Just installed the Ireland poly lower engine bushings on my 04 Cooper. Before ordering I read the reviews about an increase in NVH but nothing prepared me for the awful droning and vibration. And that's before I turn on the a/c which makes the whole car shake like a 70 Vega on three cylinders. I understand they may need a 500 mile bed-in period but there is no way I can put up with this awful racket.

Basically I was trying to minimize the on/off throttle yo-yo driveline effect the car has (the poly bushings did eliminate that). The motor mounts are not leaking and I installed an engine damper which did improve things nicely. The car has 53K miles and the lower engine mount I pulled out did not have torn bushings. So now what, go back to stock? Powerflex has a yellow series but they are backordered until July.

http://www.mini-madness.com/madness-...-bushings.aspx

 

What I have found out about poly mounts is that they cause NVH for sure and on top of that, I have heard of some adverse effects on user's cars as well. Unless you are tracking your car regularly, I wouldn't really see the need of these inserts. I would however suggest the VIP engine Damper setup if you have a 2004 or later car. It has no NVH whatsoever and my engine sits as solid as a rock after install. The feel is incredible and for $100, you get a quality part built by a mini enthusiast.

 

I replaced all the rubber bushings on my Honda DelSol with poly 12 years ago.

I removed them all after 3 months because they increased NVH and started squeaking. Ride quality deteriorated as well due to suspension bind caused by the supplied thick grease that eventually turns to glue!

 

i had a fully polly bushed chassis and engine in my cooper s and ran it dropped on cross coils and it was fine,

 

There may be a significant difference between the early 1st generation and the later years. I have the I.E. lower poly mount in my GP and can hardly tell that it is in with the AC off. With the AC on I have just a slight vibration at idle. I get absolutly no squeak or drone with this installed.
Steve

 

That is what hapens with racecar derived parts on a street car. If tou don't want the NVH go back to stock, that is why OEM uses rubber. ALL poly or solid mounts will add NVH, there are softer compounded poly's that dont add as much, but they still add some.

If you realy want to spend some more money for about the same result or a little less, give BSH a call they make an incredible lower mount.

No hard feelings thats just how it is.

 

If you are looking to tighten up throttle response and reduce engine sway this is what I did, and it's like driving a video game car. All forward motion, no torque loss. Least expensive too.

1) Installed yellow Power Flex bushing insert for transmission mount.

IMG_1480.jpg?t=1277037147

2) TSW V2 Engine Damper.

IMG_1853.jpg?t=1277037014

They effectively tighted up both sides of the motor. Had some NVH from the tranny insert, so much so I came close to taking it out, but wanted to give it some time. After about two tanks of gas, 500+ miles, they indeed worked themselves in, and no more NVH.

Powerflex rates their bushings by colors. Yellow, purple and black. Yellow being the softest.....

Found this: Wayland has a package deal for this very setup
http://www.waymotorworks.com/tsw-dam...rly-style.html

 

I only used the large bushing inserts (yellow powerflex) and only used one of the two in the upper
and one of the two in the lower mounts. I skipped the small bushings, and the transmission bushing insert,
and still have a good reduction in the rock of the engine with minimal increase in NVH
(only noticeable with the a/c on, and even then, only a mild increase).
With both halves of the large bushings in either the upper or lower or both,
there was more NVH, especially with the a/c on.

 

Its funny, but opinions about NVH and poly engine bushings are all over the road....some people think they're great, while others hate 'em.
I need to do the same thing (my '05 S is leaking from the oil filled upper mount....after 13k!) I think people's responses on here create MORE questions than they answer.
So, what variables will affect whether a car will get significant NVH? Is it all just what a person can tolerate, or are there other factors as well?

 

This is why we recommend the Lower engind Powerflex bushings, which we do have in stock. The IE and the Madness bushings are harder so they will have more NVH. We can offer you a harder set, but for the average street car the powerflex is ideal.

 

What about the BSH mounts? Worse, better,or the same? And the TSW stabilizer...that replaces the upper oil-filled mount I assume? Is that a good idea now that my oil-filled mount is leaking?

