On a scale of 1 to OMG! how screwed am I right now? The stripped/crossthreaded bolt is the hole for the longest screw that holds the engine mount arm to the engine block right below the rear turbo. It took me a good 10-15 mins using a pry bar with an extension to be able to back the bolt out of the hole!!!
As far as I know, this was never taken off since the car was built as I've had the car from new and this is the first time I've ever removed the turbo's or removed enough of the engine's parts to necessitate removing the passenger side engine mount. I find it hard to believe it would have been crossthreaded/stripped from the factory but mistakes can happen and thus wouldn't rule it out completely. My car has also been in and out of the BMW service center for various reasons and warranty work over it's life but none of the work they have ever done on my car would have required them to remove the engine mount and unlikely it has ever been removed by them.
I'm not sure how best to proceed here. Obviously, I can't screw the bolt back in when I put the car back together but now I'm worried that can 3 of the 4 bolts be enough to hold the engine? I am in no position to buy a new engine block nor do I care to do so.
Can I make do with only 3 of the bolts?? Stupid car!
