W126 motor mount life?
 

What sort of life is to be expected from these on a high use car/daily driver?

Reason being, the ones on my 300SEL are pretty flat and are around five years old only.

Thanks

I'd say 5 years isn't bad with heavy use. Even replacement "OEM" parts can be of questionable quality over time, especially rubber pieces. The original motor mounts probably did 10 years easy before showing any signs of wear. I think most people don't notice their engine mounts once they are fully blown, let alone just "flat".

further qualify
 

I'd be curious to hear what brand of rubber they were? I'd also expect different answers if they were something like Meyle, rather than OE.

5 years of heavy driving out of a motor mount is not bad life at all. Considering they are cheap and easy to replace, not a bad deal.

All I have is the invoice from the PO, the price was $31/ea so I would imagine the cheapest ones the shop could install.

depends on markup
 

Maybe not the cheapest, unless he doubled his parts prices. Looking back at some posts from 2005, there was this exchange:
I see someone on ebay currently selling OE mounts for $65 per, better than the $90 I saw someone else quoting as dealer price back in 2009! Perhaps yours were Corteco brand (back when they were better), but if indeed aftermarket, I'd prolly be happy with a 5-year run :D

The w123 motor mounts seem to last about three years; would be the same is for the w126.

The URO mounts that I put in my 300E were $40 each, and have been in there for 2 years so far.

motor mounts
 

I have replace motor mounts in my 89 300 se many times over the years and you can purchase uro mounts for around 14 bucks but cheap mounts never last long,i was replacing the right side mount every 6 months do to going flat,i finally stepped up to the plate and bought genuine mercedes mounts for a much higher price but they have been in for 2 years now and still good,old saying goes (you get what you pay for).

I hope these last a little longer then that. They were a huge pain in the rear to change.

https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/_8...313_121653.jpg

I wonder if mine are still the originals....if not they are at least ten years old.


Any particular symptoms of a bad set?

Motor sitting lower in the engine bay, shaking around more (which wears out the flex pipe in the exhaust).

-J

As far as I know URO is Chinese manufacturer that makes inferior quality products. Try Loemforder engine mounts, or buy replacement engine mounts from a MB dealer. That's a job you want to avoid doing every few years.

The original engine mounts in our 1995 E320 lasted 15 years and 170,000 miles.