Hydraulic steering conversion - N52-engined Z4 models

ionofchios · Post by **ionofchios** » Tue Sep 07, 2021 8:34 pm

Got everything back together and it seems to work. Just need to take the steering wheel off and rotate it 180 degrees, then reset steering angle sensor.

I also installed a Valeo SMF and clutch kit at same time, and now my low-speed drivetrain clunk has gone, so I guess that was the old DMF. Pleased with that, so far. Doesn’t seem to be any rattling from the transmission, as some have warned about with SMF conversion.

spec-al · Post by **spec-al** » Tue Oct 05, 2021 3:30 pm

ionofchios wrote: ↑Tue Sep 07, 2021 8:34 pm Got everything back together and it seems to work. Just need to take the steering wheel off and rotate it 180 degrees, then reset steering angle sensor.

Thanks for sharing your experience! IIRC there's a notch on the spines for the steering wheel to ensure that it doesn't get misaligned when removed. Are you saying that with the e46 rack you did not use the notch to find the center?

ionofchios · Post by **ionofchios** » Tue Oct 05, 2021 4:41 pm

spec-al wrote: ↑Tue Oct 05, 2021 3:30 pm
ionofchios wrote: ↑Tue Sep 07, 2021 8:34 pm Got everything back together and it seems to work. Just need to take the steering wheel off and rotate it 180 degrees, then reset steering angle sensor.
Thanks for sharing your experience! IIRC there's a notch on the spines for the steering wheel to ensure that it doesn't get misaligned when removed. Are you saying that with the e46 rack you did not use the notch to find the center?

I am pretty sure that there is only one way to install the intermediate shaft on the rack and the upper steering column, so you can’t change orientation there - there are notches and plastic keys. The steering wheel will go on in any orientation of splines.

yg54sg · Post by **yg54sg** » Fri May 20, 2022 1:17 pm

Brilliant guide, very helpful. To add only a crazy person would tighten up and reuse existing intermediate shaft it definitely does not fit.

I have everything connected up, mine is an M54 Engine , installed purple tag rack but I have the LUK LF30 pump (starting to wish I had gone with LF20) the part number in the guide above is 32416764728 high pressure hose for RHD appears to be for the LF20 when you look on real oem. The hose I bought originally is 32416764726 which is LHD lol but that is way off in being the correct shape to fit I have reshaped it to fit in a fashion but the screw in end going to the LF30 thread seems to not fully seat, even when tightened fully it shows about 7mm of thread left.

Ideally I want to get the correct pipe. Does anyone know the part number or which BMW's were RHD had the purple tag rack and also an LF30 pump? No matter what I seem to enter as on realoem I cannot seem to find an E46 that has the LF30 to get a part number for a RHD hose. Z4M high pressure hoses are rare second hand it would seem.

Many thanks for your help, birthday next week and want to get her back on the road for a trip to the highlands

Darkangelv2 · Post by **Darkangelv2** » Sat May 21, 2022 12:59 pm

yg54sg wrote: ↑Fri May 20, 2022 1:17 pm

Ideally I want to get the correct pipe. Does anyone know the part number or which BMW's were RHD had the purple tag rack and also an LF30 pump? No matter what I seem to enter as on realoem I cannot seem to find an E46 that has the LF30 to get a part number for a RHD hose. Z4M high pressure hoses are rare second hand it would seem.

I thought the LF30 only appeared on the early N52 engines in the e90?

yg54sg · Post by **yg54sg** » Mon May 23, 2022 2:48 am

It would appear it works fine the LHD pipe bent to fit RHD , I think the thread is supposed to stick out a bit looking at the forums. My cooling loop though is leaking so I have deleted it for now ... only seems needed for track use. Will get one on order though as lower temps cannot be a bad thing along with the proper high pressure hose.

Hydro_Z4 · Post by **Hydro_Z4** » Mon Jun 13, 2022 2:58 pm

yg54sg wrote: ↑Fri May 20, 2022 1:17 pmIdeally I want to get the correct pipe. Does anyone know the part number or which BMW's were RHD had the purple tag rack and also an LF30 pump? No matter what I seem to enter as on realoem I cannot seem to find an E46 that has the LF30 to get a part number for a RHD hose. Z4M high pressure hoses are rare second hand it would seem.

Sorry for the delay in responding... missed your posts

If I recall correctly M54-engined E46 were originally delivered with LF20 pump however they failed on such a spectacular scale that BMW made an upgrade kit to LF30 pump with new hoses. Therefore many - if not all - M54-engined E46 in scrapyards will have the LF30 pump and associated hoses.

Hydro_Z4 · Post by **Hydro_Z4** » Mon Jun 13, 2022 3:00 pm

Curious for feedback on steering feel from those owners who've installed the hydraulic steering conversion

yg54sg · Post by **yg54sg** » Mon Jun 13, 2022 3:16 pm

Night and day difference on mine. It now drives in a straight line on the motorway with no wandering- did the conversion myself and here are some observations:

- Old steering rack when removed felt very loose in the centre area mine has 140k on it.
- Very slight play in the intermediate shaft that was taken off

Both the above probably add to the vague steering of the stock Z4 setup.

Steering feels more 'expensive' feeling haha if that makes sense and the the effort is between sport and non sport modes.

God knows why BMW went to that effort to save a slight amount of power / emissions.

I think its a flawed design simply because the electric motor sits up near the steering wheel rather than electric rack like the other later bmws correct me if I am wrong.....

Hydro_Z4 · Post by **Hydro_Z4** » Mon Jun 13, 2022 3:22 pm

yg54sg wrote: ↑Mon Jun 13, 2022 3:16 pmI think its a flawed design simply because the electric motor sits up near the steering wheel rather than electric rack like the other later bmws correct me if I am wrong.....

It's the very first generation EPS... sensors and logic are quite basic. BMW probably selected the Z4 instead of other models for EPS launch as the costs would be lower in case of possible recalls.

yg54sg · Post by **yg54sg** » Mon Jun 13, 2022 7:41 pm

I think if your steering plays up at all hydraulic is the way to go, I would def not spend money on replacing the electric one since its actually an upgrade for a fraction of the cost in all I prob spent about £250.

yg54sg · Post by **yg54sg** » Mon Jun 13, 2022 7:43 pm

Mine is currently running with no cooler (the push in end on one hose was broken) interestingly I can dip my finger in the ATF fluid after running around the NC500 for 5 hours and I would say its slightly above body temp. I do intend on adding the hoses back to the cooling loop but it appears it doesnt really need it?

Hydro_Z4 · Post by **Hydro_Z4** » Mon Jun 13, 2022 7:59 pm

E87 1-series and E90 3-series have a more substantial cooler, so I assume BMW think it's required.
There's little benefit in not installing it...

: e87-e90.jpg (4.77 KiB) Viewed 865 times

yg54sg · Post by **yg54sg** » Tue Jun 14, 2022 1:29 pm

Agree, the only downside to using E46 cooler is the ends point to towards the engine instead of downward like in the Z4M this makes attaching the hoses with the radiator in situ near impossible. I think I might mount the cooling loop lower when I reconnect it.

spec-al · Post by **spec-al** » Tue Jun 14, 2022 5:33 pm

has anyone done this with a z4mr steering rack? anything different for parts/install?

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