At 90k miles,
The other day I replaced my lower OEM mount with good results -
https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...-improved.html

Today I replaced the upper motor mount and upper stabilizer mount. I used an OEM upper stabilizer mount and a 'prototype' TSW polyurethane upper engine mount designed to work with my 10/2003 build 2004 MCS.

I am a novice mechanic and I used this as a guide:
https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...ine-mount.html

I didn't think the stabilizer mount did much, as it is completely missing from other gen1 builds, but it had tears in it just as the lower mount did. The upper mount had huge cavities all the way around and cranking on it would open them up to almost an inch deep. It didn't look pretty.

WOW. Shifting is so amazingly smooth. Throttle response is great. Throttle adjustment in turns is in tune with the road. Letting off the gas abruptly feels great - the car just glides as it decelerates.

NVH is there. The second I started the car, the speedometer and dash started rattling. It seems to rattle at 2500 rpm. The rest of the time there is vibration. If I grip the steering wheel tight, I can feel it in my hands. It makes the car feel meaner though. I can feel the engine working. I've heard that polyurethane has a break in period, so if it improves even a little bit it will be totally acceptable in my book.

One issue I had was that I bought a replacement for the small end of the stabilizer bracket and was able to push out the old one (I use a really large 22m socket and smaller socket in a vise grip to push them through) but when I pushed the new one in, the lip caught and although it went all the way through, the lip was sticking out on the other end. I removed it and pushed it back in, but now it's missing half the lip on one side. I looked at the setup and I don't think it will be an issue, but I may want to just replace that with the powerflex down the line. How do you push rubber bushings through a hole without ripping the lips off???

I am definitely impressed by how tight the engine is held, how much shifting has improved, and the overall improvement.

If your MINI has over 50k miles and you haven't replaced any engine mount/stabilizers, you need to now! I can't believe how long I put off ordering these parts and how long they've sat in my room.

Seeing the improvement from these repairs/upgrades makes me want to do something with transmission bushings as well. I can see that ugly rubber peeking out from down there. If the NVH from the upper mount improves, I may consider doing the transmission bushings with powerflex.

Next project: powerflex front control arm bushings and replacing all ball joints

 

I've replaced the control arm bushings and lower engine mount with powerflex bushings. I also added the TSW upper stabilizer. The lower engine mount gave me the most NVH, still waiting for them to break in
My mini has almost 50,000 miles and I was surprised how sloppy the stock mounts were getting. Motor seems tight now, I might wait to try the upper engine mount and tranny mount. I noticed a big difference after I installed the TSW stabilizer. Before I noticed rub marks from where my scoop seal was rubbing against my alta air diverter plate. Now there's no more signs of movement

 

On a side note, what is up with the design of this engine mount? A piece of metal wrapped with rubber, then there's a cord wrapped around it, and it's all held tight together with a PLASTIC ZIP TIE.

 

Yikes! Get way Motors on the phone, stat!

 

The vibration has settled a bit. I like the vibration that is there. I feel more connected with the car. My 9 year old daughter said "did you finish working on the car? it feels smoother."

 

Perceptive little kid. Kids are honest too...maybe she's the best judge.

 

That's the way those mounts are made, that's normal. And they last longer than the 05-06 ones.