E85 Steering rack issues - hard to resolve

[perttu]

Interesting. How tough a job this was? I might try this myself, so I would be grateful for any tips, links to videos if you used any, etc.

Not to hard to do. Before I took it out I tested the steering with the engine of, the front wheels in the air and the tie rods not connected. The steering felt loose in the center and heavy of center. The loose feeeling appeared again after one turn of the steering wheel in each direction probably due to wear on the pinion.

Dismantling the steering rack:
Take the plastic cover of, release the big clips from the rubber boots, release the inner ball joints from the rack, release the column at lower u-joint (torx bolt) and finally release the two bolts holding the steering rack. When the steering rack is out you can take a closer look at it. I only took the preload adjuster apart. A full dismantling may be better to do so everything can be cleaned up but my dust cover was stuck and I was afraid to break it. Unfortunately I didn’t take any pictures during the work Don’t forget to use thread locking on the torx bolt when you reassemble.

Good luck!

Thanks for this, much appreciated .

[Maklo]

Thanks for this, much appreciated .

Looking forward to see how it works for you. I will go on and try some more adjusting

[Maklo]

I found a guide how to set the preload on the steering rack. Take a look at this clip, start from 6 min. https://youtu.be/9KUJOvYR23A I did this adjustment today without taking the steering rack of. You can feel if the movement is smooth with the wheels in the air and the engine of. It made a huge improvement to my steering issue

[NaweedMustafa]

You lucky SOBs in the UK seem to have access to a very very affordable second hand parts collection, something I haven't encountered in NL

Everytime i read prices in this forum, i think the same. I think we're just cursed that NL is a non-petrolhead country (by majority)

[NaweedMustafa]

@ryushe I just remembred. theres a bloke in Belgium that has two Z4's for parts. Got my replacement wind deflector from him. I can pass his Marktplaats profile to you if youre interested

[perttu]

I found a guide how to set the preload on the steering rack. Take a look at this clip, start from 6 min. https://youtu.be/9KUJOvYR23A I did this adjustment today without taking the steering rack of. You can feel if the movement is smooth with the wheels in the air and the engine of. It made a huge improvement to my steering issue

Thanks again, seems like a nice one.

So, did I get it right: to clean and lube the rack, you take the steering gear out of the car, and then you can just move the rack left and right inside the housing and clean and lube the visible part of the rack as you go? You don't have to take the steering gear apart more than just remove it from the car?

Also, for the preload adjustment, did you use the special tool mentioned in the video, or you can do it with a standard tool only?

[Maklo]

Thanks again, seems like a nice one.

So, did I get it right: to clean and lube the rack, you take the steering gear out of the car, and then you can just move the rack left and right inside the housing and clean and lube the visible part of the rack as you go? You don't have to take the steering gear apart more than just remove it from the car?

Also, for the preload adjustment, did you use the special tool mentioned in the video, or you can do it with a standard tool only?

I did just like you discribed at first and it made my steering feel better. Today I took the rack out again and took it apart. It is worn on both pininon and rack I cleaned and lubed everything up and put it together with the pinion turned 180 degrees. I can still feel the wear in center but not as much as before.

I used a wrench to the set the preload.

[Josvi]

ryushe, hi Ryushe, finally did you fix your steering wander issue? I have the same, steering float sensation. Will we have the rack and pinion worn?

[ryushe]

ryushe, hi Ryushe, finally did you fix your steering wander issue? I have the same, steering float sensation. Will we have the rack and pinion worn?

I eventually found a second hand LHD low mileage (34k ish!) steering rack in the US and had it shipped and fitted here. Seemed to fix things just fine.
My original rack had some (very minor) play in it, more than I would've liked. Took it apart, cleaned it up, and installed a grease nipple. No more play at all. Your reply reminded me I need to put it up for sale, it's just gathering dust at the moment

[Josvi]

Great! thank you. I will do the same adding grease in the rack. I am in Spain so it is easier than buy yours

[ryushe]

Great! thank you. I will do the same adding grease in the rack. I am in Spain so it is easier than buy yours

Good luck!

[Josvi]

Hi Ryushe. Is your old steering rack still available for sell? Mine is very bad, cannot be reworked.

[QRT]

Hi Ryushe

I have the exact same issue as you with the steering, and at the same speed interval, 110-140 km/h approx. And the same car 2004, 2,5i. I have tried to resove it but without luck. I have even changed the entire steering rack (had sticky steering as well somthought I would get both issues resolved, but no), inclusing the EPS unit, reloaded the cars software at BMW and changed most of the rest of the steering mechanism. Did not change any bushings though. To me it seems as if the car can•t decide exactly where it wants to go and “searches” back and forth. SomI am curious if you found a solution and what that might be?

[ryushe]

Hi QRT,

I've since sold that particular car, but for me changing just the steering rack fixed my issues. I did temporarily reinstall the one I refurbished to check if that one also fixed it, and it did. That's the one I still have lying around.
Sorry to hear you're still having issues, seems you replaced way more than I ever did; I never did touch the steering column, EPS, or the software...