Do I need new engine mounts?....

Sun Oct 10, 2010 7:51 pm

In need of you help again guys!

Just came back from a long trip after not having done one in the car for a while. Noticed something that happended the last time I went at "motorway speeds" but then had other things to sort out.

The car at idle seems to shake a moderate amount but when at high speeds, the steering wheel and dash seem to shake even more. But the wheels are mint and I'm not sure if it could be anything else as it mainly shakes a lot when I continune to put my foot down. When I take my foot off the shaking calms down.

Could it be in need of new engine mounts? If so, does anyone have any suggestions as to what ones I should get (I have an '89 reg 325i) and how much it will roughly cost to get a garage to fit them?

Cheers guys,

Nick

Sun Oct 10, 2010 8:44 pm

When you say the wheels are Mint what do you mean? Have you had them balanced recently.. any weights fallen off?

If it is the engine mounts then they are quite easy to change yourself if you have a trolley Jack.

Sun Oct 10, 2010 8:49 pm

Your fault description doesn't make me immediately think "engine mounts".
If your vibration occurs when moving, and tyres and rims are OK, then check out the rubber in the transmition - the guibo on the back of the gearbox and the mount for the propshaft centre bearing.
Check that someone hasn't reassembled the prop incorrectly at some time. There should be a white dot on the prop either side of the splined section, which must line up with each other.

Mon Oct 11, 2010 1:06 pm

Problem is I don't have a trolley jack. I am pretty much a yuppee bmw owner. Once upon a time when I was at uni I had the time along with mates who had tools to crack on with checks and fixes but now I only have a few screw drivers and a hammer

Is there any other way I can do the checks without having to buy a trolley jack?

Mon Oct 11, 2010 1:20 pm

car ramps.

Mon Oct 11, 2010 3:21 pm

I would doubt an engine mount would cause that much of a wobble, if any wobble at all! I would say it was wheel related. As said above, maybe you have lost a few weights, or they were just done badly!

Mon Oct 11, 2010 6:02 pm

Check if all the blades are on the engine fan as this can throw the engine off balance and cause the problems your having.

I had engine mounts changed the other week for £89 for genuine bmw parts at moseley motorsport who arent cheap, best 90 quid ive spent on an e30 so far. Have a look at them and see if they are damaged as it can be serious if they brake on you, i got lucky and only broke a blade on the fan

Wouldnt bother doing it yourself by what ive heard its not as simple as people make out as you have to get the engine jacked at a certain angle etc and at the end of the day you could probably get it done for around £50 quid if you go somewere cheap and use non bmw parts

Tue Oct 12, 2010 3:37 pm

Thanks for the thoughts guys! Perhaps I will just get my wheels checked/rebalanced.

325issporttech1, £90 to get it replaced with genuine part sounds good to me. I live in London so no doubt I'll get charged a bit more for the pleasure of a higher crime rate but £100 or so sounds like it could be worth while.

Tue Oct 12, 2010 3:43 pm

325isporttech1 wrote: Wouldnt bother doing it yourself by what ive heard its not as simple as people make out as you have to get the engine jacked at a certain angle etc and at the end of the day you could probably get it done for around £50 quid if you go somewere cheap and use non bmw parts

Changed my M42 mounts in 15mins.

Loosen mounts, Jack engine up, remove mounts, fit new mounts, torque up.

But what Brian says is more plausible.

You can see if the mounts are gone anyway, if the engine looks lopsided or visually see if they are squashed / gone.