S14 in RHD shell with E90 rack

[ijahn2000]

Has anybody got ny experience with this?

Am currently rebuilding my 320is rally car, and for regulations in Australia I need to build it in RHD.
At the same time I have upgraded to the E90 steering rack, which has the considerably higher mm per turn than the Z3 rack. But the rack is bigger and protrudes further...

Anybody done this ever?

Thanks
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[basketweave]

Hey mate,

I have not seen a 320is downunder, probably my favourite e30, I might even like it more than an E30 M3 (which i have just bought).

Where abouts are you in Aus?

I don't know about the E90 rack conversion, being bigger probably won't hurt as a e36 rack is smaller than the e30 rack and requires spacers for the bolts.

Does the E90 rack line up with the mounting points in the subframe.

If the rack protrudes further then your tie rods will need to be shorter and that will increase your bump steer, on a rally car that might not be a good thing.

Have you got any spare s14 stuff?

[Demlotcrew]

The only way I see an E90 rack remotely fitting is if you convert the S14 engine to a dry sump. The E46 rack is very close and I really do have to ask why you would need more than 50mm rack speed?

It would be a very nervous car to drive on anything but the track if its faster.

The E90 rack is also electric mechanical making it rather funky, and I would be surprised if you could make it work without all the necessary sensors and ECUs.

Andrew

[kko110]

Hi,

I dont know if this helps at all but I have just fitted a S14 to a BMW 2002. To get the engine really low and as far back as possible (no trans tunnel mod) I have canted the engine (more verticle) to 17 deg by using a m10 gearbox for the bellhousing (slim and low profile compared to the E30 M3 version) with a welded in profile on the end of it to keep it concentric. 18 deg is about the min you can go before the oil has issues draining from the head to the sump... I then strugled with the same issue that you have regarding the bulky rack so..... to get the rack low enough and clear the dry sump pan I got a steel cased ford sierra manual rack (low profile) then shortened the body and the rack to match E36 dimensions (minus a bit). Then i mounted the rack 20mm lower than the origional position and machined up some brackets to bring the ineer tie rod pivot points back to their origional geometry. This way bump steer is not affected see link for brackets http://forums.bimmerforums.com/forum/sh ... p?t=999479...
In terms of quick ratios there are many available from quaife but I used the one from rally design in the UK which is 2.7 turns lock to lock. So over a 154mm stroke (standard sierra) that works out at 57mm/rev which is pretty good for me.. The standard E36 rack has a stroke of 156mm.
So dont know if you want to go to that extent but just the way i attacked it.
I live in NZ

Karl

[Mikey_Boy]

^^^ I would love to see pics of that!!

[kko110]

i will get some sorted soonish

[e21Jason]

Is the M3 m90 rack not hydralic rather than elec/mech as I am sure that's what we run in the 120D

[Demlotcrew]

Yea the m3 is the only one that's still able to fit on an e30, problem is its very wide and would require the rack to be shortened considerably.