Hydraulic steering conversion - N52-engined Z4 models
- Thread starter Hydro_Z4
- Start date
ionofchios
Member
Hydro_Z4 said:
Yeah, that's probably what I will end up with. Infuriatingly, I have found a few pics of the brackets with the BMW numbers stamped on them, but it is just that BMW don't recognise these numbers.
BTW., does anyone know if it is a bad idea to omit the cooling loop from the system?
My guess is unless you're doing long stints on trackdays that it shouldn't be a problem.
Question is why you would want to omit the cooling loop - the parts are relatively cheap.
There's a reason that it's installed on all BMWs of that era.
Worst case you could end up with air bubbles in the fluid and unexpected reduction in power steering.
Question is why you would want to omit the cooling loop - the parts are relatively cheap.
There's a reason that it's installed on all BMWs of that era.
Worst case you could end up with air bubbles in the fluid and unexpected reduction in power steering.
ionofchios
Member
Hydro_Z4 said:
Wondered if it was one of those things that is overkill and can be deleted, saving me trouble of mounting it somewhere. I’ve sourced one anyways, and will be installing it.
ionofchios
Member
Right, I’ve hit a problem and would really appreciate some advice or knowledge that would help!
I sourced all the bits, and ended up with yellow tag rack and LF30 pump from an N52 e90 (32416769887), with a new Meyle HP hose (32416764725). The problem is the hose fitting to the pump, which is integrated to a hard line on one end of the hose, is screw-in (not banjo) and does not fit properly to the pump, plus the angle of the hard line is totally wrong for the inlet of the pump - when installed on the engine, the inlet of the pump is basically point down, but the hose seems to expect the inlet to be on the back of the pump, or something.
From what I gather (may be false), there are 2 versions of LF30: one that was used on, at least, e46s (32411094965), and one that was used on, at least, N52 e90s (32416769887). It seems I have the HP hose for the former, but the latter pump.
The integrated screw-in fitting on my hose does fit in the pump, but when I screw it all the way in, the screw collar part is not deep enough to push the end of the pipe with the o-ring up against the internal receptor of the pump, so it has room to slide up and down. This, presumably, cannot work.
The LF30 I have was off an e90, and it came with a banjo bolt and washers screwed into the inlet, so that seems to be at least the type of fitting for the HP hose it had on the car it came off.
So, I’ve buggered up somewhere, but I don’t know what to do next.
1) Do I keep this e90 LF30 pump, which has the right brackets and fits on my n52 nicely? What hose do I need then? I looked at the one for e90, and the banjo end will fit in the pump, but the banjo hard line at the other end that goes to the rack seems to be a different shape and the e90 rack seems to have connectors in different locations compared to e46, which may mean this hose won’t fit at the rack end.
2) Does the e90 LF30 pump I have have to be connected using banjo bolt, or is there some inline screw-in connector, like the in one my current hose, that will also work? Which hose do I need for that? Funnily, the LF20 hose looks like it would fit - the hard line at the pump end seems to be orientated in a way that it would line up with the pump inlet, and pics seem to show that the screw-in collar is deeper than the one I have, so it may seal up.
3) Do I have the wrong pump? Should I get the older LF30 and use my current hose? If I do that, will the brackets I have fit that pump as well?
Hollow are some pics my current hose and pump.
I sourced all the bits, and ended up with yellow tag rack and LF30 pump from an N52 e90 (32416769887), with a new Meyle HP hose (32416764725). The problem is the hose fitting to the pump, which is integrated to a hard line on one end of the hose, is screw-in (not banjo) and does not fit properly to the pump, plus the angle of the hard line is totally wrong for the inlet of the pump - when installed on the engine, the inlet of the pump is basically point down, but the hose seems to expect the inlet to be on the back of the pump, or something.
From what I gather (may be false), there are 2 versions of LF30: one that was used on, at least, e46s (32411094965), and one that was used on, at least, N52 e90s (32416769887). It seems I have the HP hose for the former, but the latter pump.
The integrated screw-in fitting on my hose does fit in the pump, but when I screw it all the way in, the screw collar part is not deep enough to push the end of the pipe with the o-ring up against the internal receptor of the pump, so it has room to slide up and down. This, presumably, cannot work.
