E30 Zone

Hi all,

I've recently bought a 1988 318i Auto. The only other classics i've owned are very heavy 2Tonnes + and i'm not sure if the steering feel im getting with the E30 is normal.

Whenever i drive fast over any road apart from perfectly paved roads i feel a unnervingly high amount of pulling with each small bump. I'm not sure if this is the positive steering feedback people talk about or something is wrong.

I'm used to very stable?? cars kind of point and squirt.

Whereas i feel almost floaty with the E30. But there's no steering play. It's just an odd feeling like i'm gonna get thrown off the road.

Hope someone can confirm. I'm having a mechanic check out the car next week if not.

IF* the suspension is in good order, check out the front wheel tracking. Toe out on the front wheels will make the car behave as you say.

*A very big "if" with any newly acquired E30. Because of the inherent high quality of the design and components, things can deteriorate considerably before obvious problems arise.

Thanks, i'll get my friend to help me measure toe. i've seen him use a string to do it.

Also could bushings effect this?? I believe they are stock, car has 150ks but i assume age is a bigger aspect here....

A lot of e30 bushings are shot now. I would be doing all of them with OEM quality, and use m3 eccentric lower arm bushes while I was at it.

Also worth checking the steering guibo on the steering column in the engine bay

Well my ones been refreshed all round every bush, new arms, rods, eccentric lollipops, proper laser tracking, and it feels more planted than any car ive owned, 140+ on the autobahn with no issues,

everything's gonna be shagged on these cars by now,

Mine has a lot of play in the steering, you can move the steering wheel from side to side
without turning front wheels. Must be some wear somewhere?

M3KUK wrote: Must be some wear somewhere?

ross_jsy wrote:Also worth checking the steering guibo on the steering column in the engine bay

Repair kit available from BMW.

Luarana wrote:Thanks, i'll get my friend to help me measure toe. i've seen him use a string to do it.

Also could bushings effect this?? I believe they are stock, car has 150ks but i assume age is a bigger aspect here....

String....yeh....right....that should sort it.
Who the f*ck needs lasers....that's old school. Right.

There's nothing wrong with string if you know what you're doing. I've seen racing teams checking the tracking like this in the pits at races.

I love string......it's great for tying parcels and holding up runner beans.

You can't hold runner beans up with a laser.

minesapint wrote:I love string......it's great for tying parcels and holding up runner beans.

And for setting up tracking on professional level race cars.
A 'direct' method, unaffected by calibration errors and unnoticed damage to equipment.

I set my tracking up with string after my last suspension geo change. I had it within .05 of a degree. Not bad considering I was rushing to take it to the 4 wheel alignment place the next day.

I have been using one of these recently. Too early to give a proper review on it but so far it seems to have been able to get the Z3 tracking nearly spot on.

http://www.trackace.co.uk/

Unless I missed something, no ones asked or stated what wheels the OP is running?

Anything bigger that 16" on an e30 and they tend t drive like shit in my experience.

B7 wrote:Unless I missed something, no ones asked or stated what wheels the OP is running?

True, but I (rather optimistically*, I suspect) expect members to include this kind of extremely relevant information in the OP.

* I remember one post on engine running problems where we eventually discovered the car wasn't even fitted with a BMW engine.

B7 wrote:Unless I missed something, no ones asked or stated what wheels the OP is running?

True, but I (rather optimistically*, I suspect) expect members to include this kind of extremely relevant information in the OP.

* I remember one post on engine running problems where we eventually discovered the car wasn't even fitted with a BMW engine.

I've only had car for less than a week as far as I'm aware the car is mostly stock.

I've been able to get a better grasp on why the car feels odd. The steering has no play but rather it's not very stiff. The smallest road changes will tug on the wheel. Not sure what it is but I decided to let a proper mechanic take a look as I had no wheel alignment issues.

My mate who checked my wheels is an amateur drifter. He seems to know his stuff....has a self modded drift car with whole front end rebuilt

Do you know what rack is in it? Some of the E36/46 racks feel overboosted when hooked up to an E30 pump.

Certainly since getting the Z3 I have noticed how high the PAS assistance is on my E30, something that does lead to a twitchy feeling as the steering is very sensitive to small inputs.

For the "bump steer", has the car been lowered a lot? What angle are the lower wishbones at? Anything approaching parallel with the ground wont help the feeling of the car pulling to one side on bumps as the bumped wheel looses camber as it is pushed upward and the camber thrust wheels is then unequal causing a wandering feeling.
Also camber can be a big cause of steering feeling light, I would expect the 2ton barges are around 0-0.5 degrees camber while a lowered E30 easily hits 2.5 degrees all round with eccentric bushes in the front.

Also, as B7 mentioned the wheels... if it's 'tramlining' and 'pulls over bumps'........ what tyres are on there? Size? Make?? Age???

I have experienced first hand how changing front tyres from average brand only about two years old, to some good new tyres, massively changed/improved the handling and reduced tramlining a lot!!!

That's a good point, Nankangs are lethal on an E30.

Thanks for all the input. Car is fairly stock as said before.

Rims are:



Tyres are fairly old probably play a small factor. Car hasn't been lowered.

So mechanic has taken a look and it seems to be a few things. Supposedly my Steering rack is leaking :0 and my front inner and outer control arm bushings have gone soft and also my steering rack ends are loose. I assume the steering component itself is the original. No clue how to tell.

Regardless I originally wanted to swap out the steering rack anyways. So now i have to either a. find a kit for swapping out steering rack in australia or a mechanic to do it for me.

If anyone knows either in Sydney NSW do tell

Luarana wrote: Tyres are fairly old probably play a small factor.

They may be a large factor. I had an E36 which developed terrible tramlining, traced to the tyres. They had good tread but were old and apparently deteriorated internally. Replacing them cured it completely.

Ah loose rack ends is a big one, seems people find play in the steering and only replace the outer rod ends, leaving the inner ones with just as much play.
They are about £17 a pop so worth doing even if a little suspect.

Well. I don't know if i should just quickly find a replacement Z3/E36 Rack or replace my current rack considering i never wanted the 4-turn standard E30 rack in the first place.

The question is how fast i can source the ability to replace said rack

Also regarding Tyre's. I'm definitely swapping to BBS or some form of deep dish rims. Still researching something that will fit without rolling flares.
Possibly some: http://www.simmonswheels.com.au/wheelde ... simmons-om

Also i've been quote 500AU+ for front brakes due to worn brakes. So i'll be fitting the wilwood brake kit.

Don't go any larger than 16's.

Australia sounds grim price wise. Who is up for loading a shipping container