Steering Issues

[no1_jazz]

Hi guys,

Issues on the steering: Not so long before the car come of the road I had changed the steering rack along with new track rod ends all parts were brand new and bought from ecp. Driving it for about 2- 3 months before taking it off road I noticed the following:

Problem:
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1. I have noticed that there is allot of play in the steering I.e when car is stationary switched on: I am able to move the steering wheel left and right a fair bit before the wheels actually start turning maybe 2 or 3 inches of play both ways.

2. Driving on long motorway journeys or on a long straight stretch of road again there is a inch or 2 of play on the steering wheel.

It almost feels like the steering is not sharp as it should be. I have read up a few times on here how a common upgrade is to install the e36 m3 rack and or z3 rack however as mine is next to new and at the time I was unaware of it I guess im stuck with it.

http://www.realoem.com/bmw/showparts.do ... g=32&fg=30

Part 3 on this link universal joint could have come to the end of its days. I have not changed any other parts in connection with the steering.

Could this be the cause as to why I am getting a fair bit of play on my steering?

Has anybody else come across the same and or similar issues if so what did you guys change/do to resolve it?

How could I improve steering response and accuracy?

As always all help and advice is much appreciated

Jazz

[Quaser]

to start with - the issue could be the rubber guilbo which has collapsed causing the play in steering -

change this, or replace with a metal one to start with.

The e36/e46 racks are more to do with how many turns it takes to go lock to lock, not the play in the steering

[no1_jazz]

Thanks Quaser -

Changin this to a metal one how ? do bmw stock the part or would this be somethign aftermarket ?

would the metal one improve handling and accuracy ?

Or would bmw origional rubber be the way forward ? options....

[Quaser]

Personally , I would get the rubber one on for now (£5-£10 & you will need new bolts) just to be safer.

If you want an improved steering response then go for a e36/46 rack upgrade / you will need new pipes, spacers etc (all the info is on the zone) - you can then get a replacement shaft made up - but for all this you are looking at spending upwards of £200

[no1_jazz]

you mentioned the metal one do bmw do this ?

if nto i guess the regular rubber one would do the trick....

sure there must be a way to sharpen and increase accuracy a touch with the regular standard set up or am i wrong in thinking this so therefore e36 and z3 rack is the way forward?

[Quaser]

BMW don't do the metal one

You might be able to swap the interals over with a lot of work but there's no point

[no1_jazz]

cheers fella

hopefully when i get this i shal be sure to snap some pictures and post away on my progress.