[Bhozar]

I posted this on another MINI forum, but thought it might be of interest to those on here.

On Wednesday I had the Proflex bushes and mounts fitted to my MINI's engine and gearbox.

This is what Proflex say about them:

We have also improved the engine and gearbox mountings with ingenious void inserts. These again reduce the amount of movement by filling in the voids in the mounts with a softer compound polyurethane. This means that we improve the strength of the mount and reduce it's total movement without any noise or harshness penalty. Reducing the movement of the engine/gearbox helps to improve torque steer (less driveshaft angle change) and will make aftermarket exhausts less prone to failure due to reduced flexing. They are also very easy to fit due to them being an insert.

In theory they should stop me cracking my manifold again too.

It took the mechanics that share the Lohen facility 3 hours to fit the 6 bushes needed; two upper engine mounts, two lower engine mounts and the gearbox mounting bush.

The first thing I noticed when I started up was the amount of vibration in the cabin. It is noticable, unlike what was said by Proflex. There is also vibration in the clutch pedal and steering wheel. You only notice the clutch pedal vibration if you rest your foot on the clutch, which you shouldn't do anyway.

Once the car is moving at 2k rpm or higher most of the vibration disapears. None can be felt in the steering wheel and all that remains is the clutch an the dash. My dash had stopped its rattles when I fitted the GTT upper strut brace. Now they are back, but no worse than before.

What I did notice was how the car feels like its more responsive and pulls better. This would be caused by the engine no longer wasting its energy to twist itself in the engine bay. Gear changes also feel better and 'cleaner'.

I also noticed increased engine growl. The bushes and mounts seem to transfer more engine noise to the cabin, but I really like it.

I have no idea why Proflex say you wont get any additional NVH, when it defies logic. I was expecting some anyway.

Would I recomend them? Yes, if you want a more responsive car, dont mind some vibration at idle and you really want to protect your aftermarket exhaust manifold.

Besides, with the stereo on I dont notice much of it.

After going for a drive I am quite happy with the results. Where erratic throttle useage could give you some stability issues, now it seems a lot smoother. In fact, it seems smoother gear shifts all the time at high RPM. I think maybe my engine twisting was unsetling the car.

[Bhozar]

Update: These have now been on the car for quite some time, and are still trouble free.

Only thing I have noticed these last few days is they tend to create a bit more NVH at idle when the car hasnt warmed up. Its fine at idle once I am a few miles down the road. I suspect this is due to the bushings/mounts being harder in this cold weather.

[NeuroBeaker]

Thanks for the review Bhozar.

All the best,
Andrew.

[BigShow]

Top review and thanks for reviving this thread as I was just going to start a topic about whether these are worth it as my bushes need changing so was going to ask 1320 to change all of them with Proflex.