[F87source]

Credit: 034Motorsport https://www.034motorsport.com/transm...-line-bmw.html



Introduction:

In this review I will be taking a look at the 034Motorsport transmission mount for most BMW vehicles ever made (check their site for compatibility but fitment is quite vast because BMW kept their transmission mounts the same for many many many years), and I will explain the benefits of purchasing this mod and give tips on installation. But for $29.00 per mount ($58 total since you need 2) I think it is probably one of those mods you absolutely should do, because they offer a really good bang for your buck.


Here’s a link if you’re interested in purchasing these mounts: https://www.034motorsport.com/transm...-line-bmw.html



Note: In this review I don’t have any installation images because I let my shop install these mounts for me along with the engine mounts. The reason why is because my engine support bar didn’t fit in my engine bay and kept hitting the corner brace bracket. So I just decided to let my shop install these things for me, so I didn’t have to deal with buying and testing all these different engine support bars hoping one would fit.


Credit: M2guru https://f87.bimmerpost.com/forums/sh...83&postcount=8



Credit: M2guru https://f87.bimmerpost.com/forums/sh...83&postcount=8


As you can see an additional spacer was needed to allow the engine support bar to clear the m2’s corner brace bracket, and my engine support bar had a flat foot instead of a spreaded foot so I couldn’t even use a spacer on mine.



Disclaimer:

Damage/Injury Disclaimer: Any information, guidance, technical advice, coding advice, tuning advice, datalogging advice, installation instruction, calculation, experiment, safety information, or product installation demonstrated in my reviews is to be consumed and or done at your own risk. I will not be responsible for personal injuries, injuries to others or any living being, or any damage to your car, or any property damage.

Monetary disclaimer: I do not make commission, or profits or any kind of monetary gain from the sale of the 034Motorsport Transmission Mount.

Sponsorship disclaimer: The way my reviews work is that I determine what product that I want to buy and actually use on my own car, and during this process the product that I end up choosing is what I believe is the best option on the market. I then reach out to the company offering the product and ask them if they would be willing to sponsor me in a review, if the answer is yes then I write a review, if the answer is no I would end up buying the product (sometimes at a later date) but I wouldn’t complete a detailed review about it (I might write something, but not to the same extent as my standard reviews). But the critical thing is that I reach out for a sponsorship and not the other way around, this means that the products I am reviewing are actually things I believe in and would use on my own car. This also means that I am not being paid to review something I do not care about. Would I do a review if a sponsor reached out to me? The answer would depend on if I believed in the product, and I would make it clear in my review if this were the case. But at the time of writing this review, such an interaction has not occurred yet.


Time of writing disclaimer: everything I am writing about in this review is described at the time of writing and may not be updated in the future, so there is a potential that things are no longer accurate in my comparisons as parts are changed and upgraded as time passes.


Bias and comparison disclaimer: Throughout this review I will attempt to be as unbiased as possible while drawing comparisons to other products.


Mistakes and Inaccuracies Disclaimer: Throughout my review I will try to be as factually accurate as possible, but there are always chances that I make mistakes and write things that are incorrect/false. If this is the case please point it out to me and if indeed it is true that I am incorrect, I will correct these mistakes and apologize for them. Afterall I am only human, so mistakes can and will inevitably happen.


Subjective Disclaimer: Please note, these reviews are also written in my own opinion, so when I am comparing different products to determine what I see as the best, there are many factors that I go through to form this opinion. Obviously there will be disagreements between people, so I will do my best to objectively determine what I deem to be the best, but at the end of the day it is still just my own opinion whether it be right or wrong. Take whatever I say in my reviews with a grain of salt.


Information Disclaimer: I read a lot of material over the years just out of sheer interest or to make these reviews. I also accumulated a lot of knowledge over my many years of education that are really relevant to cars (Physics, Chemistry, and Mathematics). That being said, my reviews are mostly based on this accumulated knowledge and I cannot always cite these sources due to the original source material possibly being lost to time, or there being so much knowledge compiled to make a single point. So, when possible I will cite my source(s) (for example data on tensile strength of a metal, or peer reviewed research). There are cases when I get information from blog posts, youtube videos, or forum posts I may not cite it, because I go through a lot of these sources only to use the gained knowledge in a small section of my review and it is not feasible to list them all. So pretty much what I am trying to say is I am not citing “common knowledge” - I will cite peer reviewed research and photos though (if applicable or used), or really explicit user experiences (if applicable or used).



