E85 Steering rack issues - hard to resolve
Posted: Mon May 01, 2023 11:19 am
I need to vent a bit, and am requesting some input here.
I've got an '04 (made on 15/12/2004 to be exact) 2.5 E85 LHD. Somewhere last year my car started developing issues with the steering wheel while driving at highway speeds. Between approx. 100 and 135/140 kph the steering wheel will start to wander around and move left-right, making it a most uncomfortable drive as I'm constantly having to correct. Below or above these speeds everything is alright; the car still feels direct and tracks just fine.
Anyways, since this started happening, I've had the car fully aligned (just in case, but no issues there), had it in for a diagnosis (unresolved), had my rims checked to see if they were crooked in any way, replaced bushings, and as per suggestions on this forum played around with the adjustment ring for the EPS motor (no dice). None of these have had any effect, and the latest diagnosis as of last week is that there's an issue with the steering rack, in particular with there being some play in the gears at the point of translation of steering column to the rack itself.
We've pretty conclusively ruled out any sticky steering issues as well.
Edit: I'm running Michelin Pilot Sports, no runflats.
The above took me quite a bit to figure out, and sounds to me like a 'minor' issue; getting a new steering rack can't be hard right? Well, it is.
Turns out BMW can get you pretty much every single part for an '04 E85, but for some bizarre reason they no longer provide steering racks . Rebuilding a steering rack is something that seems impossible in this case, as all companies that do revise/rebuild steering racks say they change a few seals, lube the thing back up, and Bob's your uncle, but they don't touch the gears themselves.
Trying to find a second hand steering rack is also proving completely fruitless. I found two, but both were from high mileage Z4s (220.000 km+) and one of them had also been in a frontend collision. There also don't seem to be any aftermarket steering racks for the Z4 either.
In other words, it seems like I'm screwed and I feel I've run out of options, besides simply living with it and hope the play in the gears doesn't increase. But that seems hard to accept. I love the card, and there has to be something that can be done.
So question, how have others here dealt with this? Is there something I'm missing? Why is it so damned hard to find a replacement LHD steering rack?? Are there other options outside of retrofitting an E46 hydraulic (see: https://www.bimmerforums.com/forum/show ... c-Steering)?
Anything?
I've got an '04 (made on 15/12/2004 to be exact) 2.5 E85 LHD. Somewhere last year my car started developing issues with the steering wheel while driving at highway speeds. Between approx. 100 and 135/140 kph the steering wheel will start to wander around and move left-right, making it a most uncomfortable drive as I'm constantly having to correct. Below or above these speeds everything is alright; the car still feels direct and tracks just fine.
Anyways, since this started happening, I've had the car fully aligned (just in case, but no issues there), had it in for a diagnosis (unresolved), had my rims checked to see if they were crooked in any way, replaced bushings, and as per suggestions on this forum played around with the adjustment ring for the EPS motor (no dice). None of these have had any effect, and the latest diagnosis as of last week is that there's an issue with the steering rack, in particular with there being some play in the gears at the point of translation of steering column to the rack itself.
We've pretty conclusively ruled out any sticky steering issues as well.
Edit: I'm running Michelin Pilot Sports, no runflats.
The above took me quite a bit to figure out, and sounds to me like a 'minor' issue; getting a new steering rack can't be hard right? Well, it is.
Turns out BMW can get you pretty much every single part for an '04 E85, but for some bizarre reason they no longer provide steering racks . Rebuilding a steering rack is something that seems impossible in this case, as all companies that do revise/rebuild steering racks say they change a few seals, lube the thing back up, and Bob's your uncle, but they don't touch the gears themselves.
Trying to find a second hand steering rack is also proving completely fruitless. I found two, but both were from high mileage Z4s (220.000 km+) and one of them had also been in a frontend collision. There also don't seem to be any aftermarket steering racks for the Z4 either.
In other words, it seems like I'm screwed and I feel I've run out of options, besides simply living with it and hope the play in the gears doesn't increase. But that seems hard to accept. I love the card, and there has to be something that can be done.
So question, how have others here dealt with this? Is there something I'm missing? Why is it so damned hard to find a replacement LHD steering rack?? Are there other options outside of retrofitting an E46 hydraulic (see: https://www.bimmerforums.com/forum/show ... c-Steering)?
Anything?