Engine and DSG mount replacement at 83K - noise and harshness begone!

[petemac110]

So, over the past 3.5 years of MY18 Passat 206TSI ownership the front end has become progressively worse, with a bit of perceived NVH increase and also an occasional knock and feeling of looseness. I mentioned it in this thread:

Passat B8 (MQB chassis) front suspension noise - disappears when wet! (vwwatercooled.com.au)

I had pegged this as being the front lower control arms, or maybe even the strut mounts/bearings.

However, I started to think it might be a worn DSG mount.

A bunch of research later, and I grabbed OEM Chinese market replacements from Aliexpress. Now, I can almost hear the shudders from here, but I've had a really good track record of buying OEM replacement Passat goodies from Aliexpress given that VW have a manufacturing operation in China and produce a heck of a lot of cars.

All up it was a 2.5 hour job, although whilst the battery tray was removed I took the opportunity to do a DSG fluid change and put some nice fresh SWAG/Febi fluid in there, along with... yes... an OEM VWAG DSG filter from Aliexpress

I won't go into the specifics of the work, other than to say I had the front of the car up on low ramps for clearance to my floor jack, and used said jack with a chunk of softwood to help support the sump and gearbox as I changed the mounts.

The video shows the amount of noise and movement in the gearbox mount vs the replacement item!

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/CdOroTkgOyY

EDIT: sorry for the non-rotated images. Grrrrr!

[kamold]

Nice work!
I've replaced mounts but at much higher kms. They don't appear to be the most robust design in terms of longevity.
Luckily easy enough to replace once they get a bit sloppy.