Engine / Motor Mounts

Replaced the motor mounts.  Went with Lemforder motor mounts and saved significantly over BMW-boxed ones.  The basic procedure I used is here.  But, I wasn't able to get the right hand side (passenger) motor mount off of the car, even with the engine raised as high as possible.  In fact, when I had the jack and 2x4 under the oil pan, the car just barely started to come off the front right jackstand.  This is a dangerous mod.  When you jack the engine, the throttle cable will be stressed and you should un-couple it before you start jacking.  And the fan blades will come into contact witht he fan shroud, so be mindful of that.  To get the right hand mount off, I removed the motor mount bracket.  Four 13 mm bolts and a ground strap.  This was the only way I could come up with and it worked fine.  When I got the old mounts off the car, they didn't look terrible, but they are 16 year old rubber under high heat cycles and this mod is only about $110 total.

Also, the car came with a Strong-Strut Butt Strut which I do not care for, so I took it off and restored the car to its factory condition.  The replacement -136 nuts are oval shaped and one-use-only.  I torqued them to 140 Nm per TIS, but I am thinking that is too high.  Discussed it with Randy Forbes and he uses 110 Nm.  The studs are 127 Nm, so it seems like the nuts should be less, like Randy's 110 Nm.  I would stick to 110 Nm if I did this again.  Also spotted unusual corrosion on the rear shock bolts, so I replaced them with new OEM bolts from BMW and I used new stainless steel washers. 

Motor Mounts, Lemforder from FCP Euro, 11812283798, $51.99r each
Motor Mount Self Locking Nut, 22116779973, need 4, $1.58r each
Nuts to Delete Butt Strut tow hook, 33331126136, $2.61r each, need 2
Bolts for bottom of rear shocks, 07119900402, $4.27r each, need 2 

Total price of this mod = $124.06
Total investment in vehicle to date = $829.80

Original on the left, new on the right.

Corrosion

New