Long time lurker/appreciator, first time poster.
I'm grateful for the help that I've received through this forum.

My wife has an 03 R50 Mini Cooper. She adores it. The other day, it started shaking violently when at interstate speeds. After I did some driving myself, it seems to only happen really noticeably when the engine is pulling (passing someone, going up hills etc.)
I know that this motor mount needs replaced (please see attachment). Can anyone verify that this part is correct?
I've read that it's a transmission mount, engine mount etc etc and my head is spinning w/ differing information!

Lastly, I've been told that it is best to replace all motor mounts at once. I found this guide from Pelican, but it is for a "S" model. Can anyone confirm the same locations and procedure for non "S", or does anyone know where I can get the CORRECT mounts for an 03 R50? Again, I've researched this ad nauseam and found all sorts of differing bits out there.

Thanks for all the help, looking forward to making the shaking stop!

p.s. the pic was taken from the front of the car, facing the engine bay. mount is on passengers side.

 

That looks like the correct one. The R53 "S" mount is a hydraulic mount that has a metal casing. If you go to ECS tuning and enter your vehicle information, it will show you all the correct mounts available for you car.

Im getting ready to replace all the mounts on my 02 R50 and you'll need 4 mounts. There are two on the passenger side(one mounted to inner strut tower and one mounted to the frame rail), one on the bottom/rear of the engine and one on top of the transmission.

 

Yes taking off the engine mounts on the R50 and R53 is the same procedure.

Looking at your picture that mount is for dead. It's actually about 1/2 inch or more shorter than it should be. As they get old they actually get short. But now you will also need to replace the mount on the strut tower that has the bar that connects down to that mount. If you look at the X shape rubber in the mount on the strut tower you will find that the rubber is also broken and why it needs replaced. We stock them and have ready to ship asap.

Here is the mount in your pic
https://www.waymotorworks.com/oem-en...4-r50-r53.html

Then the one on the strut tower that connects to that one
https://www.waymotorworks.com/oem-up...3-r50-r53.html

And since that is so bad go ahead and check the lower one for the rubber damaged.
https://www.waymotorworks.com/oem-mi...t-r50-r53.html

 

Our article for the engine mounts covers the R50 as well. If you look at the "Applicable Models" section it tells you it's for the Cooper non-s. The procedure for replacing the engine and transmission mounts on the R50 Cooper is virtually the same as the R53 Cooper S. The main differences here is that the both the airbox and battery box must be removed to allow access to the transmission mount. Just be sure to read through it and look specifically at parts that call out for the R50 models. Let me know if you have any questions as I am always here to help!

Here are the mounts and torx bolt http://www.pelicanparts.com/catalog/..._pg2.htm#item7

 

Thanks for all the feedback. This is a very helpful community. I have ordered 3 mounts, an E12 torx bit, and the torx bolt.
Most places don't mention the mount in the upper right (see attached)...and I missed it on pelican as well. (maybe just a strange angle?)
Is the mount in the upper right not replaced as often, or not as pertinent to what I am doing?

 

All of those mounts shown are for an early year Cooper S. The one in the upper right is a transmission mount (other 3 are engine mounts). This is what the one for your R50 is/looks like:

Manual http://www.pelicanparts.com/catalog/..._pg2.htm#item8
Automatic http://www.pelicanparts.com/catalog/...pg3.htm#item12

 

Just a little update. All parts came in and I made the swaps. The car feels totally different now. Super smooth at idle, smoother shifts, etc. It's great! I did all but the transmission mount. The car still starts to shimmy, but now it's around 30mph and not nearly as pronounced. I can safely, smoothly travel 70-80mph now. I went ahead an ordered the transmission mount and will be putting that on soon.

A couple of notes. I had to take off a bracket in order to get the new passenger motor mount in. (see screenshot) The other one was in two pieces and shrunk by about 1.5". I jacked up the engine a bit...didn't help



New mount is in in this picture




I think it was a bit of a goner.




Cracked all the way through.

 

Wow, thanks for posting. Working on mine this week and I expect the same. Keep up the good work.

 

are there any good aftermarket brands that make engine mounts for our car? i saw some parts on powerflex but not sure if it works with our mounts

 

There is the torque solution lower engine mount here: http://www.pelicanparts.com/catalog/..._pg3.htm#item8 (scroll to the bottom of the page). It's a good quality one to go with. Do note, you may experience a slight increase in vibration with upgraded mount/bushings.

 

are there anything for the upper engine mounts? I already replaced my lower engine mount last year

 

I do see Powerflex makes Support Brackets for the engine mounts, but they do note they will not fit models 2004 onwards if using oil filled engine mounts. Yours being a 2004, you will have a liquid filled engine mount on the passenger side. Do a Google search as I believe TSW makes an Upper Engine Mount that works for your '04 R53.

 

I have an early 04 so its production is 11/03. I guess I can look into those.
Thanks

 

If that's the case and we can confirm with your vin, and you do want to go the Powerflex way, just shoot me a PM with your vin and we can get you the PF bushings.

