There's some great content already out there on how to replace your upper engine mount, lower engine mount, and transmission mount, so I won't rehash the entire procedure. I thought it would be good to share my experience with it and highlight a few points that helped me.

I've owned several BMW E28s (including one that I converted from an auto to a manual), some E36s, and a few other BMWs, including most recently my E70 50i. I also owned an R53 for several years. My wife drives an F60 S, so I've got a little bit of experience wrenching on BMWs and Minis.

I replaced my wife's upper engine mount a few months ago, and it took me 3 - 4 hours to get it out, most of which was spent screwing with the headlight. This time, I had the headlight out in 5 minutes.

I had the front end on jack stands, the front left wheel off, and the upper engine mount out in 90 minutes.

Tip #1: Use an impact gun to remove the headlight adjuster bolts for the headlight. This was the 3-hour difference vs doing my wife's F60. On her car, I fought with a torch, PB Blast, all kinds of things, and it never occurred to me that I had an impact gun sitting in a box in the garage. I bought it 10 years ago to use on a bearing puller when I replaced the front wheel bearings on my R53, and I rarely use it (fear of stripping bolts). If I had been doing only the upper mount and didn't need to jack up the car and remove a wheel, I could have had the upper mount out in 45 - 60 minutes.

International Orange (or Speedy 2.0 as my girls call it; My E70 was the original Speedy) up on jack stands with front left wheel removed. Jack supporting the engine. You can barely see my battery powered impact gun in the background on the left that I used to remove the headlight and the lower engine mount bolts.



I found . . .something. . . wedged in by the upper mount. Was the original owner of this car a Marlboro fan, or was it the tech that worked on it?



The upper mount is a 1-Modelo (and I guess a 1-Marlboro) job. My original mount wasn't THAT bad, but it was bad enough to cause the engine to shift when getting on and off the throttle. It also made me feel like I had forgotten how to drive a clutch. The clutch didn't feel very linear. No matter how slowly I pulled it out, it was like I was dumping the clutch halfway every time I shifted.

The failure mode on my wife's F60 was a crashing sound coming from the front right that reminded me of a busted upper shock mount, which was the reason I replaced the front suspension on my E70 a few years ago. Her F60 also had a bad knocking sound when starting it.




I had the lower engine mount and all of the bolts for the transmission mount removed in another 60 minutes.

Tip #2: Use that impact gun on the bolts for the lower mount. They don't take THAT long to remove, but popping them out with the impact gun made it a 5-minute job to get the whole mount off.

Transmission mount (including my journey of trying to remove or at least move the subframe) came out in another 45 minutes.

Tip #3: If you need more space to get the transmission bracket to clear the transmission and prying the engine over doesn't work, consider to remove the bolts to get this aluminum support bar out of the way.

Removing these bolts and the two big ones that connect this crossmember to the subframe allowed it to drop down just enough to get the transmission a little lower. I also pried it a little to the passenger side and had no major issues getting the mount to clear.



Everything went in a little more quickly with the exception of the upper bolt for the upper engine mount, which I cross-threaded a bit when reinstalling. Luckily, I was able to use a thread chaser on the bolt hole in the body to clean up the thread. I was NOT looking forward to drilling and tapping the hole or removing the right wheel and trying to do a bolt + nut repair, so I'm very thankful that I had the wisdom to recognize when I had cross-threaded the bolt.

Tip #4: Make damned sure your bolts are going in straight and true. Use a screwdriver to line up the holes on the upper mount with their respective holes on the engine, and keep the force on it while you tighten the bolts a bit.

I bought brand new mounts and all new bolts for the three mounts + the Powerflex yellow bushings for all three, as well as new headlight adjusters and the applicable bolts. I believe in using all new hardware, if possible, even if the hardware isn't one-time use. I installed the Powerflex bushings into the new mounts last week, so everything was ready to go when I did the job this weekend.

Tip #5: Just spend the money on new bolts. Not only do you not have to worry if the originals have been re-used 3 times already, you also can keep the old bolts as spares in case you strip the threads on the new bolt beyond repair. I was fortunate enough to have no problem with the bolt itself, but the body nut on the upper hole was the one that I had trouble with on the upper mount.

Mini Vinnie's post in the FAQ was very helpful. In particular, FlyingScot57's recommendation to use a gear puller to remove the lower engine mount's bushing. It was a 5-minute job, if that, to get the bushing pressed out. There are also some comments about using the correct Torx sockets vs regular sockets, and I'll add that that should go without saying. Having the right tools for the job at hand is critical. It reminds me of when I was replacing the front suspension on my X5 and I had trouble getting the ball joints disconnected from the subframe. I beat on them for who knows how long with a 4-lb plastic mallet. I went to Lowe's and grabbed a 4-lb sledge. Two whacks and they were out. The difference between a 4-lb hammer and a 4-lb hammer was about 2 hours.

This brings me to Tip #6: Make sure you have an assortment of Torx sockets and a variety of wobbling socket extensions. Having the kind that wobble were critical to be able to get a bigger socket (or my breaker bar) onto a bolt to help drive it in or break it loose.

Kudos also go to 2014MCS Miami and their thread on replacing the transmission mount. The recommendation to use a pry bar to shift the engine & transmission toward the passenger side to get you just enough room to squeeze the transmission mount out was very helpful. I did this as a one-man job, but I feel like I was able to do it because I removed the 4 or 5 bolts necessary to disconnect the support arm that the transmission sits on when you drop it all the way down. This is what prevents you from dropping the engine and trans any lower.

Removing each mount is roughly a 1-Modelo job each, on average. I would assign 1 Modelo to the upper mount, 1/2 Modelo to the lower mount, and 1 1/2 Modelos to the transmission mount. Add another 2 Modelos to get everything back together and you get to wait until tomorrow to test drive the car!

My lower mount and transmission mount looked almost new, particularly the lower mount. The lower mount looked so good that I have to assume it had been replaced some time during the 60k miles before I bought the car.

Note below that I bought new "pipe holders" for the upper mount. These are only a few bucks, and I assume they help reduce vibration on the AC lines that they support. I also have all of the new hardware in the pink bags that ECS Tuning may recognize from their fulfillment center. Thanks to ECS for the parts!



Results: The problem with the engine shifting when I get on and off the throttle is 100% gone. The clutch actuation is so much more linear, and shifts are many times smoother. I can release the clutch much more quickly without any of the jerkiness that I had before.

I would attribute most of the improvement to just having a brand new upper engine mount, but I'm sure the Powerflex bushings helped.

Speaking of those bushings, I haven't noticed any additional NVH at idle like I read about. I would say it's negligible at worst and nonexistent at best.

EDIT: I drove the car a little more yesterday, and I can say that there is definitely some vibration at idle as others had previously reported. I think I was too excited that I had it finished, at first, and it was also 10 at night. After driving it a bit more, the vibration at idle is noticeable but not major. It doesn’t idle like a Rolls Royce, but it’s really not bad. I’ll take that vibration along with the positives of longevity and better clutch action any day of the week.

Up next, some data logs and acceleration tests on the stock tune before I load the Bootmod3 Stage 1 93 Octane tune later this week!

 

Awesome!

 

@EuroShifty , thanks for this post. You probably saw my really long post in whatever-other thread for when I did my upper mount. Yours will help me when I get to my lower and transmission mounts (along with the others you cited). Thank you!