Z4 non powered steering rack fits e30

[89325iturbo]

^^ nice. I'm at the point of ordering a rack as well. Just wanted to see a couple more cases of people installing them.

[Brian7]

Found a Z4 steering shaft on eBay for $55 as well. All in all if I can use my E30 inner and outer tie rod ends I'll be into it a little over $200. Hopefully the manual steering is good enough for a daily driver! I put 200 miles a week on my car :D

[89325iturbo]

I'm having a hard time finding a steering shaft. Atleast one for a good price.

[Brian7]

I had to start searching for other things to find the one I got but here's a relatively inexpensive one.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/BMW-Z4-Steering-Column-Linkage-Lower-Joint-Assembly-2003-2008-USED-OEM-E85-E86-/231762793275?hash=item35f623933b:g:YZEAAOSwwE5WU2T5&vxp=mtr

[Brian7]

Forgot to say I'm competent with my welding ability so I'll have to rip this thing apart and see the best way to make it one piece or chop it down so it still telescopes like it should.

[89325iturbo]

Thanks for the link. I'm not to bad at welding either. My friend is also certified. I wonder what the spline count is for an e90 steering shaft? Anything from a 330i, 325i, ect.. They look similar minus the outer plastic part with the ball bearings. There fairly cheap 25-35$.

[89325iturbo]

Would anyone buy a remaned unit? Rock auto sells remaned ones for $200, that's with the core charge. Most of what I see on eBay is about that price or more.

[Brian7]

Would anyone buy a remaned unit? Rock auto sells remaned ones for $200, that's with the core charge. Most of what I see on eBay is about that price or more.

I think reman'd units are fine. Especially for a manual rack.

I got the Z4 steering shaft in today and decided to chop it up. Heres what I found.

Outer plastic shield removed


Quickly learned it doesn't come apart unless you make this cut. There are little tangs crimped over the hole holding the ball bearings inside from falling out. Cutting the female part of the shaft here allowed me to see what was going on inside.



Here is what is inside



The male section also has a small clip holding the bearings from sliding off that end



The clip is easily removed to give access to the ball bearing assembly.



Ball bearing size in case you decide to fill the grooves with solid rod like wanganstyle



Depending on how short the shaft needs to be will determine what I do with mine. Either keep the telescoping ability or weld it together. I think keeping the bearing assembly inside is just fine. Whether the shaft is 8" long or 3" long, the same amount of bearings are holding the shaft together.

[89325iturbo]

Thanks for the pictures. Yeah not sure, might go with a reman. I know there not using oem parts when they threw them.

[Brian7]

I felt safer getting a good condition OEM rack with low miles. And it was a bit cheaper than $200.

[Brian7]

My Z4 OEM rack showed up yesterday and lo and behold, E30 inner and outer tie rod assemblies fit the Z4 rack like I was hoping. The E30 boots will have to be stretched to fit over the Z4 rack but shouldn't be an issue, just more of a pain in the ass. Now I need to pick up a pinch bolt for the lower joint and it's ready to go in. Theres no way to use E30 lock washers so I'm going to red Loctite them in and call it good.

[89325iturbo]

Thanks for the update. Did you shorten the z4 linkage yet?

[Brian7]

Thanks for the update. Did you shorten the z4 linkage yet?

I haven't. I'm going to do all that when I have time to install it. Also it looks like the Z4 rack is not progressive like the E36 M3 rack.

[E30SPDFRK]

Someone needs to measure the total throw and mm per revolution so we can compare it to the rest of the swappable racks.

per. turn------BMW Part #
- E30--------------36.5 mm--------32 13 1 092 335
- E30 M3-----------38 mm---------32 13 2 225 556
- E36 M3 '95--------41 mm--------32 13 2 227 191 *NEW 08.15.11 Pink
- E36---------------45.5 mm-------32 13 1 096 280
- E36 M3 96+-------45.5 mm------32 13 1 096 280
- E36 Z3 M---------45.5 mm-------32 13 1 096 280
- E46 (9/99-4/01)--46 mm---------32 13 6 753 438 *NEW 08.15.11 Pink
- E46 (4/01-9/01)--50 mm---------32 13 6 755 065
- E85 Z4 M---------51 mm---------32 13 7 836 844
- E36 Z3 non-M-----53.5 mm-------32 13 1 095 575

[Brian7]

Someone needs to measure the total throw and mm per revolution so we can compare it to the rest of the swappable racks.

per. turn------BMW Part #
- E30--------------36.5 mm--------32 13 1 092 335
- E30 M3-----------38 mm---------32 13 2 225 556
- E36 M3 '95--------41 mm--------32 13 2 227 191 *NEW 08.15.11 Pink
- E36---------------45.5 mm-------32 13 1 096 280
- E36 M3 96+-------45.5 mm------32 13 1 096 280
- E36 Z3 M---------45.5 mm-------32 13 1 096 280
- E46 (9/99-4/01)--46 mm---------32 13 6 753 438 *NEW 08.15.11 Pink
- E46 (4/01-9/01)--50 mm---------32 13 6 755 065
- E85 Z4 M---------51 mm---------32 13 7 836 844
- E36 Z3 non-M-----53.5 mm-------32 13 1 095 575

Is that MM per revolution from center or an average? Some of those are progressive racks.