Drivetrain Mounts and Upgrades for BMW 3 Series E46 (1999-2005)

ECS Tuning's Polyurethane Transmission Mounts are designed to address the vital role of transmission mounts in your vehicle's suspension. The factory mounts are notorious for failures that can result in over-revving, mis-shifts, and in extreme cases, potential chassis damage. Our polyurethane mounts provide a robust solution, engineered for both street and track applications, guaranteeing enhanced performance while eliminating concerns about torn mounts.

Polyurethane stands out with its exceptional toughness, durability, and impressive wear resistance compared to rubber. It also exhibits resistance to water, oil, and grease while retaining its original shape even when subjected to significant compression. By reducing deflection, polyurethane facilitates effective power transfer. While there may be a slight increase in NVH (Noise, Vibration, Harshness), the benefits far outweigh this minor compromise in ride comfort. With a polyurethane durometer of 70A, our street mounts are versatile, offering both daily driving comfort and track durability. For more track-oriented enthusiasts, we provide stiffer mounts with an 80A durometer rating.

For a hassle-free installation, we supply a comprehensive DIY guide. ECS Tuning ensures that you are fully supported from start to finish.

Enhance your car's performance with ECS Tuning's polyurethane transmission mounts, designed for both street and track applications. These mounts are engineered to withstand high torque and forced-induction scenarios, eliminating concerns about torn mounts and providing a more engaging driving experience. Although polyurethane may introduce some additional NVH (Noise, Vibration, Harshness), its exceptional durability, wear resistance, and resistance to water, oil, and grease make it the perfect choice for performance enthusiasts. ECS Tuning offers two durometer options to match your driving style, along with a comprehensive DIY installation guide, ensuring a complete solution for your transmission mount requirements.

Key Features:

• Minimized transmission movement, reducing the risk of mis-shifts and over-revs.
• Made from high-quality polyurethane bonded with 304 Stainless Steel.
• Enhanced driving experience for both street and track enthusiasts.
• Two durometer options available: 80A for race applications and 70A for daily driving (ES#2859359).
• Replaces weak OEM mounts.

Stock mounts are made from soft rubber and are sometimes filled with fluid to give a car the most comfortable ride possible. The soft rubber and fluid helps to reduce the total amount of vibration, noise, and harshness (NVH) that is transferred into the cabin. The problem with this is driveline slop. The stock mounts allow a lot of excess movement and increases the amount of time it takes to transfer power to the wheels.

In order to address this issue, performance mounts can be substituted to reduce the amount of slop and transfer power to the wheel quicker. Two options for this are polyurethane mounts and solid mounts.

Solid mounts are great for an immediate transfer of power but allow for a ton of noise and vibration to be felt and heard in the cabin of the vehicle. This is great for the track where there aren't any issues with excess harshness, but as a daily driver, this can become an annoying pain in the neck.

The best middle ground is Polyurethane. Polyurethane is much stiffer than rubber and gives you the much stiffer feel you may be looking for. This allows for the increase in responsiveness, but isn't so extreme that it transfers all of the sound and vibrations into the cabin. This makes it much more comfortable for daily use while still reinforcing your driveline.

Features:

• Aluminum and Polyurethane Construction
• 80A Durometer Rating
• New Hardware

Worn rubber differential mounts will lead to the differential twisting and shifting around in the rear subframe. Not only will this be noisy but it's bad for driver confidence and bad for the chassis as well. Even on fresh rubber bushings the differential has deflection and twist, especially if the car has been modified for more torque. Since the differential is centrally mounted in the rear subframe, with all suspension mounts interconnected, a differential with too much deflection will affect handling and could even damage the rear subframe.

These 88A urethane E46 diff mounts are much stiffer than stock but still not as solid as our Turner aluminum/Delrin bushings. This set will resist twisting much better than the stock rubber mounts. Included are the two front diff mounts and the rear mount in the cover.

