racks: e36 vs z3 vs e46

[davem]

Hey guys, just did the e36 swap to find that my used e36 rack is leaking. Not really interested in stop-leak treatments so it's gonna come out. oh well, it was somewhat cheap...

I'm trying to decide if I should go with something different. Really like the e36 rack, no additional effort in low speed maneuvers and seems to have gotten rid of the tiny bit of play in the steering you'd notice driving on the highway.

I'll be going with rackdoctor.com so the costs will approximately be:
e36 - $145 shipped (i have a core)
e46 - $240 shipped
z3 - $375 shipped

As far as I know, I won't be able to re-use my e30 tie rods with the e46 rack so that increases the cost as well (my tie rods are worth holding on to).

So give me your feed back on the differences if you've tried more than one! This car is a daily driver.

[lambo]

z3 1.9

Edit: Wh33lhop did a great comparison of them somewhere.

Edit 2: http://www.r3vlimited.com/board/showthread.php?t=172261

[davem]

z3 1.9

edit Wh33lhop did a great comparison of them somewhere.

yeah i've read all the technical info on the e36 and z3 racks in the archives, looking more for feed back about whether it's worth it. also that z3 price is the 1.9. 3.2L is less desirable and about half the price.

[lambo]

Here's some info/opinions of an E46 rack form an '02+ 330i

http://forums.bimmerforums.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1244672

http://forums.bimmerforums.com/forum/showpost.php?p=18082551&postcount=17

[JJe30]

Good info, I'm about to do I think a z3 rack swap myself here soon.

[F34R]

car-part.com

I JUST bought mine from this site, is locates salvage yards and prices with mileage. I got a 74k 1997 1.9L Z3 rack for 160 shipped(NO CORE!).

Remember that the 2.7 lock to lock(1.9L) was from 96-97 and came in a 1.9L(duh) Make SURE you ask what size the engine is. I got a few places that entered a 2.5 as a 1.9L

[davem]

ordered a z3 rack... r3v is sooo slow lately

[Holland]

car-part.com

I JUST bought mine from this site, is locates salvage yards and prices with mileage. I got a 74k 1997 1.9L Z3 rack for 160 shipped(NO CORE!).

Remember that the 2.7 lock to lock(1.9L) was from 96-97 and came in a 1.9L(duh) Make SURE you ask what size the engine is. I got a few places that entered a 2.5 as a 1.9L

I'm going to have to check this out.