Z4 non powered steering rack fits e30

[Varinn]

That's a damn good question, in the all the times I've had my subframe out, motor out, rack out, I never noticed there were extra mounting holes...

I just looked through some of my pictures and for what it's worth I don't think you could install a rack in the front mount holes without hitting the oil pan on a 24v e30 swap car.

[Bearmw]

I drove my car for the first time with this rack. I ended up mounting it in the rear set of subframe holes. My impression is that I like it so far for a weekend toy which my car is. I can feel more of the road surface and the ratio feels good. My car weighs 2800 pounds running 225/50/15's and has M3 control arm bushings FWIW. I just did a string alignment and will recheck that later.

I wouldn't choose it for a daily driver because I'm old.

[2mAn]

I really need to do this with my car

[Bimmerboy91]

Would anyone who has installed this daily their car with this set up?

[totheredline]

Would anyone who has installed this daily their car with this set up?

Had this setup in my m30 car. I would say it was easier to steer than a depowered e30 rack but with a lot better feel. Totally daily able.

Sent from my XT1585 using Tapatalk

[Jdesign]

Had this setup in my m30 car. I would say it was easier to steer than a depowered e30 rack but with a lot better feel. Totally daily able.

Sent from my XT1585 using Tapatalk

This is good to know. I was worried since others were commenting that it is hard to park and turn the wheel when the car is stationary.

[Bearmw]

I agree it can be daily'd but I think I may try a 205 vs the 225 tires I have on currently but only when they eventually wear out. The steering is so direct now that I think I noticed that I need to replace the lower spindle bearing in the column as I feel a little play in the steering whee! that I hadn't noticed before.

[Jdesign]

So I got my used rack today and was wondering if I got a bad unit. Its used from a wrecked car off of eBay with 100k miles. Spinning the rack by hand, it has a "notch" or a stop every full revolution of the steering shaft. Is that normal? I provided a picture to describe where the notch is every 360 rotation.

[Jdesign]

Never mind, I got my answer on the R3V Facebook page..

[Bearmw]

What is the answer?

[Jean]

Has anyone installed or checked if the Z4 manual rack would clear M6x swap, is the input shaft angle/length OK compared to stock rack or z3/e36 racks?

[Bearmw]

I thought I was getting some play from the column spindle bearing but what it was is that when I cut and modified the 3/4" DD rod to work with the Flaming River joints I made it a bit too short and also the holes for the securing screws were a bit too big in diameter. This allowed for a bit of play. I ended up making another DD shaft that was more precise and now the play is gone. It had nothing to do with the column.

Now having done a good amount of street driving with this setup I can say that I may swap my M3 offset CABs for some 96-99 M3 centered bushings as the extra caster from the offset bushings makes the effort a bit much for my taste.

My car is an 89 vert weekend toy that is driven almost exclusively on the street. If my car was a track car then for sure I would keep the offset bushings but I seldom even see 90 mph so I don't really need the extra caster that much.

I really like the manual rack (especially that it now has no play) but I think I will like it more with less caster.

[Jdesign]

What is the answer?

Sorry for the late response

Its normal for the racks to have a notch or indent along the travel of rotations.

[Bearmw]

About time.

[CMBusch]

I just did this on my non-airbag E30 and wanted to share some pictures/info for clarification.

The steering shaft runs around $40 on ebay.
Took off the plastic "shell" and yanked the two halfs apart throwing away the bearings.
Cleaned off the grease on the shafts.
Put both ends on their respective splines and measured how much needed to be cut off.
Shortened the shafts, cleaned off the coating where I would be welding (on the ends and bearing channels).
Welded rod in the bearing channels (not sure if necessary but it made me feel better).
Welded where the outer rod meets the end and tack welded the end of the inner shaft.
Cleaned up my welds on a grinder to look factory-ish.

Edit: Sorry for the wide images.