So my motor mounts are pretty much gone. Mercedes Benz of Buckhead quoted me over $1000 to replace motor mounts and transmission mounts

Even my independent mechanic quoted over $800. Whats the deal?

Does anyone have a good DIY on replacing the motor mounts on a C32? Is this something I could do with the car on ramps? Any special tools required? Really dont feel like handing over almost a grand to switch out some rubber bits.

buy the mounts online, very inexpensive . keep calling different shops

Its not that difficult but not easy as well. You have an engine hoist?

These mounts are hydraulic, not just a rubber mount like other cars have. Just to give you some insight on why they are more expensive. I just did mine as well so I know they are expensive.

no engine hoist. I'm guessing thats required to take the weight of the engine off the mounts so they can be swapped?

IIRC, someone on here disconnected there's and jacked the engine up with a floor jack to install headers. Maybe this would be a possibility to change the motor mounts as well. Just a thought...

I did my mounts also. I was unable to find a DIY so I went for it and it took like 3 hours. Getting the top bolts loose was the most difficult due to limited space.

I found that it was easier once I removed the bottom 2 MM bolts first, then lift the engine up as high as possible with a floor jack and a block of 2x4. I cut a piece of 2x4 so that it would fit perfectly between the cross-member and sway-bar to lift the engine by the oil pan. Once the engine is up high I was able to reach the top mm bolts easier (although still really a pain in the ***) I believe they were a 5/8 wrench. good to know "before" since its really hard to try out different wrenches at that weird angle.

I got the 2 mounts loose but then had another issue - how to get them physically out of that tight spot. exhause was blocking them to the rear. I removed the sway-bar mounting bolts and was able to swing the sway-bar out enough to swap out the passenger side easily. the drivers side had to be wedged between the cross-member and the power steering pump. that was not easy. However, I had reinstalled the passenger mount first which sadly limited how much I could move the motor. Had I left both mounts off, it would have been possible to slide past the power steering more easily.

I would probably be able to re-do this procedure in no time if I were to do it again.

Also, do not buy cheap ebay motor mounts. I'm about to replace mine again since the cheap ones allow a lot of engine vibration to shake the whole car. the motor is almost resting on the sway bar with these crappy mounts!

good luck!
~mike~

King320 which independent shop do you use? I have a couple in the Atlanta area I can pass on the info for.

European Motorcars (Buckhead and Sandy Springs)

Contact MBENZMAN on this site. Rich has a shop in Atlanta and he has done the vast majority of work on my car. The only downside is Rich has moved his shop rather far out.

+1 - Rich is the only guy I trust my car with. He moved from Roswell to Cumming and I still go to him despite living out in Snellville if that tells you anything.

Curious as to what the symptoms were of the motor mounts being bad? Was theie shaking only at certain speeds? While getting on the throttle or off the throttle only?

i can feel the motor shaking slightly through the brake pedal at idle.

Eh, IDK if I would do this myself for the first time. I recommend looking around for another shop that's cheaper. If you install these poorly you might end up with more damage than the original 800

not very handy with tools?

Agree 100% The thought of jacking my motor up with a floor lift scares the crap out of me.

Here are the quotes as they stand now

MB of Buckhead $1200

Independent shop 1: $800
Independent shop 2: $672
Independent shop 3: $700

still looking

you usually get a lot of vibration at idle.

If it makes you feel any better I am on my 3rd set of motor mounts in less than 50k miles.

Rich replaced the last set on my car.

With bad motor mounts you'll get a lot of vibration in park. You can really feel it through the steering wheel. I was also experiencing excessive vibration driving in lower gears until the engine reached operating temperature. Had my local dealer do the job for $800 including the mounts.