanical clutch fan in my car, not sure if it would cause problems doing this.

For getting the top nuts loosened at the start of this, a universal joint and extensions for the ratchet are extremely helpful (I would say necessary). I was able to snake the extensions+universal joint+16mm socket from the top to the top nuts on each side and get them broken loose without much trouble. Was able to reach the lower nuts through the holes in the control arms. Driver side is a little more cramped and difficult, passenger side more open as far as maneuvering the mounts goes.

As others have said, mine (at 85k miles/17 years) were dry rotted/cracked a bit and about 1cm shorter than the new ones. No problems or symptoms, I just wanted to replace them. I replaced with Lemfoerders.

Good info. Many thanks planning to do these soon


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[Randy Forbes]

Adding to Tom's commentary, I've found it easiest to replace one (1) at a time; leave the opposite side of the one you're working on with both (top and bottom) nuts attached/snug, then tip the engine from the side you're changing the mount on. You don't need quite as much height this way, as you would get both sides to clear at once.

I don't know about the aftermarket mounts, but for the last several years, the mounts from BMW have marginally longer studs on them. This makes getting them into place more difficult; I've taken to reduce them to the length of the studs I've removed!

Be sure to rotate the mount into final position so the that the boss on the bottom of the mount settles into the mating hole in the xmbr!

[fignewton]

Did mine yesterday on my ‘98 2.8 roadster. Had read all the above, and also the comments in the Pelican DIY. Looks like people have had variations in experience. I have an M50 manifold, front fan delete. Getting to the 4 bolts wasn’t much trouble with long extension and universal.
Lifting was more complicated. I had to remove the cross brace as there wasn’t enough open room on the oil pan to get a good block of wood on it (the ribbed part) to lift with one of my little floor jacks. 6-bolts, not prob. I started on the passenger side, and could NOT get the engine high enough to get the top bolt out. Tried it with the opposite side snugged down and with both loose. Could not tilt the engine. The whole front of the car would start to lift. So, pulled the 4 bolts on the engine support bracket. Easy.
Over to the other side, thinking same approach. The 4 bolts on that bracket looked to be a major pain to access, so tried jacking up the driver side of the engine. Finally got it high enough to get the bottom bolt out, then with much twisting and turning and pulling and some vocabulary, was able to get the top bolt out, but it was at an extreme angle through the hole in the bracket. Then, eventually got the mount out of the car. For those who haven’t done it, it comes out/goes in from the front side of the car. The top and bottom bolts are offset from each other, not centered. So you kind of have to figure out the angles and placement of the bolts to get them to then go in and line up on the bottom.
Mounts I pulled out are OEM, and I have 106K on the car. They didn’t appear collapsed any and side by side, the were the same height as the new ones. But at least I know now that I have new ones. None of the records I got with the car indicated that they have ever been changed.

[KBH22102]

I just did mine yesterday. I used the engine support bar from Harbor Freight and it works well for this job. On the passenger side on my S54, I had to loosen the upper heat shield by removing four bolts and then removing two copper nuts holding a canister to the secondary air pump. This allowed me to fish down my 16 mm socket on the end of a universal adapter and a couple of socket extensions. On the driver side, there is good access once you remove the intake elbow. The drivers side mount is hard to remove from the underside once you get it free and I had to fish it all the way over to the passenger side to actually get it out. As Randy notes, the new mounts come with a tapered lower stud which means you have to lift the engine a bit higher to get the new mount installed. My car is an 01 at 91K miles.

1E73B1E9-E935-4050-A971-73D118530C7C.jpgDEE44A9E-E078-4B3E-ACDB-0BA0FEFA018D.jpgECB384E8-4428-44ED-B38C-CA86E14C988B.jpg6FE8E017-9AFB-4C5D-A4AA-D4D69097C30E.jpg

[s8ilver]

If anyone else needs (wants) a bar, they're running $61.99 on eBay, with free shipping from CA which is pretty incredible. I got one a couple weeks ago to do the job. I assembled in my dining room and the bar has now migrated to the mudroom, about halfway to the garage. I'd say another couple weeks, and it might make it all the way to the garage to finally do the job. When it gets cold, I lose motivation.

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