Top mounts & engine mounts
Top mounts & engine mounts
This winter I want to refurbish the whole of the front suspension (crossmember, suspension arms, shocks etc). I intend to fit Sachs shock absorbers and new top mounts. BMW wants £63 per top mount. Knowing the mark up they have from previous experience, has anyone had experience with good-brand after-market mounts such as Sachs, Febi, Lemforder or Meyle? I was thinking of Sachs as the shocks will be theirs (I recently had a problem on a Clio using Febi mounts which wouldn't fit over the shock top nut properly). Also, engine mounts - £91 from BMW - has anyone tried Febi, Borg & Beck, Vtech, Corteco, Lemforder? All are half the price of BMW. Any advice/experience would be most welcome before I start on a lot of expensive purchases.
Re: Top mounts & engine mounts
Whenever I have removed and closely examined an old OE bush (or mount containing rubber), from my car, it has always had the Lemforder triangular logo stamped on it 
Re: Top mounts & engine mounts
Just doing the same job on my project car.
I was advised by an experienced Zed'er that Vetech top mounts are fine for road use and if you use a 30% discount code at GSF you'll get them for £16.50 each. Mine are going on the strut tonight.
My bump stops were knackered and I had to get OEM as I couldn't find after market. They were about £15 each. The paper gaskets shown on realoem are £5 each!
Take my advice if you've not done this job before. Do not remove the subframe, steering and suspension as a single unit for breakdown off the car. Guess who tried to do that. It will be too heavy, too unwieldy and you'll damage the ball joint boots if you want to keep them. You also won't be able to crack the nuts off the car as they are all nasty ones to get off in this area. So 1) crack all nuts first and have a breaker bar ready. 2) dismantle the assembly part by part off the car. Reassemble part by part too.
Splashguards are invariably horrible. They are £25 each new if you shop around.
I was advised by an experienced Zed'er that Vetech top mounts are fine for road use and if you use a 30% discount code at GSF you'll get them for £16.50 each. Mine are going on the strut tonight.
My bump stops were knackered and I had to get OEM as I couldn't find after market. They were about £15 each. The paper gaskets shown on realoem are £5 each!
Take my advice if you've not done this job before. Do not remove the subframe, steering and suspension as a single unit for breakdown off the car. Guess who tried to do that. It will be too heavy, too unwieldy and you'll damage the ball joint boots if you want to keep them. You also won't be able to crack the nuts off the car as they are all nasty ones to get off in this area. So 1) crack all nuts first and have a breaker bar ready. 2) dismantle the assembly part by part off the car. Reassemble part by part too.
Splashguards are invariably horrible. They are £25 each new if you shop around.
2001 Z3 2.2 Topaz Blue (Trudy) - Keeper rebuilt from a write-off
2002 Z3 2.2 Titan Silver (Cookies) - Keeper rebuilt having been bought with a seized engine
2002 Z3 3.0 Sapphire Black (Peanut) - Keeper awaiting rebuilding having been bought as an abandoned project
Plus Willy, Kodak & Maycee - All 2.2 Sport projects. Yes, 6 is a lot of Z3s
Always happy to try and help with spares
Re: Top mounts & engine mounts
Thanks for the advice, the complete suspension does look like a big, heavy lump. I'll look at GSF and their offers, I only seem to get EuroCar Part offers by email on a daily basis!
