engine and drivetrain Which engine mount should be urethane?

[josh72ooh2]

My 02 is a daily driver... not a race car by any means.

I've heard that switching one of the motor mounts helps stiffen things up a bit but not too stiff.

Which one should be urethane?

Is a Urethane transmission mount too stiff as well or recommended for a daily driver?

I am trying to cure a serious wiggle in my engine.

It rocks back and fourth a bit too much for my taste.

And...While driving down the freeway, the transmission/stick shift does a serious dance.

that excess play is definitely not normal and i want to tighten everything back up... once i figure out how...eventually....when i get my car back from the body shop...someday... yada yadda...

-Josh

[vinceinIL]

Stock bushings should be more than enough for a daily driver. From your post, it sounds like you have an other problem (or problems) that replacing bushings will not really solve.

Vacuum leak, carb out of tune, guibo in good shape? Tell the almighty board more....so we can try to help cure the wiggles.

BTW, since you are into cycles in the Bay Area, do you know Larry "Renzo" Sainz at the BMW cycle dealer in SF?

vince

[josh72ooh2]

I actually relocated to Los Angeles 7 years ago... but as the saying goes.. i left my heart in san francisco...

I knew the guy at the parts counter very well at the SF BMW shop. I can't remember his name though.

When i got the car, it had an imbalanced drive shaft. That has since been cured and the car drives great except for the fact that i can physically move the engine around way too much by hand (when off). When on, and idling, I can see it dance around a bit. Guibo is good. she's tuned nice.

And the freeway problem... when driving on the freeway, the transmission really dances around. I'd call it a boogie!

I figured new bushings should be a good place to start.

All this is in prep for when i get my car back. i really want to focus on the mechanics. It got hit in an accident a few months back and the car has been at the shop getting repairs and all new paint.

[JHG762002]

My DD has urethane everywhere, and while not for everyone does not wiggle, it only buzzes. You might want to make sure that the motor mount location on the drivers side is not cracked. This is a not too uncommon problem with these cars, and can be difficult to see because of the steering box. Many folks have welded in a reinforcement plate at that location, a forum search should yield some direction. If you can shift your engine around than something is not tight or broken.

J

[c.d.iesel]

motor mounts :

urethane for track only

rubber for daily street driver

[JsnPpp]

Definitely have someone look at both mounts while you push the engine back and forth by hand. On my car last year the mount bracket next to the steering box was loose - not broken - which allowed it to even pop the distributor cap off when accelerating hard!

The fact that it wasn't broken made it more difficult to see where the problem was. Wound up being a loose bolt on the bracket.

Good luck! Don't drive it till you figure it out man!

~Jason

[Beaner7102]

+1 vote for all rubber.

Also have you looked at/replaced the bushes off the back of the tranny to the shifter tower. They could be dead an be the cause of your dancing shifter. JMHO Beaner7102

[eurotrash]

+2 for rubber. I put in a urethane trans mount as the start of replacing the three with urethane, I immediately removed it and went with a 320i mount. I did a write up in my blog. With just the trans mount, the vibration transfer to the body, and resulting resonation in the cabin was like riding in a subwoofer box droning at 40 Hz. Maybe the resonation could be controlled with a bunch of Fatmat or something, but it wasn't for me. I didn't even bother with the motor mounts.. I quickly sold the set.

Just my experience.

[Lee]

I am trying to cure a serious wiggle in my engine.

Engine needs to be tuned to be smooth at idle. This means ensuring the 4 combustion chambers have roughly the same compression. Checking ignition timing. Tuning idle mixture.

[josh72ooh2]

Engine needs to be tuned to be smooth at idle. This means ensuring the 4 combustion chambers have roughly the same compression. Checking ignition timing. Tuning idle mixture.

The engine is tuned and runs smooth. when i give it gas, it will shift a bit... and i already mentioned the symptoms on the freeway.

When the engine is off, i can rock it back and fourth. which is a serious concern.

So... New RUBBER engine mounts it is! Going to order up a set soon, in addition to a new tranny mount for the 5speed i have installed. I'll start there... hopefully that will be the cure.

Now... i just need to get my car back from the paint shop... which should be any week now....