Cost of replacing engine mounts
they are saying $900... sounds high from my searching...
can anyone who has done this chime in on what is reasonable / what they paid...
also, anyone know of a good non stealer shop in DC / MD / VA?
I have the same car as you but with 160k miles. My engine mounts and transmission mount were never changed. Since I do not feel any excessive vibrations, I am not sure if I should change them any time soon.
For what I can read from this forum, changing them is not difficult. You probably can go to your local indie to save on cost.
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OE engine mounts cost $80 per side at AutohausAZ and the last time I did mine it took two hours (and I work slowly). Dealer list is about double that for the same parts, so $900 is way out of line (unless they're charging to pull the exhaust manifolds).
An Indy will mark up the parts to about $250 for the pair and charge 2 hours. You only have to change the transmission mount ($15 at Autohaus) if it is torn. The transmission mount only tears when someone ignores the worn out engine mounts.
It’s easy to tell if the engine mounts are worn – the driver’s side mount will have oil stains from where it has leaked. Alternatively, someone could put the car in gear while stepping on the brakes and give it a little gas. While doing this, someone else can watch the engine and see if it lifts at all.
Motor mounts are normal wear parts, so if you’re over 75K miles, you can plan on having this done at some point. If you like drag racing, they’ll be due much sooner.
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Having personally performed this procedure, I can state the exhaust does not have to be removed. To each their own though. If someone feels safer pulling their exhuast to remove the motor mounts, they should follow whatever procedure they feel works best.
http://benzbits.com/W203/EngineMount.pdf
http://benzbits.com/W209/EngineMount.pdf
But like you said, it doesn't have to be done in practice (unless you are an official MBZ dealer/service center).

With the trans mount the pieces were about 245.
I am miles from my garage so I had to pay someone to do the work.
No one was willing to do it for actual time, just "book time" of 3.8 hours.
So labor came to 355.
The difference is so overwhelming it is hard to believe.
$600 is what it cost me.........







