E46 steering rack

[DarioStraightSix]

Good evening everybody!
My E30's control arms and track\tie rods are worn out so the time to replace everything is come. To avoid to bolt up and down everything a lot of times i decided to do the power steering conversion too and,after reading a lot about it i think that the best choice could be the E46 rack. A thing that i don't understand very well is this : could i use E30 inner and outer track rods on e46 rack? On the forums around the world some say yes,some say no...some others said they used e36's...so i'm a bit confused.
Thank you in advance!

[Grrrmachine]

From here...

http://www.e30zone.net/e30zonewiki/inde ... ions#Parts

"Inner and outer tie rods (complete set of either E30 or E36, but not E46)"

[DarioStraightSix]

Many thanks Grrrmachine! I've read that page more than one time but i didn't remember that this info was there.

Another thing : after some research about the correct rack i found some different versions :

some say the best is the purple tag one,some other say the 3 turns one is the one with the part code 7852 974 712 with Yellow\gold tag. I've found one of those at a good price,it comes from a '02 320d. Is it a good choice?


Last question : about control arms and tie rods, what is the best brand to choose ?

After reading some topics in various forums it seems that the most recomended are :

_ Lemforder (the same suggested in the E30 zone wiki page)

_Meyle

_ Febi-bilstein

On Ebay you can find complete kits at really low prices,but i think that nobody gives you anything and you get what you payed for. Am i right?

[HairyScreech]

IIRC the RHD one is purple the LHD one is yellow.

[87mtech27]

Purple tag is the "clubsport" rack with 3 lock and ends with 067 digits. The standard E46 rack is 3.2 lock to lock.

[DanThe]

Standard E46 rack is 3.4 turns lock to lock not 3.2

[Andyboy]

What about the later 'purple tag' E46 rack? I want to put a quicker one on my E36 - are they a straight swap once the track rods are swapped?

[HairyScreech]

We put a purple tag 067 on the compact, direct fit, not even any changes to the UJs or PS pipes.
Only thing is E46 racks don't seem to use locking tabs on the track rod ends so maybe a bit of caution there.

[DanThe]

Straight swap Andy, as above you dont need to touch the track rods or linkage, just leave them on the car

[Andyboy]

Thanks Gents.