ZF box sitting too far to one side

[Z2TT]

Hi zoners

E30 325i S2 (coupe)
S50B32 Euro Engine

Genuine E28 535i Mounts (11 81 1 132 793) a - Mounted to outer hole on subframe
using e36 s50b32 Euro engine brackets
ZF310/320 Gearbox.
E30 325i gearbox crossmember.

Problem : I cant get the gearbox to line up on the chassis sliding studs. The gearbox appears to sit too far to the right of the car from back of tunnel forward.

Engine looks straight but i have no idea whether what is causing the box not to line up. The mounts are also genuine. The mounts definitely appear to be on the correct way as the notches at the bottom both fit into the circular inner holes on the subframes, while the stud fits through the outer holes on the subframe.

I have attached few pictures to show coming soon. I dont know if you can see but maybe you guys can check where the carrier slot on the box sits compared to that a/c drain hole.

I appreciate any help. I can check anything out if needed. Unsure if it makes difference its a s50b32 euro but all the mounting angles on block should be the same as its been done many times.

I'm not sure if I need to grind the tabs off the bottom of the mounts to allow them to spin freely so I could possibly swing the gearbox around, or something else?

Here are a few videos that will show exactly what is happening and how the engine is mounted :

https://youtu.be/7lf7LuKKaA4

https://youtu.be/jA2_slzn6-8

https://youtu.be/FZL-o066b_A

https://youtu.be/cOrQbvUV6ek

I have not heard of this issue before but perhaps people do some sort of adjustments to get it to line up.

I am thinking what should I do :

1. Is it possible to spin both or one of the mounts 180 degrees so they shift the entire engine more toward the centre? I thought the engine may just be mounted too far to one side but i measured the end of each e36 alloy bracket to the painted section of the chassis and both is 3.2cm telling me the motor appears to be sitting central.

As I mentioned in the video the Euro S50 arms may offset the motor differently to any other arms as they are a different P/N but they look the same.

2. Or could I try keep the mounts rotated the way they are currently, but grind the notch at the bottom down so it allows me to tilt the angle of the engine.


I appreciate any tips or anything I can try out.

[Z2TT]

I have put some new videos into my original post.

Also I can't see anything twisted or misaligned with the chassis so not suspecting anything like that for now.

I measured very carefully on my car....Just for comparison purpose too for any other people running the same engine. The Front of the throttle shaft is in the same axis with the little notch on the front radiator support like in the below picture. Other photos on the internet I have seen appear to be the same

Could anybody with an S50B32 E30 check this one out?
I'm just trying to see if it's the position of the motor that is at fault, or whether it's positioned right but tilted slightly toward an angle

[img][img]https://i.imgur.com/q0mLVRW.jpg[/img][/IMG]

I have done the best I can to guess if the motor is sitting where it should and it sort of appears it is, so the only thing I can think of is finding a way to tilt it to the right such as grinding the notch away on one of the exhaust side engine mount to allow that mount to swivel freely on the subframe, the issue is then the position of the threaded stud will not allow the engine to move anymore even if i remove the notch entirely i would have to elongate the crossmember hole which I don't really want to do at last resort.

As the motor sits, with all the nuts on the mounts loosened, I can try force the transmission to get into place but it has a lot of pre-load and wants to just spring back, I don't know if I should lift the motor up from the sump on a jack then try repeat. Whether it could be some odd issue with my e28 mounts batch manufacturing tolerence not locating at proper angle that they should or something else, no idea