A sloppy shifter is one of the common complaints of older BMWs. In addition to the shifter linkage the transmission mounts contribute to rough and clunky shifting. BMW transmission mounts are rubber and get softer over time. This allows the transmission to dance around which changes the geometry of the shift linkage and could make it harder to shift. These urethane transmission bushings are stiffer than the stock rubber mounts and won't let the transmission shift around as much. The round design also has more surface area than the stock mounts which helps spread the load. Because the urethane is stiffer, expect more vibration to make its way into the shift lever area. Engine motor mounts should also be considered as a cause for driveline vibration, transmission movement, and poor shifting. Consider replacing your motor mounts at the same time as your tranny mounts.

Price is for the pair of transmission mounts with hardware.

This item fits the following BMWs: 
1989-1995  E34 BMW  525i 530i 535i 540i M5 
1992-1998  E36 BMW  318i 318is 318ti 318ic 323is 323ic 325i 325is 325ic 328i 328is 328ic M3 
1997-2003  E39 BMW  525i 528i 530i 540i M5 
1999-2005  E46 BMW  323i 323ci 325i 325ci 328i 328ci 330i 330ci M3 
2008-2012  E82 BMW  128i 135i 1M Coupe 
2006-2011  E90 BMW  325i 328i 330i 335d 335i - Sedan 
2006-2012  E91 BMW  328i - Wagon 
2007-2013  E92 BMW  328i 335i 335is - Coupe 
2007-2013  E93 BMW  328i 335i - Convertible 
1997-2002  Z3 BMW  Z3 2.3 Z3 2.5i Z3 2.8 Z3 3.0i M Roadster M Coupe 

Your rear differential is indirectly connected to your right foot through the engine and driveline, and connected to the seat of your pants through the chassis. Soft factory rubber differential bushings absorb vibrations between chassis and differential, providing comfort and softness in both of these connections.

Enter ECS Tuning's In-House Engineered Performance Polyurethane Differential Bushings. By eliminating the deflection factory rubber bushings permit, the connection between your right foot (and your seat) to the wheels is improved. Removal of this slop allows for crisper power transfer from differential to wheels, which means better throttle control while carving a canyon road, drag racing, sliding the rear end out, or just driving to work. This is achieved without the harshness or vibration associated with delrin or solid differential mounts.

Featuring a tough 88A durometer polyurethane and Black anodized 6061-T6 aluminum Sleeve, our Performance Polyurethane Differential Bushings are more resistant to chemicals, ozone degradation, road salt, and general wear and tear than factory rubber bushings, resulting in a longer service life.

Differential bushings are responsible for keeping the differential in solid alignment while dampening drivetrain vibration. While OE rubber bushings are fine when they are new from the factory, aged and worn out rubber bushings create a multitude of issues that can range from annoying to dangerous. As a factory bushing ages, it begins to harden and become brittle. When this happens the bushing will actually shrink and allow for movement at the differential mounting point. At this point, the differential is free to shift under load causing a noticeable clunking noise under acceleration and deceleration and massively increasing the stress on the driveshaft and axles. Manual transmissions suffer the worst from this as it can make shifting difficult since the differential will shift when the clutch is engaged and disengaged.

By replacing these bushings with full polyurethane, the movement is eliminated since the mounting point is supported by a much stiffer material that will not harden or shrink over time. This means less stress on the driveshaft and axles and greater longevity of supporting components. 

Powerflex street bushings are ideal for street driven vehicles and those that see occasional autocross or track time. Need bushings for a dedicated track car? Powerflex Black Series bushings are the ultimate in track and race bushings. Featuring 95A durometer polyurethane, Black Series bushings are 25% stiffer than street bushings. Engineered to perform, Powerflex performance polyurethane control arm bushings offer a supreme level of control, while still providing enough comfort for the street, with advanced polyurethane that reduces NVH that often accompanies lesser bushings. Expect improved steering feel, turn in, more responsive handling and overall improved chassis composure with Powerflex performance polyurethane control arm bushings.

