I have a 2006 Mini Cooper S; I ordered it out, so I when I recieved it, it had 9 Miles on it. At around 23,000 my Passenger motor mount started leaking oil, this is common so I decided to get my motor mounts taken care of.

I first did LOTF Engine Damper...

Installation took about 30 minutes, was pretty easy to do all around. I didn't notice any vibration during idle, but I the car did feel a lot more "planted" while accelerating during turns.

Second, I did the Noltec Lower Bushing...

This was soooo easy to do... took about 5 Minutes. This is when the combination of the motor mount and the engine damper started to make me feel the vibration a LITTLE bit.. it was extremely subtle. This was a nice compliment to the handling though, definitely felt an increase in traction during accelerating AND braking.

Third.. today.. I did the Powerflex Gearbox bushing...

Oh hell.. man.. after I took the Airbox and ECU out the sky just opens up on me. So now I'm getting soaked but I know I needed to finish my car before it got dark outside. Me... being the lazy-*** that I am, tried to do it without removing the mount from the Gearbox itself... this proved futile so with my limited amount of tools I disconnected the throttle body to get that last Bolt out and then took the mount out.. finally was able to get the Bushing Inserts in. All and all I think it took me about an hour... due to me trying to take shortcuts and the rain and cold slowing me down.

I think if I did it again knowing what I know now... it would take me about 20-30 minutes for this one. It's not hard, it's just time consuming.

So I started the car... whoa.. the vibration was very noticable now. It's certainly going to get some questions from passengers. I don't mind it at all.. but it sure is noticable.

As for performance wise... I haven't had a chance to really feel it on part of it being raining outside. Either way.. if anyone is curious about how it feels and you're in the OC or LA area, lemme know and we'll go for a drive. Hell.. I'll even help a brutha out with the install.

 

The vibration for us is really only noticeable at idle and we have all three of the mounts and the damper. Now you need to do that lower engine mount. It will really give your a car a nice solid planted feel to it.

 

Eh? I'm a 2006, there are only two sets of Bushings and a Damper. I already have the Lower Engine Mount.

 

There is a lower engine mount, an upper engine mount, and a transmission mount. There is a mount underneath the car in the middle that ties the motor in at the bottom. It is the lower engine mount and there are powerflex bushings for it. On the 06, the upper is the liquid filled one and then the one on the passenger side is the transmission mount

 

Is your car Right-Hand Drive?!

That's what I'm sayin.. I already have a Noltec Bushing for the Lower Mount, the Powerflex for the Transmission mount (You know, for the transmission that's on the Driver's side of the car.) and then I have a LOTF Damper. That takes care of all of them for me...

 

To be quite honest, I've done (or attempted to do) the lower bushings myself thus far, and have been completely and utterly disappointed.

First things first: I picked up the Powerflex bushings, for both the smaller and bigger portions of the lower engine mount.

Started on getting the smaller one in. What to my surprise do I find that the metal, hollow, tubular insert is nearly half an inch longer than it should be, sticking out nearly that much beyond the urethane base when seated...dremeled that down...onto dealing with the large end.

Opened the box for the large bushings...surprised to see they are merely inserts and not full replacements. Stick those in and go to replace the mount itself, only to find that with the inserts in place, the assembly is now too high/thick to fit in where it was previously...pull it back out to notice that the inserts, while sitting flush with the base, are not sitting flush with the metal insert portion of the assembly...I would have to sand down the flat surface of the inserts a good 3mm per piece for them to sit flush, and to fit again.

Now, with only the small bushing in place, I am getting a clanking noise from my front (I think more driver's side) end...it's completely asymptomatic, occurring regardless of throttle position or change, speed, bumps, etc. Only time I can 100% re-replicate it is on ignition. Even after complete dis-assembly and re-assembly, re-greasing, checking tolerances, etc...still cannot find the cause.

So needless to say I am pissed. I now have more, useless noise for zero benefit. I plan on ordering a new smaller bushing (or whole mount) to fix it.

- Matt

 

did verve use the same mount as you guys did? I'd like to replace mine and like the idea of 30 minutes to swap each but not grinding parts down.

holla back.

