How To Guide - E36 Steering Rack Swap

[z28]

I had read that a non-airbag car is easy - you just pull the steering wheel and put it back on straight. I didn't really look into it, but the post I ready made it sound like the airbag steering wheel only goes on one way, so it's not so easy.

Good Luck!

I just did the swap on my airbag car a few days ago and I had to do as you said, except for the steering wheel only going on one way. The steering wheel can be removed and adjusted as many teeth as needed. Thanks for posting pics and your experience, this is the kind of information that will help others in the future.

[Rontgen]

A couple pictures of the airbag linkage and column for reference.

[Rontgen]

Just finished putting a 99 M3 rack in my 90 325is airbag car. If you have the engine out, now is the time to do this as I can only assume it would be substantially more difficult with the engine in the way. A couple pointers:

- If you put the spacers above the rack, you'll definitely have to modify the firewall and create a new "boot plate". The original boot plate is roughly 0.050" thick and I was able to find 16 gauge (~0.058") weldable steel at my local Lowes to make the new one. It would be great if someone (hint hint @garagistic lol) would make and sell these plates. I would have bought one in a heartbeat rather than trying to fab one up on my own, which was a major pain in the ass.

- The steering column will come apart on the airbag cars. Loosen the big nut under the dash (leverage is your friend here, so a long wrench is best). This will allow the lower splined shaft to pull out completely, making the removal of the boot plate and the firewall mods much easier. BE SURE TO MARK the orientation of the splined shaft to the upper portion of the column before you remove it. There should be a factory green paint dot on both halves but it may have worn away with time.

- When it was all said and done, I was effectively a tooth off where the splined shaft meets the upper column, despite putting it back exactly as it was before (and the factory green dots lining up). Maybe a slight difference in the E36 rack vs. the E30? Or perhaps it was a tooth off all along and the previous owner compensated for it via the tie rod adjustments? Regardless, it's correct now and looking forward to trying it out!


The procedure I used to align everything:

- Turning the input to the rack itself, find the total turns lock-to-lock. Mine was 3.2 Divide that in half, which gives you 1.6. Starting with the rack turned against one end stop, mark the black plastic dust shield and turn the rack 1.6 turns. This should now be the middle of the rack's overall travel. Mark this spot and don't move the rack again. When the rack is in this position, your steering wheel should be straight. The position of your front tires is irrelevant and will be adjusted via the tirerods during an alignment.

- Attach the airbag steering linkage. Note that there is no adjustment where the linkage meets the rack and also where the linkage meets the splined shaft from the column. The securing bolt has to pass through the cut out in the shaft at both ends. This means your only source of adjustment should something be off is where the splined shaft meets the upper column and that's precisely where I had to adjust mine by one tooth so that the steering wheel was straight while the rack was centered.

I had read that a non-airbag car is easy - you just pull the steering wheel and put it back on straight. I didn't really look into it, but the post I ready made it sound like the airbag steering wheel only goes on one way, so it's not so easy.

Good Luck!

[mtech325]

Does anyone know if you can swap a Z3 rack into a 325ix? (yes, I tried searching)

No, not like you would for a standard e30. The iX rack mounts sit on the opposite side of the rack (the front, as opposed to the back side like a RWD e30, e36, e46 etc.). I think most iX owners are stuck with the stock steering rack.

Here's a picture I found online comparing a RWD car's rack (top) to the iX rack (bottom):

[I8UR911]

Does anyone know if you can swap a Z3 rack into a 325ix? (yes, I tried searching)

[jeffnhiscars]

You can get a feel for how good the inner is (with some experience) by just screwing it to the rack on the bench. New ones are quite snug and take a bit of effort to swivel. It's one of those things where if you have any doubts, just replace them. Not that expensive and you def don't want to go back in Later, esp after doing an alignment.

[Bggdnssnguy]

Haha. Okay I'll take a look. It sucks, that you can't test an inner without installing on the car first...

[jeffnhiscars]

They have letters on them....R and L. I won't say which goes where though :)

[Bggdnssnguy]

Well shit. I think one of the I need I put on is bad. And I have the e36 inners. But didn't mark which side goes where. Fuck.

[jeffnhiscars]

yes you can use e36 inner and outter tie rods. You can't mix and match inners and outters. The e36s are more robust in my opinion.

This is true. Just keep in mind that the e36 tie rods have a left and right version whereas the e30s are imtchangeable. Regardless of which version you have, best practice is to replace inners and outers at the same time.

Rich (the rackdr) ships his racks with the inners since you can damage the rack if you don't tighten the tie rods properly and he got tired of non warrantable warranty claims as a result

[Poopie]

So my e36 rack came with tie rods. Will these work on my e30? Cause one on my e30 now is f*ckd.
Thanks

yes you can use e36 inner and outter tie rods. You can't mix and match inners and outters. The e36s are more robust in my opinion.

[bumada]

So my e36 rack came with tie rods. Will these work on my e30? Cause one on my e30 now is f*ckd.
Thanks

You need the e30 ones

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[Bggdnssnguy]

So my e36 rack came with tie rods. Will these work on my e30? Cause one on my e30 now is f*ckd.
Thanks

[Poopie]

any info on the banjo fittings from the OPs low pressure lines? I can't find them. My m50 swap didn't have power steering and i'm replaced the leaky m3 rack it came with. I have the high pressure line already. I'm installing a power steering cooler that i had left over so i just need need the barbed fitting with the banjos. Thanks!

[Bggdnssnguy]

I looked up the part number with BMW. Says it ended after the part number, so what do I use?


Edit: I stopped being a lazy ass and actually read some of this thread like I should of in first place. Found a couple solutions.