I got home from work today and heard a knock at the door. Went to answer it and I found a little box from UUC. It was my transmission mounts! Wow, I just ordered these things Tuesday. I didn't have anything planned for tonight except laying around so I decided to throw them on. 5 Minutes later, car was up on jack stands.
I ordered the Option 2 Red urethane isolated transmission mount bushings.
http://www.uucmotorwerks.com/html_pr...anny/about.htm I decided to give these a try since they state "While UUC does expect some vibration transmitted into the cabin, initial user reports say that it is minimal and certainly acceptable." My car is a daily driver and I didn't want my teeth to rattle loose. I've already lost most of my hair, I need my teef! My plan was to try option 2, if they were too rough, I'd sell them since they fit on many different BMWs and pick up option 1s. On to the install...
When you do this, make sure your car is securely supported by jack stands. A hydraulic lift is not sufficient to hold the car up while you are underneath it. You can't have too much safety.
I removed the heatsheild shown in the next picture. 3 10mms Yes I saw that black spot, I'm still investigating why that is there. Anyone have any ideas?
I could then access the transmission support. You must brace the transmission before removing the support. I did this with my jack. You do not need to apply much force the transmission, just support it so the weight of it isn't hanging on the bell housing bolts & drive shaft.
That's my sweet 30 year old jack that weighs ~60 lbs. Does a great job tho.
Here is a good picture of the transmission support that has the bushings. Unclip the wire attached to it and move it out of the way. Remove the 4 13mm bolts holding the support to the chassis. Then remove the 13mm nut at the bottom of each bushing.
Difference between bushings.
Make sure to align the bushings correctly. They are keyed to fit only one way into the support brace.
With the bushings I purchased, I had to attach them first to the support, then bolt the support up to the chassis. Otherwise the bolt threads coming out of the bushings are too long and don't line up with the holes in the support because of the angle they sit at. This made it a bit harder cause I had to twist my hand in a tight spot and put the nuts on top. This was the most time consuming part. For the side with the exhaust, I had my legs hanging out the driver's side of the car and stuck my hand like this:
Man I got some hairy arms. Make sure to tighten all your bolts at the same time. Don't torque one down before you have them all started or else your holes won't line up. Elementary mechanics.
This is what the finished product looked like. Shows a little bit of red.
I took her for a test drive. There is a noticeable difference in vibration but definitely acceptable and reasonable to live with. I would say it is increased by ~10% for normal cruising. Above 5500 rpm, the vibration is increased by ~15-20%.
There is also a difference in the sound of the engine. More noise is transferred into the chassis and it changes the way the motor sounds. It sounds deeper and more of a raw power sound. I drove around for about half an hour with many pulls to redline. Shifter felt more deliberate when shifting but I'll need more behind the wheel time before I can report on that. This is my daily driver so I should have a determination by next week. So far I'm satisfied with the bushings. Only ~50 bucks and the car feels and sounds stronger. These bushings are also brand new so I'm sure they will wear in a bit and get a little softer after a few hundred miles. I will most likely keep these bushings but I am holding on to my OEM ones just in case.