BMW E31
TRANSMISSION-MOUNT REPLACEMENT

This repair is not too tricky, in fact, on a 4-post lift it would be really easy! However, for most of us, where a pair of ramps, a jack and a few bricks are luxuries, this is how you do it:

Reverse up on a pair of ramps, it would be easier to get the front of the car up but there is no chance of getting the ramps under the Sports nose:



We then jacked the front up and stuck a single course of bricks under the front wheels.

The transmission mounts are right on the back of the gearbox, there are two rubber bobbins with studs at each end. One end is bolted to the gearbox, the other end is bolted to a cross-member. The gearbox must be supported, there is a lot of weight on the transmission mounts so hold the gearbox in position with a jack, use a plank of wood to spread the load:



The Lambda sensor cables are affixed to the cross-member with a small plastic clip, pull the clip off. The cross-member is bolted to the chassis with two bolts on each side:



Remove the 2 nuts (these have captive washers) from the bottom of the rubber mounts and then remove the four bolts that hold the cross-member to the chassis, the cross-member can be wiggled out from above the exhaust pipes:





Use a 13mm ring-spanner to undo the nuts that hold the rubber mounts to the gearbox, they can be loosened and the mounts will slide out as the gearbox has slots rather than holes.

The rubber mounts have a pip on one end, this stops the mounts spinning when they are fitted, the pip aligns to the back of the car. Fit the nuts and captive washers to the new mounts and slot them onto the gearbox, tighten again with the ring-spanner.

Fix the rubber-mounts to the cross-member using the nuts and captive washers. You can then adjust the jack to get the cross-member up against the chassis. Refit the 4 bolts, fit the cables back to the cross-member using the plastic clip.





All done, time for a cup of tea!