Like the title states, considering a car without it and was curious how much it would cost to add back in power steering? Assuming you need the entire assemble plus a power steering rack. Rough estimate is fine.
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You probably have a power steering rack already, as long as it's capped and not open to the elements it's probably good to go.
The rest of the system should be very cheap on the used market as there are many people who take off systems that have a small leak or are perfectly fine to have no PS. If you pay more than $100, including fixing the issue, I'd be surprised. -
..unless the rack was unhooked because it leaks. Then, factor in the
cost of a non- leaking rack, which could be anywhere from $10 to $400...
but yeah, good bargaining point, not a big deal to restore.
IF you decide you need to- the E30 isn't too bad without it.
tnow, sometimes I just mess with people. It's more entertaining that way. george gravesComment
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The factory E30 racks are awful. The 4-turn ratio is painfully slow, there is terrible slop in the middle of the rack, and they are prone to blowing out the end seals.
I recommend an E36 Z3 1.9L rack. It has a 2.7 turn ratio, virtually no slop and the end seals are designed a lot better. It is almost a bolt-in upgrade, with a tiny bit of Dremeling needed in the firewall for the column, some spacer washers at the subframe, and minor bends to the hardline portions of the PS hoses. I did the swap in an afternoon about a decade ago and it has given me zero problems since. I got the rack from a 1999 Z3 for $200 shipped, and it had ~75K miles on it. By now it has at least 150K miles on it and there is not a hint of slop or leakage. All it needed was new tie rod assemblies and rubber boots since it came from a wrecked car.
Just my $0.02.Comment
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The factory E30 racks are awful. The 4-turn ratio is painfully slow, there is terrible slop in the middle of the rack, and they are prone to blowing out the end seals.
I recommend an E36 Z3 1.9L rack. It has a 2.7 turn ratio, virtually no slop and the end seals are designed a lot better. It is almost a bolt-in upgrade, with a tiny bit of Dremeling needed in the firewall for the column, some spacer washers at the subframe, and minor bends to the hardline portions of the PS hoses. I did the swap in an afternoon about a decade ago and it has given me zero problems since. I got the rack from a 1999 Z3 for $200 shipped, and it had ~75K miles on it. By now it has at least 150K miles on it and there is not a hint of slop or leakage. All it needed was new tie rod assemblies and rubber boots since it came from a wrecked car.
Just my $0.02.Comment
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Some internet commentators suggest the 2.7turn rack to rack is a bit twitchy for the e30, and that the 3 turns lock to lock is the go. How have you found the 2.7turns over your ~75k miles? would you still suggest the 2.7? or go the 3?
I previously modified my old corollas steering and it was quite twitchy, trying to avoid that again.Comment
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I haven't driven an E30 with a Z3 rack, but doubt it's too twitchy compared to other E36 rack equipped cars. If it did demonstrate issues you could always change toe settings to your liking.Originally posted by e30davie View PostComment
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Immediately after the swap, I did think that it seemed twitchy. But that is just because the old rack had like +/- 10 degrees of slop combined with its awful ratio lol. So I do not think that I would call it twitchy, per se, but it does demand a little more attention on the highway to stay put in the lane.Comment
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I jumped out of my e30 into the wife's 2011 forester the other day..... I Just about drove it off the road the steering was so twitchy, but i think that is normal steering and the e30 is just slow and I was just used to it....
I have considered putting a fork lift knob on the e30 steering wheel to aid in parking.Comment
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Go to a junk yard and pull a steering rack from either a Z3, E36, or an E46. The Z3 steering rack is the tightest, but either of those will fit right into an E30. Most junk yards charge $30-$60 for a steering rack. You can use Row52.com to find junk yards near you with those cars. Just look for 1993-1998 Z3, 1992-1999 3 series, and 200-2005 (not too sure on the E46 years) 3 series.
Happy hunting!
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