What did you do for your ZHP/ BMW / MINI today? #2

[Chaplian]

Well I am the OG owner and nothing should have been done to engine mounts before, to the best of my memory. Strange to happen after 16 years.


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Wonder if the engine mounts failed quite a while ago and caused them to fail from fatigue?

Doesn’t really look like it from the side profile, but I’m on a phone. Can you post a pic of the cross sections of the broken bolts?


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[johnrando]

Crazy, re engine mounts. Charlie, looks great. Welcome back Rus.

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[dpark]

Wonder if the engine mounts failed quite a while ago and caused them to fail from fatigue?

Doesn’t really look like it from the side profile, but I’m on a phone. Can you post a pic of the cross sections of the broken bolts?


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Here are photos of two of the three broken bolts. The second photo is the top of the threaded part of the bolt where it meets the head. The head of the bolt was not found. The third broken bolt looks the same as the first photo.






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[t.er]

That is awesome.

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Damn! This is some nerdy things and I like it!

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Thanks Rus and JR! I got a chance to test the bearings out with some scrap plate, they are indeed very slippery - the bearings are rated to 225 kg each and there are 9 at each corner, so I have no concerns about tire bind when doing toe alignments. I didn't have a chance to fab the actual grease plates before the break, so I'll do that early next year.

Here are photos of two of the three broken bolts. The second photo is the top of the threaded part of the bolt where it meets the head. The head of the bolt was not found. The third broken bolt looks the same as the first photo.

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Hmmmm a bit hard for me to tell but the bolt on the left in the first pic could potentially be due to fatigue fracture? Perhaps one of them let go, which would induce extra bending moment on the mount on the other side. Just a hypothesis.

Either way, engine mounts going bad at our cars' age and mileage is not unusual, especially the one on the RH side by the exhaust manifold. When I did them on my car, that side was noticeably worse than the other.

Lol.

Strange how the bolts sheered. I wonder if they were loose to begin with.


As for what I did today: replaced my front control arms. I thought they needed to be changed based on some odd behavior I was feeling with ride. Turns out the original control arms were fine. The ball joints were fine. I need to really diagnose better before I start ordering parts. At least I have new FCA and FCAB now. Lemforder.

Huh, what are your symptoms?

[cakM3]

Here are photos of two of the three broken bolts. The second photo is the top of the threaded part of the bolt where it meets the head. The head of the bolt was not found. The third broken bolt looks the same as the first photo.

That's an eye opener!! What a bummer....

[Will]

...
As for what I did today: replaced my front control arms. I thought they needed to be changed based on some odd behavior I was feeling with ride. Turns out the original control arms were fine. The ball joints were fine. I need to really diagnose better before I start ordering parts. At least I have new FCA and FCAB now. Lemforder.

...

Huh, what are your symptoms?

I correct my earlier statement, the front end feels noticeably smoother and "tighter."

I thought nothing was wrong with the original FCA because the boots were intact and the ball joints seemed to move smoothly without noticeable slop. And nothing seemed noticeably different in the drive around the block. Quite disappointed, I posted my initial impressions.


I took the car for an extended drive last night, including highway, and the front end feels much more smooth. This was especially noticeable when driving over on expansion joints, cracks, and other broken pavement. I guess the wear and tear on the ball joint wasn't very pronounced, but quite real. Now I'm wondering if I should just order some new rear control arm outer ball joints just to match.

[t.er]

I correct my earlier statement, the front end feels noticeably smoother and "tighter."

I thought nothing was wrong with the original FCA because the boots were intact and the ball joints seemed to move smoothly without noticeable slop. And nothing seemed noticeably different in the drive around the block. Quite disappointed, I posted my initial impressions.


I took the car for an extended drive last night, including highway, and the front end feels much more smooth. This was especially noticeable when driving over on expansion joints, cracks, and other broken pavement. I guess the wear and tear on the ball joint wasn't very pronounced, but quite real. Now I'm wondering if I should just order some new rear control arm outer ball joints just to match.

Good to hear the car feels better - yeah converting that rear outer bushing to a ball joint is on my to-do list but has been there for like 3-4 years. Just haven't had a need to do so

[cakM3]

Took my ZHP out for a quick ride today just to see if I made a mistake doing the arm rest delete on her recently... after I pulled back into my driveway I decided I did the right thing deleting my worn arm rest. I like the car much better this way. I will soon sort the remaining pieces to completely freshen up the center console


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[ZHPizza]

Only downside to the armrest delete that I've noticed is that passengers don't have anywhere to put their arm so they just kind of awkwardly hang it in their lap.

Those nerds can pound sand though. Armrest delete is awesome for driving.

[cakM3]

Those nerds can pound sand though. Armrest delete is awesome for driving.

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