Z3 Racks! School me on them!

[Nsquared97]

Thanks for all the info man, very much appreciated. Just trying to source a rack at this point, then the order will be placed.

[Q8y_drifter]

Yep, definitely go for E36/Z3 tie rods. Beefier at the outer ball joint.

[bmw-slangen]

Ok, I'll chime in here with real-world information!

I recently bought a Z3 steering rack (same as Q8y_drifter) with a tag that says "1 092 031".

All over Internet the info 53.5 mm/rev and linear is repeated over and over - so I wanted to verify this - so on MY example of the "1 092 031" the following are true:
* It is linear
* It is 50.0 mm/rev


I measured when fully extended and one turn moved my measuring point from 144.5 mm to 94.7 mm => 49.8 mm/rev

I measured when fully centered and one turn moved my measuring point from 94.7 mm to 44.8 mm => 49.9 mm/rev

So I rounded off these measurements to 50.0 mm.

I used vernier caliper and remeasured a number of times and got the same result every time. I did my measurement with the steering rack on a well lit work bench and really took my time to get as accurate measurements as possible.

[BADE30]

Just bought a used Z3 linear rack as well and installed it on an airbag car.

Part numbers that i used to locate one:
32131092031
32131095575

Mine came out of a 2002 Z3 2.5i and had the "1 092 031" tag.

Installed spacers on top of rack and had to modify the firewall and boot plate to fit. No knuckle modification was needed but I ended up going with a solid guibo anyways.

[bmw-slangen]

@BADE30 : Yeah sounds exactly the same as mine (and you should also see 50.0 mm/rev if everything adds up).

Just of curiosity, why (and what) did you have to modify the firewall and what is the boot plate you are refering to?

[BADE30]

@BADE30 : Yeah sounds exactly the same as mine (and you should also see 50.0 mm/rev if everything adds up).

Just of curiosity, why (and what) did you have to modify the firewall and what is the boot plate you are refering to?

The steering columns are different on airbag cars so when you swap to a Z3 rack it changes the angle of the steering shaft where it penetrates through the firewall. You have to modify that plate and your firewall so the the shaft does not rub. Here’s a good write up that shows it:

http://www.rmeuropean.com/bmw-e30-steering.aspx

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[bmw-slangen]

Aha, the airbag/non-airbag thing! Forgot about that, thanks for link!

My E30 does not have airbag so it should be a simpler swap as far as I understand.

[bmwman91]

Wow, good timing on this blast from the past. When I got new tires on last week they told me that the ball/socket on the inner tie rods was going, and sure enough where was play. When I replaced those tonight I found about an ounce of PS fluid in one of the boots. The rack is a 1999 Z3 1.9L unit that I installed in 2006, so I guess the seals are on their way out now. I figured I would check to see what everyone is rocking these days.

The PN on mine is marked as 1092611 (short for 32131092611). In RealOEM, this is listed as superseding the 031 rack which looks to have ended in 1998. I am going to see if I can find any quality rebuilt ones since everything has an assload of miles on it now. From what I can find, it looks like 32131095575 is the remanufactured version of these since 031 and 611 are NLA. In RealOEM, 031, 611 and 575 have identical vehicle applications listed as well.

It looks like the 575 is available in various places for ~$400 or less, from brands like:
Maval
Atlantic Automotive Engineering
FEQ
TRW

EDIT:
It looks like RackDoctor may have rebuilt ones. I emailed them to see what they say about what is in stock. They sound more trustworthy than the other brands since a lot of people on here have had a good experience with them.

[shootnjunky]

Wow, good timing on this blast from the past.

EDIT:
It looks like RackDoctor may have rebuilt ones. I emailed them to see what they say about what is in stock. They sound more trustworthy than the other brands since a lot of people on here have had a good experience with them.

Let us know what the doc says

[wworm]

not trying to hijack a thread, but also not trying to start my own thread on a simple question,

what is the difference in response/feel between a purple tag zhp rack and a z3 rack?

[alistairolsen]

I have a rack I removed from a 1997 Euro Z3 2.8 PN 028-0280-007-221 and 1 094 038. Does anyone know anything about it? I assume it's longer than the 1.9 rack?

Thanks

[E30335i]

Earthwormjim made a comment on it on the socal thread & I never bookmark the one the rack doctor talks about the difference in each rack & what make the steering more “sporty”. It’s on bimmerforums.


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[bmwman91]

I now have a freshly rebuilt Z3 rack in my car. It was a Rack Doctor unit. I had a positive experience with them and can recommend them. I forgot how much of a pain the stupid steering knuckle can be...the swap took about 2 hours longer than I expected!

Also, I found that the rubber flex disc in the knuckle is starting to crack and the fibers in the rubber are exposed in a couple of places. Are there any replacement options out there (from other cars?) since the assembly is NLA? I guess I could drill it out and put in solid spacers, but I usually try to avoid increasing NVH which that seems like it would.