Advice on E36 steering rack

[Carmo13]

Recently I bought myself a new stainless Scorpion exhaust system but found that the downpipe fouled on the bottom joint of my steering linkage. After Scorpion checked the downpipe in their jig to prove it was the correct shape, I checked the part number on the rack and it turns out someone has previously fitted an E36 M3 rack to my car. My first question is why would someone do this? and secondly, if this is regarded as an upgrade is there anything I should check to make sure its been done properly?

Thanks

[Grrrmachine]

Yes, steering racks from later 3-series are considered upgrades and yes, it's common for them to foul on the exhaust manifold. Read this:

http://www.e30zone.net/e30zonewiki/inde ... g#Upgrades

[harry_p]

E36s have much quicker racks than the hideous oil tanker spec e30 racks. The casings are slightly different which alters the angle of the steering shaft and joints which can foul the exhaust depending on the rest of your setup.