E46 rack into airbag car?

[joeblow]

Going nuts searching, and sadly not saving every single link that is of any interest at all, so I'm asking: Has anyone done (actually done, not thought about or debated about) a swap of an E46 rack into an airbag E30?

If so, a couple of questions: 1) Can it be done without modifying the firewall, as required in an E36 swap? (I'd like to make this as easy as possible for my install-alignment guy.) 2) Spacers needed? 3) Tie rods. The E46 rack will come with inners. I have brand-new (less than 15 miles on them) E30 tie rods, inner and outer, just installed. Can I use the E30 assemblies, entire, on the E46 rack? If not, I believe that I can use E36 outers, but can someone confirm? E46 inners - E30 outers?

Nothing worse than having what you think is the final piece of the puzzle done (the tie rods) and having the install guy tell you the rack is shot, and that's the cause of the scary floaty feeling you've been having. Any help that you guys can give me would be much appreciated. TIA - Pat

[joeblow]

Well, found this, or rather found it again:

http://www.r3vlimited.com/board/showthread.php?t=199410

but wouldn't mind another data point, especially because that thread kind of petered out at the end, no pics ...

If anyone has pics of the E46 rack relative to the E36, that alone might resolve the concern about firewall modification, but still looking.

[ELVA164]

Try this one if you didn't link to it from there. It looks to have good pictures and a little bit more explanation:

http://www.r3vlimited.com/board/showthread.php?t=183851

[joeblow]

Thanks ELVA, but I'm most interested in my first question above, whether the firewall needs to be clearanced for an airbag car, and I didn't find my answer in that link.

From somewhat carefully comparing what pics I could find of E36 and E46 racks, it appears that the racks are identical, at least in terms of the angles that, in the case of the E36 rack, require firewall modification in airbag cars. My guy doesn't want to do the mod, and I need to get a rack in ASAP because I'm trying to sell the car before the snow flies here in Wisconsin, so I'm resigned to using an E30 rack.

[ELVA164]

Oh, my bad. As far as the modification goes, I believe it's a pretty simple cut/grind at the bottom end of the hole in the firewall. What is your guy worried about?

[joeblow]

What is your guy worried about?

Liability. He's got his own one-man alignment and suspension business, and he's just not interested in (intentionally) altering a steering system geometry and layout.

[ELVA164]

Ah. Fair enough then.