How to keep the oil pan out of harms way.

[E30_fiend]

Ok, thanks alot for the info. I dont want the skid plate because I want to drive like a douche, I have an ETA for god sake haha. I just want it to stop scraping my oil pan every once in a while, and some reasurrance.

And as far as the motor mounts go, how often is a regular change of motor mount bushings? The car does only have 111k, but to my knowledge they have never been replaced. Also any suggested motor mounts?

I'm not exactly sure of the service interval for motor mounts. Its more of a "if they're bad, replace them". As far as replacement options, stock is always best but you could replace with AKG, Condor Speedshop or the like.


Taylor

[E30_fiend]

Swap to an E28 M20B27 steel pan? I have a B25 in my E28 with the old steel pan on it no problem. I don't know how it would fit on an E30 but I've taken some pretty good hits to mine and it's holding up perfectly.

The pan won't fit in the e30.

[bigredguy]

ive heard the steel doesnt have as good of cooling qualities as the aluminum pan. And I wasnt sure if it was the e28 or e34 which had the steel pan. When I saw a suggestion thread about it it was shot down by almost everyone

[ak-]

If you have 2 fingers gap from pan to floor and claim a little wheel gap, you either have really bad motor mounts or ridiculously small tires.

[bigredguy]

I'm not exactly sure of the service interval for motor mounts. Its more of a "if they're bad, replace them". As far as replacement options, stock is always best but you could replace with AKG, Condor Speedshop or the like.


Taylor

I will check my mounts today. I was told I had a small coolant leak a while back but never saw any spots under my car or low coolant so I didnt pay much attention to it, but people did say that if your mounts are bad then the fan can cut the hoses. I also read that your shifter will move back and forth if your mounts are bad and mine has done that since I got the car.

I found the stock mounts on tunershop for 15 bucks or something like that for the stock replacements. How many are there for the m20 motor?

[bigredguy]

If you have 2 fingers gap from pan to floor and claim a little wheel gap, you either have really bad motor mounts or ridiculously small tires.

The tires are around 1 inch in diameter smaller in the front. Which means it would lower the car 1/2 inch in the front more than normal, so about a whole finger. Making it 3-4 finger gap on properly sized tires.

[ak-]

I'm talking about your pan clearance. I just looked at your Instagram and with that much front wheel gap I'm almost positive your mounts are bad if you say you have 2 finger pan to ground clearance.

[bigredguy]

I'm talking about your pan clearance. I just looked at your Instagram and with that much front wheel gap I'm almost positive your mounts are bad if you say you have 2 finger pan to ground clearance.

I just ran out and checked my mounts. There is absolutely no cracking, they look relatively new, but I am not 100 percent sure what a bad motor mount would look like. The sides of the rubber are not straight , they are bowed out and slightly rounded. Is that a sign that they need replacing?

[mr.vang]

If your car is that low, a skid plate would not solve your problem.

[SmokeE30]

Hey man I remember how low your front end is and yea a skid plate will protect the pan and only sacrifice 3/4 in or so of clearance depending on how far you space it down as you use washers stacked to set the distance from the pan. I love my skid plate but I also raised my car up because my car with skid plate at first was just too low to be practical around here.

Another option is a custom oil pan. If your interested in that route Bimmerbuddies could modify a stock one for you.

[bigredguy]

If your car is that low, a skid plate would not solve your problem.

How so? I do not hit my oil pan at high speeds or drive like a dick, its just because the small bump on the bottom where the drain plug goes in is worn down and once in a while I hit the drain plug, and because the bump where a washer would seal up against the pan is worn down this causes me to have to replace the drain plug, and it ends up being 2 or 3 times per oil change. I just want the reassurance that I wont have to keep replacing drain plugs or the odd chance that I hit it anywhere else.

Hey man I remember how low your front end is and yea a skid plate will protect the pan and only sacrifice 3/4 in or so of clearance depending on how far you space it down as you use washers stacked to set the distance from the pan. I love my skid plate but I also raised my car up because my car with skid plate at first was just too low to be practical around here.

Another option is a custom oil pan. If your interested in that route Bimmerbuddies could modify a stock one for you.

Modifying a stock one would probably be out of my price range, and I am looking into not having to swap pans. I am definitely looking further into the sump armor pans because they appear to be close to the pan.

[E30_fiend]

I just ran out and checked my mounts. There is absolutely no cracking, they look relatively new, but I am not 100 percent sure what a bad motor mount would look like. The sides of the rubber are not straight , they are bowed out and slightly rounded. Is that a sign that they need replacing?

Like I said previously, they may LOOK fine but you will need to do a manual check not just visual. Put a block of wood on a jack and jack the motor up from the pan. After you've gotten a few pumps out of the jack to lift the motor, THEN check the mounts. My guess is your motor will lift away from the subframe either with the mount attached or the top piece of the mount connected to the motor mount arm.

Even with 15s and rubberband tires, I have seen e30s with more than the distance from pan to ground than you're claiming.

Take a good look at the mounts and report back with your findings. This thread will help other people as well.


Taylor

[bigredguy]

Like I said previously, they may LOOK fine but you will need to do a manual check not just visual. Put a block of wood on a jack and jack the motor up from the pan. After you've gotten a few pumps out of the jack to lift the motor, THEN check the mounts. My guess is your motor will lift away from the subframe either with the mount attached or the top piece of the mount connected to the motor mount arm.

Even with 15s and rubberband tires, I have seen e30s with more than the distance from pan to ground than you're claiming.

Take a good look at the mounts and report back with your findings. This thread will help other people as well.


Taylor

I will try and get that done sometime this week. Its usually atleast a 2 man job to just jack the car off the ground even with a low pro jack. I will report back tomorrow and try and get pictures of both the motor mounts and the clearance of the oil pan. Is there a mount at the rear of the engine, or is it just the 2 on the side?

[SmokeE30]

I will try and get that done sometime this week. Its usually atleast a 2 man job to just jack the car off the ground even with a low pro jack. I will report back tomorrow and try and get pictures of both the motor mounts and the clearance of the oil pan. Is there a mount at the rear of the engine, or is it just the 2 on the side?

Just the two side arms, the rear is supports by the tranny but checking the tranny mounts is probably a good idea anyway as they are probably the same age.

[dnguyen1963]

By running the car that low (two fingers off the ground from the pan), new engine mount and skid plate is going to help, but not that much. You are fighting the laws of physics.