ambit

^^ I agree with craig. I do ALL my own work, and would never do engine mounts again.

go team

Did you leave the primary cats in?

craig.pulliam

Yeah I didn't touch the exhaust.

glhansenjr

Any tips for reinstalling the power steering column in step 5?

For the life of me, I can't get the two pieces to go back together.

GRP

Did mine on the weekend - what a ***** of a job.

Column should go straight back together. Access to the top joint point is limited - taking off the heat shield that protects the upper column off the firewall (8mm bolt) assists opening things up. The shaft will only connect one way - if you have it rotated 180 degrees it will not slide together. If you have the two faces at other than squarely aligned they may grab.

Do you have the rack fully bolted up before trying to join the shaft? The rack needs to be loose - so you can get the alignment right. Beware pulling the top end of the shaft too far downward as it can be a pain to get back (I have experience).

Hope this helps in some way.



My thoughts on mount replacement.

Essentials:

The 16 mm special offset spanner for top bolts.

T 12 socket in 1/4' drive with long extension bars to get into the step 5 bolt. Long T12 spanner another option

Tips:

Do the top mount/heat shield bolts after undoing the 2 lower bolts then lift the engine from 1 side and tilt it as far as possible before attacking the top bolt then repeat with opposite tilt for the other side.

A son/friend or other with slim arms/wrist/fingers will be a real bonus in dealing with the top bolts.

Removing the firewall steering column heat shield assisted me.

glhansenjr

Great advice re slim arms. Skinny is better for this job.

I'm pretty handy but this job was a pain. Such small quarters.

16mm offset wrench for the top bolt + ratcheting 16mm stubby wrench is essential.

I snugged the top bolts, didn't torque.

Bottom bolts are easy.

Pulling the steering column apart was difficult, very snug. Going back in is difficult. I have them lined up. Does it matter if the bolt is completely removed or still slightly in the nut? Mine is removed. I may try to take that heat shield off to give me more space.

But, once you lined yours up, they went right back together nicely?

My rack is loose to give more mobility.

GRP

I had the bolt removed and did not replace it until the two shafts were back together - required a little back and forth sliding to line everything up for the bolt to be inserted.

The two shafts were a clean slide together. Two square/rectangular ends with a rounded face on 2 sides 180 degrees opposed. Each of the rounded sides has a keyway which is different on each side hence the only goes together one way.

If all else fails you can remove the lower shaft at the steering box end. Connect the free lower shaft to the top shaft, replace the top bolt and then refit the lower end of the shaft over the steering box spline (don't pull the shaft too far downwards or you will pop the upper shaft out of its splined connection) - risk of the steering wheel not being 100% straight and if that happens it may ultimately be simpler and less exhausting to remove the steering wheel and adjust its position than deal with removing and refitting the lower shaft on the steering box spline.

glhansenjr

Update: somehow, the lower steering wheel column had turned 180 while I was doing the mounts. Turned back 180, fit perfectly. Steering is aligned and fine.

Engine mounts run perfectly.

Car is smooooooth as butttaaaaa.

Cwagon

Good to hear it worked out for you.
Btw did you use ECE mounts?

nivram13

Did you remove the top 16mm bolt from the top or the bottom of the vehicle, there seem little to no room to approach this from above. Any guidance here.?

Cwagon

You get to it from above using the special spanner shown on page 1 of this thread

Nathan Grimmer

I did this job on my ramps, after hours trying to get to that bolt with all sorts of spanners I brought that correct 16mm spanner, I managed to get a couple of long extensions to from the top to crack it off, then when went underneath and carried on until finger loose

507AMGEE

I had this problem when I removed that bolt to get the heat shield out the way to install my long tube headers. I ended up chopping my 16mm ratchet wrench in half and was able to tighten that bolt back up

glhansenjr

I did it from the bottom. If you want to add work to your load, then remove the valve covers and you will have some more room, but what a pain. Doing from below is what I did but I've got to admit, at times I had my wife helping me from above with a flashlight.

deadlyvt

I used a short stubby 16mm wrench and didn’t have much problem, it’s tight so lots of very small movements and not much threading each time but eventually I got it

nivram13

Anyone know if this process is the same for the 2010 E63 also with the M156 engine?

YvngGold

it is.

glhansenjr

Generally, yeah.

I've done engine mounts on a C 63 and an SL 63, both M156 engine. Basically the same process. Different amount of space and different types of mounts.

nivram13

Not quite I have exactly the same year e63 as you for the RH mount you can pull this out with the steering rack dropped down. The LH mount was really difficult i had to unbolt the cat from the header this gave me just enough room to get the mount out. Getting the top 16mm mount bolt was also really tough there is no space to work but it is doable just takes time.

A really unpleasant job.