E30 Zone

jacked the front end up and have play in both front wheels side to side but not top to bottom if you get me?..... top to bottom is wheel bearings i know but its only when holding wheel left and right there is play, even when stearing wheel is held still. is this track rods or iner track arms? or as a mate said, lower arm rear bushes??

Could be the universal joint in your steering rack.

rite okay, is there an obvious way of checkin that to determine for sure?

thanx

if it is minimal, the odds are that it is the very minor amount of play you get from the steering lock at the steering wheel end. If you pull the keys out the ignition so the lock is activated, I bet you can move the wheel ever so slightly.

When you are jiggling one of the front wheels and can feel the movement and slight clunking, see if you can notice the corresponding movement with the steering wheel.

Was the car misbehaving in the first place and therefore caused you to be investigating this, or was it just something you decided to do whilst having the car jacked up for other work?

steering felt a little umm, skitish if you know wot i mean.. steering feels a little vague compared to the last 2 ive had, decided to jack it up and hav a look cos track rod are like £12 or something cheep like that. my mate held the wheel firm and the front wheels had slight play from side to side.... some1 said to me that lower arm trailing bushes are common but this would affect suspension rather than steering.... she doesnt feel to bad really and the play is slight but there......

Trackrod ends failing are a comon fault on any car and could course this.
It depends on how bad the play is. if you jack the car up and get someone to waggle the wheel and have a good look you will find out whats failed if anything.

either track rod end or wheel bearing

Could just be the rubber joint in the steering shaft close to the exhaust manifold.These are known to fail,giving vague feeling steering.