Image Credits:

Images and videos used in this review are all property of their rightful owners as credited below each image, I am just using them for the purpose of this review but if you (the owner of the image) would like them removed please let me know via pm. Otherwise thanks to the respective image owners (I made sure to credit your online name and link where I found the photo) of the photos, without you this review would be so much more bland.



Review Disclaimer:

First and foremost I would like to thank 034Motorsport for agreeing to sponsor me for this review. Despite this I will remain as unbiased as possible during the review. Please note, the dynamics of this relationship was that I reached out for a sponsorship review and not the other way around. This should demonstrate how I truly feel about the 034Motorsport Transmission Mounts - in the sense that I truly believe it is a really nice upgrade to have for all BMW owners with a 6mt. In fact I actually have these transmission mounts installed on my own m2 as of now, and I really like how they reduced the notchiness I felt shifting under load with the stock mounts, and I love how they don’t add any additional NVH to the car. Driveline responsiveness also increased - but I am uncertain how much of it came from the transmission mounts vs. the engine mounts that I also installed simultaneously.



Stock Transmission Mounts:


Credit: ECS Tuning https://www.ecstuning.com/b-genuine-...g/22312284819/

First let's talk about the stock transmission mounts. These transmission mounts are made of solid rubber with a 45 durometer rating as per 034Motorsport, and have a fabric like strap that extends across the mount - maybe to stop deflection past a certain point. Anyways these stock mounts are incredibly soft - to the point where I can flex them with just my thumb and index finger (I apologize I don’t have a video of me flexing the mount, but I left them with my shop while they were installing everything and they threw the old mounts out when I went to pick up the car).


These incredibly soft stock mounts are not ideal for bracing the transmission, I suspect that these mounts are mainly there to support the transmission and dampen vibration. Because any amount of torque transferred from the engine to the transmission will undoubtedly cause the transmission to deflect and move since these mounts are so soft and highly unlikely to resist said movements.

The problem with the transmission moving consists of 2 main issues:

1) Poor shifting: As the transmission deflects and moves under load, the mechanical shifter linkage directly attached to the transmission is going to move out of normal position as well. Since all of these components (the transmission and linkage) are not in their ideal position, shifting the transmission will become more difficult and that is where you get the undesirable notchy shift feel. This issue is likely to get worse as you tune the car and increase power output which will further increase transmission deflection, so upgrading to a stiffer mount will reduce transmission deflection and improve shifter feel.

2) Less responsive drivetrain: When the transmission is able to deflect under load, that power output from the engine isn’t going to be transferred to the road right away, it will first be used to deflect the driveline components like the transmission. This makes power output feel less direct and less responsive, stiffening up the transmission mount will reduce this driveline slop and make the car feel more responsive.



Types of Transmission Mounts Available:

Lets talk about the current types of transmission mounts that are currently available on the market:

1) Rubber mounts: The first type of mounts available on the market are denser and more solid (higher durometer) rubber mounts in contrast to the factory rubber mounts. Upgraded rubber mounts generally offer reduced transmission deflection (but to a lesser extent than polyurethane mounts and solid mounts) and the least amount of NVH increase vs. the alternative mounts. So the strong suit here is very low NVH increase (in most cases undetectable increase in NVH) and noticeable reduction in transmission deflection over stock mounts.

2) Polyurethane mounts: The second type of mounts available are polyurethane mounts, and these mounts are typically significantly stiffer than the stock or upgraded rubber mounts. The result is you get a lot less transmission deflection under load, but the NVH increase will be noticeable and depending on what durometer polyurethane you select it may begin to become unbearable on daily driven cars. The strong suit with polyurethane mounts is that you will get even more reduction in driveline deflection vs. rubber mounts, but at the cost of increased NVH. Poly mounts are typically more durable than rubber mounts as well, and should last longer, but they are more expensive.

3) Solid mounts: The last type of mounts are solid mounts, and these mounts offer a complete reduction in transmission deflection - aka the transmission will not be allowed to move. These mounts offer the best driveline responsiveness and the best shift feel, however the penalty is insane NVH in the cabin and most people will not be able to deal with this on a daily driven car. These mounts are only meant for track use, because the NVH is immense and honestly unbearable to alot of people. The benefits of these mounts is that they remove all transmission deflection, improve shift and driveline responsiveness the most, and should last forever. But the cost is unbearable NVH, and pricing on these solid mounts are generally higher than the other 2 types of mounts.



034Motorsport Transmission Mounts:

Now lets go over the 034Motorsport transmission mounts.

