Chromoly U Joint Steering Shaft!

[BraveUlysses]

thanks for the post! good info

[bmk]

shaft made from two e46 halves. As you can see its fully telescoping. I wanna say the total length of mine once i cut it was around 6''


picture of the air bag steering shaft. You have to cut the end of that guy so just the splines are left.

Agian this is just an option for those of you with air bag cars.

[bmk]

For my airbag cabrio I just used two e46 shafts got them for a total of $40 shipped on ebay, cut and modified. On the air bag cars the splines on the steering shaft are more coarse than the non air bag cars. I simply lightly tapped the u joint on (crossthreading the splines). The e46 ujoint splines are the same as on the steering rack so that side easily slides on and off. Because the the steering shafts are designed to telescope in the event of an accident you can easily pull the entire shaft out through the hole in the firewall if you needed to remove it for any reason.

[kristov]

Anyone experienced slop i the slip shaft?

I have this on my car and there is about 5mm side to side play at the steering wheel which seems to come from slop in the slip shaft.

Is it possible to tighten this up to remove the slop?

[BraveUlysses]

[TinyT]

The steering column does not come into the engine bay on air bag cars. The top u joint bolts to the steering column spline under the dash, unlike non air bag cars. I'd have to look at it closer to figure out a way to make it work. I pick up an air bag vert tomorrow, ill look at it closer.

[BraveUlysses]

The airbag E30's are weird! I didnt even dig around with sizes after I saw the splines didnt even come into the engine bay.

Sorry, Im just doing these for standard non airbag cars.

Huh?

Please make these for an airbag car! I'm ready to buy.

[TinyT]

The airbag E30's are weird! I didnt even dig around with sizes after I saw the splines didnt even come into the engine bay.

Sorry, Im just doing these for standard non airbag cars.

[plain325]

I'm interested in hearing some feedback on those who have bought this...what do you all think?

It seemed like a quality piece to me. Though i did not install it myself, the guy that did it for me had no complaints. It seems like a much better solution to installing an e36 rack than cutting apart and putting spacers in a stock shaft.

[gkurey]

I'm interested in hearing some feedback on those who have bought this...what do you all think?

[BMWManiac]

Cool...think I found my Christmas present to myself.

Does this add any noticeable noise or vibration? I like stout parts, but if this is something "because race car" I don't want to detract from my daily driver feel...especially when I can just replace the rubber guibo on my stock shaft.

[TinyT]

Found an airbag e30! I will be able to measure and count the splines on Thursday

[TinyT]

Sorry for not noticing your post!

I dont have access to an e30 air bag car right now to measure it and count the splines.

Someone just needs to measure the od of the shaft and count the splines and we can go from there.

I will try to find a car around here to get the dimensions from.

[djmossm42]

Long story short, it doesnt matter. :) I anticipated something that is not a factor. So no one needs to specify e36 or e30

Nick- the price is the same.

Guys with air bag problems- sorry but I dont have any answers yet.

Gooch- Cool story man

Everyone else- Im pretty sure you know what you are purchasing now, if you want it, lemme know, if not please just move on.

Hi,

are there any plans on making a version for airbag equipped E30s?

Does the spline count for E36 on the steering column end match an E30 with an airbag? (assuming most E36 and newer BMWs had airbags standard)

If so, can the U joints be interchanged either by you or purchased to make the change myself?

Thanks,
Bryon

[Gooch]

What was the issue with fitment? Could it be modified?

The airbag steering column lower splines are different.