And the work continues. The new mount finally came in the mail on Wednesday and Thursday I set about trying to get it installed. I figured I'd just be very careful to make sure it wasn't going in sideways at all, and just finesse it. Try as I might however this thing simply would not go in straight. And if you did try to force it, which I had previously, you could see it ripping into two. So ended my work on Thursday with result, and headed over to O'Reilly to rent some tools for Friday.
I'd actually posted on the E89 Facebook group to see if anyone had advice to share, but it was all answers from people who obviously hadn't done the Z4 diff bushing before. Yes, I'm aware you use a threaded rod to clamp it in. No, you can't just turn harder until it's forced in. I actually ended up taking some measurements, because this thing is definitely bigger than the E46 diff bushing, which should be the same diameter. E46 is pictured below at 68mm
And the E89 bushing measuring 72mm
Anyways, I ended up with a couple O'Reilly rental tools tools that helped me piece together this little ditty.
Which was just effective enough to get the bushing in place without splitting
And with that out of the way everything went back together in a few hours. And guess what... it's basically fixed! The clunking is been reduced by about 75%, which makes me SO HAPPY. There's the odd vague clunk every one in a while when shifting into 1st from a start, but that harsh engagement is completely gone. Not sure if it was the mount or getting the diff reassembled, but either way I'm stoked!
Next update, new exhaust moves are being made. Stay tuned!