Images:

Firstly lets take a look at some of the images of these mounts:



Credit: F87Source


Credit: F87Source


Credit: F87Source


Credit: F87Source


Credit: F87Source


Credit: F87Source


Credit: F87Source



Analysis:

Now let's analyze these mounts in closer detail.

1) Visual appearance: The appearance of these 034Motorsport mounts look very similar to the stock mount expect that they do not have the additional rubber on the sides to facilitate the strap. The 034 mounts also have solid metal top and bottom “plugs” or “bases” where the threaded screws protrude from and this makes the screw mounts feel solidly attached and unable to easily deflect.

2) Stiffness: 034Motorsport claims that these mounts are made of 60 durometer void-free (solid) rubber, and this is stiffer than the 45 durometer rubber used in the stock BMW mounts. While a durometer increase of 15 doesn’t sound like much, it is actually really noticeable. For instance I can no longer bend or deflect these mounts with my bare hands, they feel solid like a hockey puck.


3) Durability: 034Motorsport claims that these mounts should be more durable than the stock mounts since they are made from a stronger rubber. This makes sense because if the rubber is unable to deform and flex, it will be less likely to fatigue and fail as quickly. So it should last longer than the stock mounts.

4) Lifetime warranty: the 034Motorsport engine mounts come with a lifetime warranty, so if anything were to happen to them you’d be covered!




Feedback:

Ok now lets get onto my personal experience with these mounts, note: I have had these installed these in conjunction with the 034Motorsport engine mounts so my feedback in regards to feel, NVH, and driveline response is not going to be completely in tune with just doing the transmission mounts alone.


1) Shift feel: I absolutely notice a significant improvement in shift feel after installing these mounts. Before with the stock mounts under WOT shifting, I would always experience extreme notchiness from 1st - 2nd (new transmission oil would drastically improve this and make it only noticeable under high load conditions) but with these transmission mounts installed it is virtually gone and I haven’t run into it ever since. I suspect adding a higher quality gearbox oil like redline dctf would even further improve shifting feel and make it even more buttery smooth. But in regards to shifting - everything feels very good, and most if not all of the notichness of the bmw 6mt gear box is eliminated. Obviously this gear box isn’t as good as a porsche or honda gear box because its shift feel has never been amazing and does suffer from notchiness, but these mounts go a long way in terms of improving it.

2) Driveline response: I do feel an improvement in driveline response and my input on the accelerator does feel more instant and direct. But I am uncertain if this is due mainly to the engine mounts, so I can’t really comment accurately on the improvement in driveline response due to the transmission mounts alone. But together with the engine mounts I absolutely notice a difference.

3) NVH: There is absolutely almost no discernible increase in NVH - which is absolutely incredible when considering I also installed 034 Motorsport engine mounts as well. Maybe you can hear more gear whine but honestly there is nothing major here you need to worry about. You can refer to 034Motorsport engine mount review to see my water bottle vibration testing.


Overall these are fantastic mounts!



Installation Tips:

Now lets talk about installation and some tips that I can give you - had I attempted my own install. If you want to see a very well put together installation video you can refer to
Fritz Ramos on Youtube:

Credit: Fritz Ramos

But here are my tips:

1) Fully jack up the car front and back, this makes it easier to work under the car and get a jack down there.

2) Use scissor jacks + wooden blocks for the scissor jack to push against (so you don’t have metal on metal contact with the transmission, and to spread the load over a larger area) to support the transmission. The reason for this is because scissor jacks do not sink over time compared to a hydraulic floor jack.

Personally I would use the BMW X5 scissor jacks which have a flat rectangular jack pad portion that fits directly into the factory jacking points on our cars, and this makes it really nice when supporting flat objects like a block of wood. I would also use 2 scissor jacks instead of 1.



Summary:

Overall I must say that these 034Motorsport transmission mounts are an absolutely incredible upgrade for any BMW with the 6mt transmission. I noticed an absolutely massive improvement in shift feel and a more direct driveline - all without any additional increase in NVH. So for $29.00 per mount ($58 total since you need 2) I think these mounts are an absolutely must have and must do upgrade.

[F87source]

Reserved for Future Posts.

[jb-slow]

Info for next time: you can install all that with just a floor jack.

[F87source]

Originally Posted by jb-slow

Info for next time: you can install all that with just a floor jack.

The sump on the m2 is thin aluminum, holding up the entire engine via the oil pan is a horrific idea because you can dent the pan. Also hydraulic floor jacks can sink, so not ideal nor safe.