Mystery Part Fell Out Of My Engine(?)

[marmalade]

Hey there, I was driving along, and suddenly I heard a clunking and then the sound of something dragging. It turned out to be the piece in the following pictures. I have no idea what it is. It looks like it might have something to do with the steering maybe? Either way I'm terrified to drive anymore until I know what the heck it is. Please help.

Vehicle: 1989 BMW 325i

[kronus]

it bolts to your oil pan to prevent the motor from sliding into the radiator on hard braking if your mounts are bad.

part #14 here - http://www.realoem.com/bmw/enUS/show...diagId=11_0073

not having it is not tragic, but you should probably not have parts fall off your car, so it's worth understanding why something just came unbolted off your oil pan.

[r-mm]

If im not mistaken it bolts to the lower bellhousing cover not oilpan. I found with the moto installed i could only access the rearmost bolt without either dropping sway bar or lifting motor a tad.