Author Topic: Motor Mount Options? (Read 7071 times)

RidingSimple · « **on:** April 19, 2009, 02:19:31 PM »

I see stock mounts are near $100 each, and companies like AKG do not offer mounts for the 318 E30 models. Any poly or "upgrade" motor mounts available? Thanks.

tjts1 · « **Reply #1 on:** April 19, 2009, 03:19:32 PM »

Get stock mounts. You'll be miserable with hard rubber or poly mounts. You can probably get away with just replacing the passenger side mount. The driver's side almost never fails.

KenC · « **Reply #2 on:** April 19, 2009, 03:30:02 PM »

I have the e28 mounts in mine. It's definitely not as smooth as it was with the stock ones, but not what I'd call miserable.

Hodge · « **Reply #3 on:** April 19, 2009, 04:31:02 PM »

I have PU mounts in the E36.

Not bad at all. It has a nice feel to it and my motor doesn't move at all.

RidingSimple · « **Reply #4 on:** April 19, 2009, 07:16:15 PM »

Thanks for the info guys!
I did a little more research and it seems IE has some poly mounts and then of course the E28 535 solid rubber ones (for half the price of our stock mounts, and a bit more stiffness, it seems these are the no brainer choice?)

I am hesitent of IE products, especially their bushings and mounts, as I hear they aren't quality like an AKG product. Thoughts?

deekay · « **Reply #5 on:** April 19, 2009, 11:10:09 PM »

this was a few years ago, but i had the IE poly engine/trany mounts in my first e30 and i loved them. beat the hell out of them for over a year before i sold the car and i showed the buyer how you could grab the intake manifold and shake the whole car with it. there was more NVH than stock, but i guess i either like that, or am just willing to deal with it in order to have the body and powertrain feel like a single unit.

i have heard a few other people express displeasure with their suspension bushings, but i personally didn't regret buying their engine/tranny mounts- and now that i think of it, i actually picked them up used from jason schwartz, who ran them on his turbocharged 325i... that kinda says it all in terms of durability right there. i will probably get them for the 'vert when i get home.

Boosted E30 · « **Reply #6 on:** April 21, 2009, 06:46:35 PM »

I bought a set of mounts from bmw2002.com they are urethane not hard enough to give you huge vibrations or anything and they are very cheap heres the link http://store.nexternal.com/shared/StoreFront/default.asp?CS=ireland&StoreType=BtoC&Count1=3750026&Count2=920890450

Fair! · « **Reply #7 on:** May 28, 2009, 10:23:53 AM »

Quote from: Nimble;70390

I see stock mounts are near $100 each, and companies like AKG do not offer mounts for the 318 E30 models. Any poly or "upgrade" motor mounts available? Thanks.

You've probably heard of Vorshlag, and we make tons of BMW motor and trans mounts. Now you can choose Vorshlag Competition Motor Mounts for the E30 M42.

We have custom made a number of these over the years for the E30 M42, including several iterations for our own 1991 E30 M42 that we raced in SCCA autocrossing (STS) as well as NASA TT/HPDE track use. We made these poly mounts for the engine and transmission because the stock mounts were SO WEAK. The transmission mounts once stretched under hard cornering, allowing the transmission to shift sideways by almost an inch, causing the shifter to bind up which resulted in a high rpm "money shift". Luckily, only the clutch exploded...

Left: Stretched OEM rubber mounts after the "money shift" incident. Right: exploded clutch

The difference in throttle response and especially shift feel after going from OEM rubber to real poly engine + trans mounts in these cars is dramatic. The M42 motor isn't known for its smoothness (compared to the BMW 6 cylinder) so there will be more vibrations transmitted into the cabin with racing style poly mounts, but the payoff is substantial for racers or dual purpose street/race E30s. We went through a few variations and durometer polyurethane inserts and came up with these 70A durometer "thru-bolt" style M42 mounts. Again, there is some added NVH with this poly insert (if there wasn't any the mounts wouldn't be stiff enough to improve shift feel so much), but much less than the solid Nylon or firmer 95A and 85A inserts we tested previously.

We have made a number of these M42 motor mounts to order but have sold enough now to warrant a product entry on our website. These are not volume sellers like our other BMW mounts, so we still only make them to order, which is why the cost more and take a few days before they ship (I have make each set myself, and its a pain).

Left: The 70A mounts in our E30 M42. Right: The 80A poly trans mounts on the same car

Being a bolt-thru design these also cannot fail from delamination, as happens with so many bonded motor or transmission mounts.

Cheers,

tabevan · « **Reply #8 on:** May 28, 2009, 03:14:14 PM »

I got mine in the mail 2 days ago and plan to put them in this weekend. The quality is excellent and the design is the best I've seen. (I've been through a set of stock mounts and two sets of urethane mounts) Thanks for making these available Terry!

RidingSimple · « **Reply #9 on:** May 30, 2009, 11:18:51 AM »

For $15 each, I'll stick with the OE 535 mounts. They are great so far.