Rack Removed Installed Clocked vs Steering Wheel Question (SOLVED)

[Schnitzer318is]

UPDATE: Solved... see post 5.

TLDR - Steering wheel crooked after rack removal. Do I need to separate the rack from column and adjust steering wheel this way? Can I simply remove and reinstall steering wheel? Rack is centered as is... have same lock to lock in both directions. Airbag wheel BTW.

I recently dropped the subframe on the vert to finish refreshing the entirety of the front suspension and as such separated the rack from the column splines (at the rack). Upon reinstallation, sure enough, installed with the rack not centered and the steering wheel was centered.

So... after an alignment the steering wheel is of course way off. I was under the impression this was NBD as I could just pop the steering wheel off and center it that way. The alignment tech at BMW (dealership alignment) said the rack and column were clocked incorrectly and said removing the steering wheel would damage the clock spring or column... or something. Is this so? Thanks in advance for infos. I did search and came up with conflicting info for older BMW's vs. newer ones (e36 and up).

[Schnitzer318is]

Nobody? I'll flip the wheel and report back so that anyone in the future looking for the info can find it.

Must say I was pretty surprised when the BMW tech suggested not being able to remove and reinstall wheel based on the column being not aligned with the rack.

[moatilliatta]

Take the rack, crank it all the way left and all the way right. split the difference and make sure you're on center. Put steering wheel on the closes tooth to make it centered. Align.

Some might have plastic alignment piece on the lower column, you could re home that.

Hope this helps!

[Schnitzer318is]

Take the rack, crank it all the way left and all the way right. split the difference and make sure you're on center. Put steering wheel on the closes tooth to make it centered. Align.

Some might have plastic alignment piece on the lower column, you could re home that.

Hope this helps!

Thanks for the response. The car does track straight with the rack centered. The tech must have centered the rack when doing the alignment.

I can not reinstall the steering wheel as is due to the airbag wheel's clock spring. The wiring is on the top side and interferes with the column upon trying to reinstall. If I did not have an airbag wheel I think this would be a non-issue. Simply R&R steering wheel and call it a day.

So I am going to try and disassemble the steering wheel and "re-clock" the clock spring. If that fails... I will disconnect the column from the rack at the bottom and center the steering wheel.

This is a good reminder to be careful upon reinstalling a rack after separating from the column. At least on the "newer" e30's... and any chassis newer.

[Schnitzer318is]

Okay, update for anyone that needs it. You can disassemble the airbag wheel after all and re-clock the airbag clock spring. It's not terribly difficult either. If someone needs help I can advise. So now my car both tracks straight and has a straight steering wheel. :up:

I'm guessing this never comes up because people just ditch the airbag wheel... lol or install their racks correctly aligned with the column. ;) As such, I won't do a DIY on the issue.