MB OEM Engine Mounts now $200 EACH?

[Beagle]

I have just learned that MB has increased the price of engine mounts yet again by 40% in March and are now nearly $200 EACH!

Would someone here be kind enough to call their local MB agent and get a quote on 123 241 3013 to see if this is generally the case? Thanks

[Brian Carlton]

MSRP: $134.

You can get it online for $107.20. PM to me for the site.

[jesseo]

I just saw a pair for $71.95 on ebay. Brand new!!! that is $35.98 ea. Not bad. I bought an extra set last time I replaced because I knew I would need them. I do the same with filters. Not like we get to go to NAPA and pull from the shelf too often.

[Brian Carlton]

Originally Posted by jesseo

I just saw a pair for $71.95 on ebay. Brand new!!! that is $35.98 ea. Not bad. I bought an extra set last time I replaced because I knew I would need them. I do the same with filters. Not like we get to go to NAPA and pull from the shelf too often.

.........not OE.

[Diesel911]

Originally Posted by Beagle

I have just learned that MB has increased the price of engine mounts yet again by 40% in March and are now nearly $200 EACH!

Would someone here be kind enough to call their local MB agent and get a quote on 123 241 3013 to see if this is generally the case? Thanks

123 241 3013 is the Mercedes Part Number for 300D W123 Engine/Motor Mounts
OE = Phoenix = Lemfoerder

Phoenix Makes them for Mercedes and they are Made in Turkey. Lemfoerder buys them and sand off the Mercedes Star. Lemfoerders sell in the $20-$30 range and closer to $20 if you are willing to sit at the computer and search the various Sellers. Also using the Mercedes Part Number is helpful.
Pics in the below thread.
Fight Back
http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/diesel-discussion/294339-fight-back%3B-post-list-where-parts-you-bought-were-made.html

Using 300D Motor Mounts on a 240D (w123 chassis)
Comment from Post #1 between the pictures:
“So after verifying that 300D mounts can be used on 240D cars, I ordered Lemforder mounts from Phil for $26 instead of $134 for OE. I just got them today. Found that they were made in Turkey.”
Lemforder Engine Mounts

[martureo]

Just called my dealer.

$181.00 Customer price
$108.00 My price

Still pretty freakin' expensive.

[Beagle]

Originally Posted by Brian Carlton

MSRP: $134.

You can get it online for $107.20. PM to me for the site.

Thanks Brian
I am not looking to buy mounts at the moment but rather checking whether my information was correct but $134 is still highway robbery!

This is really quite a long story if you will bear with me. In the middle of last year I changed mounts for a friend with a 300D. The choice was OEM from MB, Meyle $18 or Lemförder $22. Price ruled out OEM for him so I recommended Lemförder. When we got the mounts I felt sure they were a softer compound than the OEM’s from MB I fitted to my car a year earlier and standing on them and pushing my nail into them seemed to confirm this.

I decided that before I fitted them I would carry out some tests. I borrowed 2 Meyle’s from the import agent and 4 OEM’s from MB (they have to trust me, I do all their F/I work for them!). I have a very accurate hydraulic press in my machine shop and compressed them all to 130kg for comparison.

What I found confirmed my suspicions – Neither Meyle nor Lemförder use a compound anywhere near MB’s tight specs for their after-market products. And perhaps not surprising at the price they sell them for.

There was little to chose between Meyle and Lemförder but the OEM’s compressed consistently 9mm less than the others.

I went ahead and fitted the Lemförders and now 9 months later they have settled and are bulging excessively although they are still intact. He was having problems with engine vibrations, rough idling and engine shaking. I fitted a very simple modification to the engine shocks that eliminate engine rock altogether and that has dramatically improved his problems as it did with several other cars that I have fitted it to.

Perhaps I will discuss that in detail in another thread sometime if there is any interest.

THanks for the responses

[mccauleybil]

I would be quite interested to learn how you modified the shocks, or purchase the parts from you to modify my shocks. (1982 300SD)

[DeliveryValve]

Originally Posted by Beagle

....

