2001 E320 wagon, I'm nearly there but stuck - hoping someone smarter than me is reading today!

I got the passenger side mount out, and the new one lined up (finger tight, top bolt only).

Got the driver side free, but can't figure out how to get the bloody thing past the AC compressor and out. It looks like I need to pull the compressor - but I hope I'm wrong. Is there another way out?

Any clues/suggestions?

I've never done this job but the documentation for a 99 E430 says you need to unbolt the AC compressor, the hoses can be left attached. When reattaching the AC compressor the torque is 20NM. You'll also need to remove the serpentine belt.

Good luck,

Peter

Thanks for the input. That is the path that I took - other than having to run to NAPA to pick up the external Torx driver for the compressor, it really wasn't that big a deal. Well, except for needing to be one hell of a contortionist to get at the top side engine mount bolts.

Passenger side wasn't too bad once I'd pulled the air filter box. The driver's side, even once the compressor was out, was a bear.

Out of curiousity - anybody know what the engine mounts are filled with? Managed to get the driver's side mount upside down trying to snake it out and dumped a bit of the nastiest smelling dark coffee colored liquid out. Not gear oil nasty, something I've never smelled before.

And, yes, at 120k miles the 3 year old mounts were shot. Collapsed ~ 1/2 inch and obviously no longer completely sealed..... best of all, the "rough idle" in reverse is now history!

I belive the fluid is glycol based - similar to antifreeze. It should be water soluble.

Duke

FYI -- My books say to perform a sensor gear adaptation when you change out the motor mounts on a '98 & up M112/113 engines (V6 & V8 engines). Here is the info below:

"Some vehicles have an adaptation procedure to enhance the sensitization and reduce false misfire reporting.

Sensor gear (flywheel) adaptation may be required on ME-SFI 1.0, 2.0, 2.1, and 2.8. Sensor gear adaptation started approximately in 1998 with the ML 112/113 engines. Later ME 2.8 and SIM4 may also use this function. The adaptation re-configures the ME controller for increased sensitivity for misfire detection.

Drive train influences on misfire detection are:

*Crankshaft flex
*Motor mount movement
*Torque convertor lock-up function
*Automatic transmission shift characteristics
*driveshaft and differential vibration

Misfire detection using the crankshaft position sensor requires sensor gear adaptation whenever the following componants are replaced:

*Flywheel or starting ring gear
*Crank sensor (L/5)
*ECU
*Motor mounts

In some cases, sensor gear adaptation must be performed after a misfire code.

The engine is constantly monitered for misfire to protect the catalytic convertor. The engine is analyzed by evaluating the crankshaft position sensor using a sophisticated mathematical method to determine whether precise time synchronism exists between individual combustions. Each individual combustion must prodice a characteristic acceleration at the flywheel. If misfire occurs, flywheel rotation slows slightly. These parameters are the amount of correction the ECU is making to filter out vibration and prevent setting false misfire codes. The ECU sets irregular engine running analysis or misfire detection to a less sensitive setting when driving on a poor road surface. The body acceleration sensor, or electronic vibration module, detects a rough road and sends this information to the ECU. The misfire sensitivity level can also be altered as a functional test. A lower threshold enables the ECU to detect less severe misfires indicated by reading the RPM decrease and misfire fault counter for each cylinder.

The crankshaft sensor gear adaptation mean value reflects the addition of a supplementary correction factor designed to compensate for phase error in the crankshaft sensor. This information is used to compute actual ignition timing. Each segment represents the duration between each new ignition cycle. Ignition, injection and engine speed derived from segment duration are recalculated for each segment."

Hope this helps.

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