Fitting Vibratech Engine Mounts

[Phil-E30]

Evening all,

As I continue to buy mods for the Z4 M, I think the engine mounts are next on the list. Doing pretty much everything to the car myself (with my dad's expertise helping) and wondered if fitting these was an ok DIY job? Is there a guide anywhere on here showing a how to?

Thanks!

 

[exdos]

I don't think there's an illustrated "how to" on this forum. Swapping the engine mounts isn't the easiest of jobs to do, especially if you have to work off the floor and requires some planning before you start. It took me about 2hrs to fit the VTs working off the floor so is definitely a doable DIY job: you just need the confidence to tackle a job like this.

You need to remove the metal undertray and replace all the bolts and torque them in the correct way once the VT mounts have been installed.

For me, the most critical part of the job was finding the best location to lift the engine from underneath with a jack. Having looked at all the available points I decided that the strongest part of the engine would be the curved section, shown in my photo below, just above the front ARB (the bit with 3 bolts.). I removed the ARB so that I could position my jack underneath it. This proved ideal.



If you've got a strut brace, you need to remove it so that you can raise the engine. You'll need the longest extension bars you have to undo the engine mount bolts from above in the engine bay. If you loosen the engine mounts on both sides before you lift the engine and remove the mounts one at a time, you'll keep the engine properly located. Once you've fitted the VT mount on one side, leave its nut slack, so that you can lift the engine again to fit the mount on the opposite side. Technically, the job is simple, and you'll easily work out the best way of doing it at the time.

 

[Phil-E30]

Thanks for the reply and advice Exdos! I had a feeling it would be the sort of job that was very doable with a bit of patience and thought. Reckon I will probably do it myself as planned.

What have been the main benefits you've noticed since fitting them?

 

[exdos]

My reason for fitting the VT engine mounts was entirely due to having a few downshift denials when driving at The Ring, with one particularly hairy moment exiting Fuchsrohre at around L-13. I've found that with the "Fast Road" VTs the drive train feels fixed in position and no longer has any pendulum effect when cornering which prevents the gear shift from getting out of line. I've also changed the gearbox oil to Amsoil which together with the VTs now makes the gear-shifting as I hoped it would be. I've done around 80 laps of The Ring since fitting the VTs and not had a recurrence of the gearshift problem. I also removed the CDV, which I found had no noticeable effect at all.

Although I have a few suspension mods (AC Schnitzer Racing suspension, H&R ARBs, TMS RTAB Limiter kit and Strongstrut strutbrace) the VTs noticeably improve the handling some more because the drive train stays put.

All in all, it's probably the singlemost cost-effective I've done on my Z4MC. There's virtually no increase in NVH.

 

[KevinC]

I have the VT "street" mounts, and Rogue Engineering tranny mounts. Nice combo. VERY slight increase in NVH, but it's negligible, and well worth the trade-off for a much more secure drivetrain that behaves better under duress.