The brief
The Golf came in for maintenance, and the inspection turned up two related jobs: the engine and gearbox mounts had sagged, which is the vibration through the cabin, and the front shock absorbers were worn, which is the choppy, floaty ride. The owner had both done while it was in. The mounts hold the drivetrain and absorb the shake, and as the rubber ages it sags so the engine moves around and the vibration comes straight through. The front shocks damp the springs, and as they wear the body floats and bounces and the front goes loose over bumps. Both are wear sets, both had reached the point, and they go together better than apart, the car coming back smooth and settled in one job rather than two visits.
The diagnosis
On the lift the engine and gearbox mounts had sunk with cracked rubber, the play obvious under load, and the front struts were past it too, weak damping, weeping, the body carrying on after a push. The rears were still doing their job. When they've gone like that, you do them as sets, the mounts together and the front struts together, so it was the drivetrain mount set plus the front shock pair.
The work
The engine and gearbox were taken onto transmission jacks, the worn mounts removed, and new genuine VW-spec mounts fitted across the set, the drivetrain checked sitting square. Then both front struts were unbolted and removed, and a new genuine VW-spec pair fitted with the top mounts checked, every fastener torqued to the manual figures, and the front geometry checked and set so the new struts weren't fighting a misaligned corner. A road test confirmed the vibration was gone and the ride had settled, no float, no excess sway.
The outcome
Smooth at idle, no vibration through the cabin, a composed ride that settles in one motion, and the front planted again over bumps. The Golf went home with the drivetrain and the front end both sorted. Mounts and shocks wear as sets, so doing them together in one visit reset the lot rather than chasing the next worn one a few months later.