99 SL engine mounts

[Carlos Serrano]

Has anybody change the mounts in a 99 and up R129 SL 500, I'm contemplating replacing the ones in mine and I'll appreciate any hints or positive feedback about how easy it is for a do it yourself and what should I look for before I put a wrench to it. Any help will be appreciated. Thanks

[tecqboy]

Bad mounts on a 99? What makes you feel they are bad? Those mounts should be good for at least 10 years, if not longer. Are they cracked or do they look collasped?

[Carlos Serrano]

My SL500 is about to turn 58,000 mi. on the clock, one of the tell tale signs of bad motor mounts is the engine leaning too much when you put it in gear, I did this with the hood open so I could see it and it does indeed leap towards the passenger side about 1", also this liquid-filled motor mounts deteriorate just by the weight of the engine alone, another reason for changing the mounts is exesive movement of the engine while in park or neutral, mine is shaking and it only smooths down when put in gear with the brake on putting the torque of the engine on the passenger side mount and according to the dealer the engine mounts are suppose to be replace at 60,000 mi. I've already order replacements from Phil at fastlane wich save me about $200.00 USD compare to the dealer that is, the dealer wants $189.00 USD a piece and Fastlane sells them for $98.00 USD, so I'm going ahead with it, I just will like to know if there is anything I should be aware of before I crawl under the car.

[Carlos Serrano]

The work is done and fairly easy to do, the old mounts were gone ,cracked all the way around, crushed and empty of fluid,I thought it was an oil leak from the engine but it was from the mounts, I can almost pry the center completly out from the rest of the mount on the driver side, the transmission mount look good so did the flex discs, it surprise me but I'm not complaining, now the engine looks and feels like is floating smoothly on the new mounts, the only thing that has to be remove is the MAF sensor and the bottom elbow before the engine is raised and also the fan shroud and that peski hard vacuum line behind the driver side headlight, it will come out by itself and it will make for rough idle. 2 HRS first time.

[tecqboy]

Thanks for the update. It's nice to know that the job isn't as hard as some have suggested. I'm still amazed that those mounts have such a short life span.