 

The TSW poly mount that replaces the "CAN" mount on '05 and up first gens, looks like a nice solid pice. Thats why I bought one (NOT installed yet, I am half way around the world at the moment) They say it dosn't add any NVH, but how it cant is beond me it is afterall a semi solid engine mount.

The TSW engine stablizer, is great I have put one on my R50, and on my R53 with great results. On the R50 it was a world of differance with verry slight NVH, not even verry noticeable. But I found myself chirping into second a lot more. On the R53 the improvement was still there but not as noticable, I think it is a weak mount for the dampener itself, because I have bent the thing twice. Shifting hard lets loose in 4th gear though.

The BSH lower mount will add NVH they are not trying to hide this fact either, they have 2 different bushings avalable for it a softish street version and a hard race version. The race bushing will add the most NVH. I also have one of theese sitting around in a UPS box at home, and I went with the race bushing.

All bushings of this nature add some level of NVH, some it isnt noticeable and some will cause dental appointments. With inserts that go into your stock bushings nothing says that you absolutely need to install both pices, just throwing one side in will help stiffen your engine or suspension or whatever the bushing is on, and will cut down on unwanted NVH.

 

So the engine stabilizer and the upper "right hand" oil-filled mount are two different things?

 

Yes thet are two seprate items. The upper mount does come with one of the dampers but I think it is smaller and deffinately has different bracketry. You would need to contact TSW to get all the info.

Their engine damper kit (dont quote me exactly on the price) is right around 200 bucks and comes with all the brackets and a rebuildable damper. This is the one that is most comonly used from what I have seen, and it works. Aside from bending the bracket a couple times I have had NO problems with it. And verry little to no NVH.

 

Can anyone comment on how much drivetrain play the TSW style damper reduces vs. NVH?

 

I've read that it is very good--look at the other entries on this thread. Check out a couple other threads as well. Also, a company called VIP makes another device that I think replaces the upper oil-filled mount. It looks interesting, a bit like the TSW damper, and I read on another thread that it works extremely well. I don't know much about it, but I plan to call them. I need to decide what I'm going replace my bad mount with.

 

It cuts down the play enough to give your car that jumpy feeling when you tap the go pedal, and to momentarely spin the tires into higher gears when you shift hard. With MINIMAL NVH, NVH can only be judged accurately by the driver, we all have different perseptions of what is acceptable.

I was just on TSW's website and the damper kit its self is no longer listed, just the brackets, and the bushings that you use when rebuilding the damper. They might still carry the kit but you should check with them at WWW.TXWERKS.com

 

I think Way Motor Works has it. TSW takes stuff OFF their site when they are out of stock..I don't know why. They have referred me to Way when I called looking for any of their products.

 

This is the only total replacement for the "can" mount that I have found(thumbnail), it is the TSW pice. The VIP mount that you are thinking of works like the TSW engine damper pictured in the above post, but does not have the flexible center damper. It instead uses a solid rod with rubber bushings on each end, and it works the same way as the TSW. I cant speak for their NVH levels though (I've never seen one in person).

As for the can itself it is either stock, or the TSW upper engine mount pictured. The engine damper will stiffen the stock "can" signifficantly and actualy makes the can last longer due to the loss of flexibility.

Wow TSW is geting some good free advertising from me today.

 

It might be off their site now because they now have a better option for about the same money. $200 gets you their new engine mount that replaces that POS hydraulic unit that Mini designed. So rather than keeping your POS unit and adding on their dampener, just take out the weak point (being the OEM mount) and replace it with one of their newly designed mounts. That's just my $.02 though.

Steve

 

According to their website it's for 02-03 only.
http://www.txwerks.com/servlet/Categ...3AMotor+Mounts

 

But at the loss of comfort. A solid poly piece like that one HAS to add a lot of NVH. I'm not sure it will fit my 05. Better yet, I'll call them to sort this out.

 

They where avalible for the '05 and up first gens, because I bought one. Detroit Tuned carrys (or atleast carried them)

Maby they took them off because they where saying that it didnt add NVH?
Or maby they just ran out?

 

Powerflex in my Upper, Lower, and tranny mount and I only notice with the AC on.

 

Are you referring to TSW? TSW takes stuff off the site when they run out of stock. (thats what the guy told me on the phone) I guess they put it back on when they get more. They referred me to authorized sellers when they ran out.