 

Do I just press these bushings into my old bracket?
http://powerflexusa.com/bmwminigener...-pff5-104.aspx

There's no other options for the other engine mount?

 

Sad twist to the story...
The shake has not only come back, but may be even worse. The good news is I'm 98% certain I know what the cause is...bad drive shaft. After reading through this forum
http://www.mini2.com/forum/first-gen...es-shakes.html
I found several people w/ my exact same situation. Even down to replacing the motor mounts and it feeling smooth for awhile.
Here is a great how to video (if you haven't, consider subscribing to this guys channel...he's helped me out a bunch w/ his videos)
I have confirmed that there is about 1/2" of travel in the shaft that shouldn't be there.
I have ordered the drive shaft (≈$165) and I am looking forward to replacing that and the transmission mount and getting rid of this horrible shake!
Anyone else run into this? I took a bit of video of the driveshaft being cantankerous...if anyone needs to see it, let me know.

 

Yep, have seen vibration in the steering wheel caused by bad axles more than a few times. There are a few threads on here (posted 2 below) with the same conclusion that you have come to. Hope this resolves your issue.

A post here: https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...ml#post3093771

and here: https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...ml#post4136683.

 

Thanks for the response. I'll try to keep this updated w/ results. Shafts are expect to be in ≈13th - 19th.

 

An update... bear w/ me...long post ahead

Got the transmission mount and drive shafts in and got them installed.

Passengers side drive shaft - Check out the missing bearing from the CV
Taking it out was not a problem, nor was getting the carrier housing off. The C clip gave me some trouble, but only because I didn't really have the proper tool. Getting it back in was troublesome. Spline went into the tranny just fine, although the dust cap seems just a touch slanted. (got that worked out) At first it seemed the lower arm (2 13mm bolts) seemed a touch too long...that went in. However, I was about 1/16th" off on the carrier housing and could not get the bolts in. That took over 2 hours. I tried prying, I tried taking the shaft out and beating the carrier housing down a touch (it was at its limit w/ the C clamp)...nothing. Finally, something gave and I got those three stinkin bolts in.
BTW...the pesky bolt on the upper right side can be accessed a lot easier through the wheel well area.

Transmission mount - Pretty easy to do...however a couple things stood out.
1. I have some sort of a GPS thing that was installed (no longer active) called "sky patrol"...seems like this company does a decent amount w/ fleets and rentals and such...makes me wonder if this was a rental at one point in it's life.
2. When I unbolted the mount that the transmission mount mounts in, it pulled probably 3 inches or so towards the center of the car. Getting those bolts back in took just a bit of coercing.

Drivers side drive shaft - Got it out easily. Got it back in, but it seemed too short (even though we were in the tranny all the way) couldn't get any thread on the axle nut. Tried a couple different things to no avail. Finally, I undid all of the tranny mount mount bolts and it allowed enough shifting for everything to fall into place. Everything went into place fine after that. I could not for the life of me find the tranny fill plug though (I was looking at a 6 speed S tranny...no wonder)
I had to add about 1.5L of fluid back into the tranny...quite a bit got out. (at $27/L...ouch)

Took it for a test drive. This thing has never felt better.

20min later, intermittent power steering.
Thought maybe I forgot to plug in the cooling fan...nope.
I checked and there wasn't even enough fluid to register on the "dipstick". I have since added fluid and it seems fine. I think I will take it to the dealer to check for a leak though...my understanding is that is supposed to be a "lifetime" system.

Lastly...is there a good way to verify that the PS cooling fan is working?

Thanks...y'all helped me...hope this helps someone out there.

 

Good to hear you got everything back together. I just changed all of my mounts out last night on my 2002 R50. It wasn't an awful task but I did run into some issues getting the new transmission mount to align with the bracket on the frame rail/strut tower. I had to end up unbolting that bracket, inserting the main bolt into the mount and then jack the engine/trans up as far as I can to get the bracket bolted back to the body. The engine and transmission sits quite a bit higher in the engine bay now and the shifts are smooth. No vibrations like I had. I'm still getting a "clunk and pop" upon braking under my feet. I think it's time to do lower control arm bushings now :-(

I also did an oil change for the the first time since owning the car last night. I had more issues getting the oil filter cap back on then I did changing all the engine mounts LOL! Getting that spring compressed in there and the cap re-threaded is no joke in such a small space. Who knew.

 

And now my windows and sunroof open every time I lock the car. With or without the key FOB. (and no, I'm not sitting on it or holding the button to make that happen)

Went outside this a.m. and windows were open as well as sunroof. Quickly found that it happened every time the car would lock. (At ≈5mph the car locks...so, while driving, when trying to lock it w/ key FOB, and trying to lock it from outside the car w/ the key)

Anybody? Ol' girl is possessed.

p.s. congrats on the work Kristof