M60 engine mounts

[e34musician]

I haven't posted for a while now. The car has been great so far (a full year of owning it - 10k miles of driving). I took it for camping in Big Sur, CA this labor day weekend. Crusing my e34 on Pacific Coast HWY1 while watching the sunset was like being in heaven. I told myself that I will keep driving this car until the wheels fall off ;)

Anyway, My BMW mechanic inspected my car while bleeding my break fluid. He mentioned that the engine mount (on the left side) has oil on it. I asked him where the oil is from. He said the oil is from the mount itself. I never heard on this in this forum. Can someone confirm if there is oil in the engine mounts? Is it like oil in shocks?

I quoted me $270 labor for all engine mounts and trans mounts. By the way, the trans mount do look torned. He also quoted me $160 for swapping subframe bushings and dog bones. Is it a good deal?

[t.wak]

The engine mounts are filled with oil so they are obviously ruptured. The actual mounts don't cost that much each, about US$20 each.

Labour includes lifting the engine a bit with a jack under the sump, and undoing a few bolts and replacing the rubber mounts.

Tranny mounts are scaring me though since there are two types listed for my car; so I'm lettimg my mechanic handle that saga.

[mattyb]

it seems to be an age old debate here about wether or not they are hard to do. i have done mine and would say they are not hard to do and i will help with pics and info if u need. Then again if your not short of money and $270 is not going to break the bank get some one else to do it. doesnt seem to bad a deal if it includes the tranny mounts as well. get him to check the centre bearing and the flex disc, Guibo, as they call it in the states. easy to do while he is under there doing everything else.

i used to have a write up on it but its dissapeared. if u do in fact do it yourself watch out when you slightly raise the engine as the expasion tank will be crushed by the engine if its raised to far and rearward, and watch for the fan as it will contact the radiator shroud if your not careful.

Best of luck

Mattyb

[e34musician]

Thanks a lot, guys. So there is actually oil in the engine mounts. I used to do a lot of work on this car myself including intake, valve cover gaskets, themostat / housing, MAF, radiator hose, ...

But I just had a new baby. There's no time to mess around. I look hard and found this 16 year-experinced BMW mechanic in my area. He seems to be honest and know what he is doing. He fixed my unsolved problem (front-end clunk noise while turning into driveways) on the first time I brought the car in. It was the shock collar nuts that was loose. I actually bring in the upper arms, which I thought the ball joints went, for him to swap. He said the ball joints and bushings are tight, and will last for a while.

$270 won't break my bank and will save me a lot of headache. I will let my honest guy do it. If any of you are in the south bay area, I would recommend this mechanic. PM me and I'll let you know his tel #.

[E34 530]

160 for subframe bushings and dog bones is one of a HELL of a price. You know how much a pita that **** is?