Poweflex is a leading manufacturer of aftermarket suspension bushings. Using state of the art design and manufacturing, all replacement bushings are engineered to out-perform and out-last the ones that came in the car. Each line of bushings is meticulously tested and then re-tested to ensure perfect fitment and enduring quality through the life of the vehicle. A full lifetime warranty backs every one of their products and demonstrates the level of confidence and commitment Powerflex has to their customers. 

Differential bushings are responsible for keeping the differential in solid alignment while dampening drivetrain vibration. While OE rubber bushings are fine when they are new from the factory, aged and worn out rubber bushings create a multitude of issues that can range from annoying to dangerous. As a factory bushing ages, it begins to harden and become brittle. When this happens the bushing will actually shrink and allow for movement at the differential mounting point. At this point, the differential is free to shift under load causing a noticeable clunking noise under acceleration and deceleration and massively increasing the stress on the driveshaft and axles. Manual transmissions suffer the worst from this as it can make shifting difficult since the differential will shift when the clutch is engaged and disengaged.

By replacing these bushings with full polyurethane, the movement is eliminated since the mounting point is supported by a much stiffer material that will not harden or shrink over time. This means less stress on the driveshaft and axles and greater longevity of supporting components. 

Powerflex Black Series bushings are the ultimate in track and race bushings. Featuring 95A durometer polyurethane, Black Series bushings are 25% stiffer than street bushings. Engineered to perform, Powerflex performance polyurethane control arm bushings offer a supreme level of control, while still providing enough comfort for the street, with advanced polyurethane that reduces NVH that often accompanies lesser bushings. Expect improved acceleration response, more direct shifting feel and overall improved drivetrain composure with Powerflex performance polyurethane bushings.

Poweflex is a leading manufacturer of aftermarket suspension bushings. Using state of the art design and manufacturing, all replacement bushings are engineered to out-perform and out-last the ones that came in the car. Each line of bushings is meticulously tested and then re-tested to ensure perfect fitment and enduring quality through the life of the vehicle. A full lifetime warranty backs every one of their products and demonstrates the level of confidence and commitment Powerflex has to their customers. 

This part fits the following BMWs:
2001 - 2006 E46 M3

Don't neglect your motor mounts! Most stock BMW motor mounts are fluid filled and the stiffness of the mount depends on this fluid. But over time the fluid leaks out and the strength of the mount is greatly reduced. A worn motor mount allows the engine to twist and shift around. The harder you're driving the more shift will occur. As the engine is moving around it can contact other parts in the engine bay - usually cooling related. The mechanical fan can hit the radiator; the A/C compressor can hit a radiator hose, the exhaust will flex and may break. Twisting of the engine can also lead to shifting problems as the transmission twists with it. There are countless issues related to worn or compressed motor mounts so don't overlook these as a regular replacement item (every 50,000 miles).

OEM Lemförder is an engineering company that focuses on high-quality, precision manufacturing of critical suspension and steering components. Providing exceptionally high quality parts directly to BMW, as well as 50+ other big name automotive companies, such as Mercedes and Audi, their history of reliability and variety of offered parts makes them one of the biggest names for a go-to OEM parts provider. Lemförder parts place an important emphasis on design, production, and assembly, ensuring maximum reliability. They even coat all parts possible with corrosion protection for extended longevity.

As a leading source of high performance BMW parts and accessories since 1993, we at Turner Motorsport are honored to be the go-to supplier for tens of thousands of enthusiasts the world over. With over two decades of parts, service, and racing experience under our belt, we provide only quality performance and replacement parts.  All of our performance parts are those we would (and do!) install and run on our own cars, as well as replacement parts that are Genuine BMW or from OEM manufacturers. We only offer parts we know you can trust to perform!

This item fits the following BMW Chassis:
E46 Non-M
E85 Z4 2.5i/3.0i/3.0si
E89 Z4 3.0si