I have checked my upper engine mount and I dont see any tearing or cracks. The rubber does seem to be a bit compressed at the bottom but I cant see any leaking but there is a sheen of oil on the surface of the rubber. I get a fair amount of vibration when put in reverse and some vibration at lights when I run the AC and it didnt do that last summer.

From my research online .. it seems the upper mount is singing its death kneel.

I have 2 questions.
Can I insert powerflex inserts to at least get me a bit more time before I have to change the mount?

I spotted what looks like a great video for changing the upper mount and the gentleman does it through the wheel well and uses an engine brass. The engine brace looks like a great idea and is $80 at harbor freight. Is it worth it? Almost every other video has someone use a piece of wood and a jack under the oil pan. When I changed my oil I could not believe how thin the oil pan is and it makes me nervous. Should I be? has anyone used the engine brace?


Alex

 

I've done this replacement, and put detailed step by step what-I-did off in another post in another thread. So, in short, speaking directly from personal hands-on, in my F56 S (2017 Cooper S Hardtop).

You could certainly put Powerflex inserts in the existing mount but I don't know that it buys you anything. As you have surely noticed, in videos and photos there are a lot of mounts that are obviously shot. Cracked, split, a child could look at them and go "wow, broken." What those photos and videos don't tell you is that you can drive around with a mount in that condition for a LONG time and not even realize it, because it doesn't blow up your car or make it shake itself into oblivion or, or, or.

I am the second owner of my F56 S and purchased it at about 71K miles. I found out 17 months later that the mount was toast, and upon removal despite being split in places it didn't look *nearly* as bad as some of these videos. There is no way it went from "ok" to the "definitely not ok like ZOMG" it ended up in, in 17 months. That thing was gone when I bought it. And I had no idea.

So: net -- you can add the inserts, but I don't think it buys you anything meaningful to do so now. Put them in the replacement, but I wouldn't bother trying to stuff them into the in-place mount and I wouldn't worry myself over "what happens if you don't." Next to nothing will happen if you don't, and that is especially true if you replace the mount in the near future.

Simultaneously, there's certainly no harm in installing the inserts now. Knock yourself out if it seems worth it to you.

Regarding the engine brace, if you have the equipment to even leverage the beast, go for it. But an old school 2' x 4' between the oil pan and a floor jack (NOT a bottle jack) is honestly not bad. It's all about distributing the weight evenly across the wide surface of the 2x4, and having that wide surface positioned uniformly under the oil pan rather than on an edge or whatever. If you want to get really picky about it, given the dimensions of the bottom of the oil pan, maybe use a 2x6 rather than a 2x4. The fact is that with this repair, you don't have to lift the engine much. We're talking about a lift need of 1" - 2", that's it.

I recall adjusting the height of the engine once or twice during the replacement op, and IIRC I lifted it maybe 1.5". It's a nudge, not a deadlift.

Hope this is helpful.

 

Thankyou so much for your replay!! Car idles like magic without the ac on with virtual no vibration and the mounts not cracked or showing any signs of real damage so maybe I will wait a bit longer. Truth is .. We did 2000 miles last year so I think I can wait until spring to change it out if it gets worse. Off to go find your post on your engine mount swap! Thank you again
Alex

 

Here you go to save you a little time. Post #160 in the thread, 2 January 2023, in case the link doesn't take you straight to it. Glad to help.

From the post # alone you can tell this part is a major discussion point on the F56. Even if you're disinclined to read through all the posts in the thread (the total post count is currently 252), there are good photos, refinements, and observations in posts throughout the thread. Even though my post is pretty good, I and others have learned more since then, so please don't take my writeup at the time -- or even my present POV -- as gospel. There are some pretty smart people in this forum and that thread is a really good one.

One other thing: if you are routinely a DIY type -- even if that only means doing your own oil changes or whatever other reason for getting under the car from time to time -- there is a recent working theory amongst a few of us that failure of the upper mount is a routine thing due to too much give in the lower engine mount (referred to as the "dogbone" in many places due to its shape). That in turn points many to replacing the bushing in that mount with a Powerflex option. I have not done that to mine yet, but I intend to in the near future. Some of the later posts in the thread get into that piece of conversation.