What I found confirmed my suspicions – Neither Meyle nor Lemförder use a compound anywhere near MB’s tight specs for their after-market products. And perhaps not surprising at the price they sell them for.

Lemförder has been known to have parts that were reboxed. I'm curious if the Lemförder mounts you installed look like this.




.

[charmalu]

Yes, I would be interested in your eng shock modification.

Mach4 in his 380SL/OM617 eng swap, he filled the enging mounts with a uretaine compound.

380SL Diesel Conversion Project

Charlie

[whunter]

Originally Posted by Beagle

I have just learned that MB has increased the price of engine mounts yet again by 40% in March and are now nearly $200 EACH!

Would someone here be kind enough to call their local MB agent and get a quote on 123 241 3013 to see if this is generally the case? Thanks

"Phil" has the OEM PHOENIX mounts, cheaper than any price listed in this thread.
$39.00 each
Give him a call.

.

[andrewjtx]

I guess the question would be on the "ground off MB star" units, if that is because they may have bought molds from MB, but the compounds truly are different...?

Either way, if the OP's friend is having problems with engine rocking, might try fixing that first. A smooth engine will probably last a while even on cheaper mounts.

[Diesel911]

This Motor Mount quality issue has showed up on the other forum I hang out at also. I knew that I had bought cheapie Mounts for my Car in the Fist year that I owned it. I thought that I bought Anchor Mounts; but to day I pulled my internet order records.

I first bought my 84 300D I struggled both to keep the cost down and to keep the Car on the Road.
My copy of the 10/21/2007 order shows that I bought 2 URO Motor Mounts ($6.70 each )and 1 URO Transmission mount ($7.47).

All are on the Car right now and still in good shape. Although I bought some Lemfoerder Mounts last year; mainly because the prices have been going up.
(I also have a set of Lemfoerder Lower Ball Joints even though the ones on my Car are OK so far (and they are a pain to change).)

What is not being said about Motor Mounts is that if your Engine and Fuel System are out of spec and causing a lot of shaking your Motor Mounts are not going to last as long.
Even worse if Fuel or Oil are saturating them.

A little after the time I installed the new Motor Mounts I also rebuilt the Injectors and not long before that I had adjusted the Valves. That took away about 85% of my hot idle shaking issues.
The Motor and Transmission Mounts + a new Rack Damper Pin +a small Air leakd fix took car of the abnormal shaking.
This could explain why the UROs have held up on my Car.

[Diesel911]

Originally Posted by andrewjtx

I guess the question would be on the "ground off MB star" units, if that is because they may have bought molds from MB, but the compounds truly are different...?

Either way, if the OP's friend is having problems with engine rocking, might try fixing that first. A smooth engine will probably last a while even on cheaper mounts.

The ones from the Dealer look exactly the same except they have the Star intact; have the Phoenix Logo on them and are also made in Turkey.

[Beagle]

Originally Posted by DeliveryValve

Lemförder has been known to have parts that were reboxed. I'm curious if the Lemförder mounts you installed look like this.




.

Yes they did have the MB logo ground off and I have also seen them sold through the after-market with the MB Logo still on! Remember 3 separate companies are involved in the manufacture of that mounting. A Metal Pressing company for the base, Aluminum Die Casting company for the wedge and an Injection Molding company for the final Op. They could even be in 3 different countries either owned by or sub-contracting to Lemförder.

Most of MB OEM’s supply the after-market when they have completed their quotas for the month. They would never survive without it and a growing number don’t even with it. The bottom line is when you buy a Lemförder mount it could have been made anywhere in the world Czechoslovakia, Hungary, South Africa, Brazil. Don’t believe what you see on the box.

The important question is, are ANY of the Mountings in the after-market made by either the OEM’s or other manufacturer’s made to conform with MB’s specs. The answer is unequivocally NO! If they can find a cheaper component for the after-market version they will and in this case it will be the rubber compound, most probably re-cycled rubber with no Quality Control.