quick rack e36 or not
Moderator: martauto
Quote from s14.net & possibly he
Jason
There has been some mis-information for a while about the E36 rack ratios plus I remember someone on here running an E36 3.0 M3 rack in their E30. I have spent some time doing some measurements plus confirmed this data direct with ZF (I know someone who works there who can access drawings on their system).
The standard way ZF quote on-centre (straight ahead) ratio is in mm/rev, which is the travel in mm of the rack bar per revolution of the hand wheel. The higher the mm/rev the faster the rack.
M3 3.0 - 39 mm/rev - the slowest available rack. This is a variable ratio but it is slower than standard until 200 deg hand wheel angle
M3 3.2 and standard E36 - 45.5 mm/rev - the M3 3.2 rack has restricted lock.
Z3 rack - 53.5 mm/rev - by far the quickest rack you can fit.
E46 compact rack - 50 mm/rev - apparently this also fits the E36
Because the M3 3.0 has a variable rack it has the smallest lock to lock at 3.0 turns but don?t be fooled it is the slowest by a country mile. A worthwhile upgrade for any 3.0 M3 (or a track based E30 with one of these fitted) would be to fit a standard E36 rack (or even a Z3 rack) which is what I did a year ago with a noticeable improvement.
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Jason
There has been some mis-information for a while about the E36 rack ratios plus I remember someone on here running an E36 3.0 M3 rack in their E30. I have spent some time doing some measurements plus confirmed this data direct with ZF (I know someone who works there who can access drawings on their system).
The standard way ZF quote on-centre (straight ahead) ratio is in mm/rev, which is the travel in mm of the rack bar per revolution of the hand wheel. The higher the mm/rev the faster the rack.
M3 3.0 - 39 mm/rev - the slowest available rack. This is a variable ratio but it is slower than standard until 200 deg hand wheel angle
M3 3.2 and standard E36 - 45.5 mm/rev - the M3 3.2 rack has restricted lock.
Z3 rack - 53.5 mm/rev - by far the quickest rack you can fit.
E46 compact rack - 50 mm/rev - apparently this also fits the E36
Because the M3 3.0 has a variable rack it has the smallest lock to lock at 3.0 turns but don?t be fooled it is the slowest by a country mile. A worthwhile upgrade for any 3.0 M3 (or a track based E30 with one of these fitted) would be to fit a standard E36 rack (or even a Z3 rack) which is what I did a year ago with a noticeable improvement.
Quote end

318 IS. Sold.
i put a standard e36 rack on mine (cost Ԛ£36 delivered and was easier to find), and i found a dramatic difference and i'm very pleased with it if yoyu want to know anything about how i did it give me a bell if you like .
kevo
07988618734
kevo
07988618734
Z3 rack - 53.5 mm/rev - by far the quickest rack you can fit.
Is that all racks from any z3 or is there a difference in the years or what engine it has.
thanks