318is E46 rack conversion

[JBentley95]

Hi
Ive been struggling with what exactly is required to do this conversion on my 318is. Ive made the spacers to go on the top of the rack, test fitted it all and played around with the pipes a bit. So all i need to do is bend the pipes and shorten the steering link by 25mm ? Will this solve all of the clearance issues ? Ive noticed people change the engine mounts, does this need to be done ?

Cheers

[Yeti]

speak to danthe on here he will sort you out

[JBentley95]

Already on it. Thanks

[magpie]

do it properly, see Dan

[maggspower]

Sadly the manifold needs to be modified for the rack to fit.

[age]

Sadly the manifold needs to be modified for the rack to fit.

no they dont.. if you got pipes and spacers from dan its a bolt in job, no fuffing around with manifolds.

fittinge28 m5 mounts is a good idea because they are solid, so less engine movement when cornering (risk of steering shaft locking against the manifold) and they also gove a few mill extra clearance, there should be no need to cut 25mm from the link

[jmc330i]

Sadly the manifold needs to be modified for the rack to fit.

no they dont.. if you got pipes and spacers from dan its a bolt in job, no fuffing around with manifolds.

The steering joint won't pass the M42 downpipes if you mount the E46 rack in the correct holes on the subframe. It will clear if you mount it in the front holes that are meant for a manual rack.

[JBentley95]

So if I get the E28 M5 mounts and mount the rack in the front holes I shouldn't need to shorten the steering link ?

thanks for the responses !

[Demlotcrew]

Expect your £50 rack to end up being £500 to fit!

As Mags said, issues with manifolds and many don't like stiffer mounts and end up reversing the conversion.

[DHFiS]

I use the Corsa link and have the rack in the front holes

http://www.e30zone.net/e30zonewiki/inde ... ng_Linkage

No need to change the engine mounts.

[Demlotcrew]

Moving the rack affects scrub radius, can be good for high power fast bend tracks but not so good for fast road cars.

[JBentley95]

I use the Corsa link and have the rack in the front holes

http://www.e30zone.net/e30zonewiki/inde ... ng_Linkage

No need to change the engine mounts.

Is that on a 318is with E46 rack mate ?

[JBentley95]

Moving the rack affects scrub radius, can be good for high power fast bend tracks but not so good for fast road cars.

How exactly does it affect the scrub radius, does it make it more negative ? Im using this car for fast road use and summer daily drive. My intentions were simply just to have a quicker rack with less lock to lock.

Cheers

[DHFiS]

I use the Corsa link and have the rack in the front holes

http://www.e30zone.net/e30zonewiki/inde ... ng_Linkage

No need to change the engine mounts.

Is that on a 318is with E46 rack mate ?

No, it is an E36 rack

[jmc330i]

^^^ same fitment though iirc

[JBentley95]

Right so Ive got custom pipes and e28 m5 mounts on the way so ill see how I get on. If not ill do the guibo delete and if that doesn't work ill try the corsa link.
Is anybody here using e28 m5 mounts , what notable difference do they make ?

Cheers

[ajay]

Here's an idea that will work, get your manifold modified to suit!
A neighbour recently had the purple tag rack professionally fitted and encountered vibrations that he was not happy with, he has since paid to have it reversed back to standard, what a shame and waste of money. Done properly its a good conversion, saving pennys Is not clever and usually produces poor results.

[Brianmoooore]

It's not difficult to move the steering shaft a little where it comes through the bulkhead.

[JBentley95]

So I've got the rack in, used the e28 m5 mounts and put it in the front mounting holes. There's plenty of clearance with the manifold so no need to shorten the steering link.

[rix313]

Yeah the Corsa linkage doesn't do much for you sadly in terms of creating clearance. It fixes a problem thats not there. It's the angle the pinion comes out at which is the faf. Mounting it on the forward holes isn't ideal but in the grand scheme you will not notice the difference. I have it mounted on the forward holes on my race car and it's fine. I'm not sure of his user name on here but my mate Josh modified the manifold by replacing one of the bends with a tighter section, thus giving clearance for the rack to be mounted on the rear holes.

In terms of pipework I have Dans pipes but the high pressure to (or from) pump pipe needs manipulating. On my kit at least the orientation of the banjo was ever so slightly out so it was a ball ache to get started.

I also fitted stiffer mounts but it turned out the engine sat slightly lower. Regardless it still works fine.

[jmc330i]

Yeah the Corsa linkage doesn't do much for you sadly in terms of creating clearance. It fixes a problem thats not there. It's the angle the pinion comes out at which is the faf.

The Corsa linkage is just another/cheaper way of shortening the linkage when needed - with the rack mounted in the rear holes and a proper 6 cyl engine
The other advantage is its another way to loose the rubber steering guibo, which does create some clearance as the Corsa joint is obviously narrower than the guibo - and the guibo on mine looked fine but was obviously shagged as the steering was much more precise with the Corsa joint fitted!

[rix313]

The Corsa linkage is just another/cheaper way of shortening the linkage when needed - with the rack mounted in the rear holes and a proper 6 cyl engine
The other advantage is its another way to loose the rubber steering guibo, which does create some clearance as the Corsa joint is obviously narrower than the guibo - and the guibo on mine looked fine but was obviously shagged as the steering was much more precise with the Corsa joint fitted!

I was talking in terms of clearance for this application. Of course for other engines it does prove useful and does as you say eliminate the rubber linkage.

[DanThe]

If you have trouble lining up the banjo bolts then simply slacken the pump mountings so you can move it to a position that allows the bolt to start easily

[JBentley95]

I had trouble with the banjo bolt going to the power steering pump. This was because of the E28 M5 engine mounts though. I had to bend the pipe slightly. Not by much, just about managed to do it by hand so wasn't an issue.

Cheers