I hate my light steering feel. Will a rack swap fix this?

[fiveightandten]

I have an '86 325es. It's on Vogtland springs, but otherwise stock and has been recently aligned. I'm running 205/50/16's on 8" wheels. The steering on the car has always been far too light. I wish it was more weighted like my E36 and E46. My buddy's late model E30 vert doesn't feel like this. I'm not sure if it's an ES or early model thing.

I'm piecing together a rack swap. I picked up an E36 328 rack, and the proper spacers for the knuckle modification. I know this will quicken things up, which I want. But will this make the steering more weighted as well, or do I have to swap in a different pump or make other changes for that? I don't want to go manual. I just want quicker, more weighted steering.

I read something about an adjustment nut on the rack. What's that for, and can it affect steering effort?

[LJ851]

The E36 rack will fulfill your desires.

[Hooffenstein HD]

Quicker rack and power steering delete. Feels amazing.

[arch4ngel]

If the new rack doesn't do the trick a smaller steering wheel will increase steering input effort a bit.

[ArtFoodBMW]

First thing I noticed after my z3 rack swap was how much heavier and more grounded the steering was. You should see an improvement with the e36 rack.

[fiveightandten]

The E36 rack will fulfill your desires.

Excellent, thanks.

Quicker rack and power steering delete. Feels amazing.

I don't want to go manual, but thanks.

If the new rack doesn't do the trick a smaller steering wheel will increase steering input effort a bit.

Thanks for the input, but I want more effort than a smaller wheel will give me. And I have a super nice MT1 in the car, which I like.

First thing I noticed after my z3 rack swap was how much heavier and more grounded the steering was. You should see an improvement with the e36 rack.

Sweet, thanks for confirming that. Were you able to re-use your PS lines, or did you have to swap to the E36 stuff? I see conflicting info about this. I have the rack and the knuckle spacers, and the rack mounting spacers. It would be sick if that was all I needed.

[Hooffenstein HD]

I don't want to go manual, but thanks.

Why not? I thought you didn't like light steering.

[fiveightandten]

Why not? I thought you didn't like light steering.

I just want actual BMW steering, like my E46 330ci, or my E36 M3. Those cars have power steering that i'm very happy with. If the 328 rack swap gets me in that ballpark, i'll be stoked.

[Spitfi-r]

Quicker rack and power steering delete. Feels amazing.

I've got this and a small wheel. Steering feel is the best of any car I ever drove especially at the limit the track--kinda reminds me of a kart.

[LJ851]

Were you able to re-use your PS lines, or did you have to swap to the E36 stuff? I see conflicting info about this. I have the rack and the knuckle spacers, and the rack mounting spacers. It would be sick if that was all I needed.

I tried E36 lines when i did mine, but they did not fit well. I ended up slightly reshaping the metal portion of the original E30 lines and that worked great.

[fiveightandten]

I tried E36 lines when i did mine, but they did not fit well. I ended up slightly reshaping the metal portion of the original E30 lines and that worked great.

Thanks. I just read in a few places that people were reversing one of the E30 lines instead of bending it. Apparently it fits right in. In either case, it's good to know I can reuse my lines. I'll do the swap this weekend.

[CaliDazze]

First thing I noticed after my z3 rack swap was how much heavier and more grounded the steering was. You should see an improvement with the e36 rack.

x2. z3 rack feels like a racecar. Or maybe its the swaybars, or the springs and shocks, or all the fresh bushings. anyways my car feels like a racecar.

P.s. Ive never driven an actual racecar...

[KI4UJO]

Another suggestion - e46 rack (gold tag - some refer to this as the ZHP rack.) It feels somewhere in between the z3 rack and the e36 rack. If you're planning on doing a good amount of highway driving, I recommend this. It is much faster than the original rack but not as touchy as the z3 rack. I have one in my 24v e30 and love it (It is still power-assisted, for reference)

[ELVA164]

A bit of sand in the rack might increase effort somewhat...

[pandaboo911]

Put a restrictior into the line. You can get banjo fittings with integrated restrictors. I believe the e46 came with said fittings