 

Wow... that's... well the Inserts is basically what I got, and they were perfectly fine, but I got them from Noltec. It doesn't change the smaller bushing though.. I figured that'd be very minimal considering there is no spacing with the bushing itself like the other larger bushings.

I wonder if anyone else has had that experience with that specific Powerflex bushing?

 

I did..
Lower Mount - Noltec (5 Min)
Gearbox Mount - Powerflex (30 Min)
Engine Damper - LOTF (30 Min)

P.S. Hollahollahollahollahollaholla...lemme holla atcha...

 

you my dog.

 

Yo bluesmini,

How you likin' that JR header? I have been thinking of one for a while.. I have also thought about OBX, but the JR is fairly well priced, considering it comes with a real test pipe, and is a different design. I am an avid moto fan and rider and have seen what they can do in that arena. Oh, not to mention I drive by Moss motors pretty much everyday, and the damn thing is in stock and just yells at me to come by and take him to my garage...

What do you think, nice noise, more power? If so, what kind? I have a JCW exhaust with the resonator delete now..

Thanks for the 411.

Jasun

 

OOps sorry, I meant drivers side and you're right about them all being done then

 

I have all the engine and gearbox mounts on my 03 MCS. Made a huge performance difference, but didnt cause much NVH, and then only at idle. Took hours to get fitted by a MINI tuner.

 

I also installed my Ireland Engineering Lower Engine Mount Bushing. This is the two piece insert that goes in the existing large bushing of the motor mount below the car.

Install was about a 20 minute job - i had to unbolt the mount bracket off of the motor in order to get the mount out. If I had just unbolted it, rather than trying to tweak it out, it would have taken less time!

I used to have a LOTF damper installed - but I took it off to do a belt change and did not feel like squeezing it back in there. (I have the Texas Speedworks brackets on order to make the re-install easier.) I did notice and BIG difference in engine flop after taking this off. Even my wife commented - and she is a MINI driver as well....

Anyway - I am VERY pleased with the results of the IE lower bushing. This seems similar, if not more solid and planted than i remember the LOTF damper. Car feels much more composed during acceleration, cornering, and braking. Less DSC cut in in corners. A very good way to spend $30 on your MINI.

And - to me, there is very little, if any NVH penalty. No steering wheel vibration, no shaking. And - i am a FIRM believer that Heim joints have no place on a street car - so, it's not like this is just a race car and it's "one more thing". Daily driven street car - no issues. I will be adding the LOTF damper back in with the TSW brackets, and I have the trans mount on the bench as well. One at a time!

Also - my passenger side "oil mount" seems to have spring a leak as well - so, off to the dealer to for some warranty work.... :(

 

Jason, I like the sound of the JR header. I had the B&B exhaust with the stock header before and had gotten used to it being a little louder. With the JR header it takes another period of getting used to.

I do have one issue with the Jackson. I deletes the flex unit out of the header and uses a spring loaded exhaust doughnut. Not uncommon but. I can't find a replacement for it anywhere.... The Jackson guys said they don't make it anymore and don't know what size it was. I've just been going to the parts store and buying ten different ones at a time and seeing what fits and returning the others. Ideally it would have a solid metal one and not a asbestos empregnated metal mesh. It's fine for daily driving but when i track my car i loose my exhaust system halfway through the day. It's very loud with just the header. I've cut the test pipe in half and welded a flex section in there and it has helped a little but my guess is that my next track day will end very loudly. Since you drive by Moss everyday please stop by and see if you can find a part number on that exhaust doughnut.

Thanks,
Chris

 

Been a few days now since I've installed the Gearbox Bushing.. I certainly do feel a difference. Any wheel hop is gone... and when I get off the clutch it's much more firm.

HOWEVER, I'm getting a squeaking noise from the Gearbox bushing.. has anyone had this issue in the past?

 

update on jackson header. I finally got in touch with the right person at Moss and they have ordered 10 of the gaskets i need to seal up my header to my exhaust. They should have them in by friday and i'll get on the next week. I just have to have it by Feb for my first event of the year. I'll run with the way it is to see if i blow it out again. So much pressure coming out of that little engine.

 

Header?! Did I step into the wrong thread?

 

sorry no, someone a few post up asked me about mine and i was just informing. sorry to high-jack.