The LF30 I have was off an e90, and it came with a banjo bolt and washers screwed into the inlet, so that seems to be at least the type of fitting for the HP hose it had on the car it came off.
So, I’ve buggered up somewhere, but I don’t know what to do next.
1) Do I keep this e90 LF30 pump, which has the right brackets and fits on my n52 nicely? What hose do I need then? I looked at the one for e90, and the banjo end will fit in the pump, but the banjo hard line at the other end that goes to the rack seems to be a different shape and the e90 rack seems to have connectors in different locations compared to e46, which may mean this hose won’t fit at the rack end.
2) Does the e90 LF30 pump I have have to be connected using banjo bolt, or is there some inline screw-in connector, like the in one my current hose, that will also work? Which hose do I need for that? Funnily, the LF20 hose looks like it would fit - the hard line at the pump end seems to be orientated in a way that it would line up with the pump inlet, and pics seem to show that the screw-in collar is deeper than the one I have, so it may seal up.
3) Do I have the wrong pump? Should I get the older LF30 and use my current hose? If I do that, will the brackets I have fit that pump as well?
Hollow are some pics my current hose and pump.
ionofchios
Member
Hydro_Z4 said:
Okay, thanks! Can you, or anyone else, confirm that it is OK to connect a HP line to a newer LF30 (32416769887) using an inline screw-in connector as found on LF20 hose, and not banjo? I’d like to make sure that actually something these connectors are designed to do, else I may end up damaging both my 2nd new hose and my pump, and still end up with a system that does not hold pressure.
ionofchios
Member
So, LF20 hose would be 32416774215, I think. And the reason I think the connector might fit, is in many pictures I’ve seen, it looks longer (the number of threads on the screw-In collar is greater).
Here’s one such picture - as you can see, that distance, X, looks greater here than on my hose.
Here’s one such picture - as you can see, that distance, X, looks greater here than on my hose.
ionofchios
Member
And, for anyone that's interested, I now have everything installed, but still have couple of brackets to build and some tidying to do.
The 32416774215 high-pressure hose seems to fit, and I've run the engine for a couple of minutes and there don't appear to be any leaks. The hard line on the pump end is not at a great angle, and it makes it hard to route the line around the sump without touching it, keeping it away from the belt, but it's workable. I need to make a nice bracket that will make sure it can't touch either of the previously mentioned components. I wonder if an e90 high-pressure line would fit better, since it is designed for this pump and N52, so it should fit nicely on the pump end. But, the hard line on the rack end of that hose looks a bit different, as I think e90 racks are different than e46 racks, but it might fit, since the connection like to be in a very similar place - don't want to spend another hundred quid to find out, though.
I decided to mount the reservoir up next to the fuse box, as I don't want to modify anything to do with the air intake and risk upsetting some delicately balanced airflow calculations done by BMW engineers. I removed the fuse box from the plastic bracket and removed the bracket totally, to create more room, and they both fit in that space nicely. There is actually not much need to secure them in place, as everything fits so snuggly there, but I will make a bracket or something at some point.
I installed the cooler in front of the radiator, behind the bumper, but did not need to remove the bumper to do so. It is just cable-tied at the moment, but is quite secure - brackets will, though, be fabricated. It strikes me that the e90 cooler would fit better, since the e46 cooler goes up before it goes horizontal, in front of the radiator, meaning it interferes with coolant expansion tank plastic housing. The e90 cooler just runs straight horizontal, which would fit the space better and stays out of the way for aforementioned plastic bits. Don't take my word for this, but that's what it looks like from looking at pictures on RealOEM.
My steering wheel is now 180 degrees off. I assume this is as the rack has a different ratio, but can someone confirm that makes sense? I don't see any other way to orientate the intermediate shaft, as there is a plastic flange on the rack end that has to fit in the split in the yoke (meaning it only goes on one way) and its the same at the steering column end, where the column has a sort or metal key that needs to go in the same.
The 32416774215 high-pressure hose seems to fit, and I've run the engine for a couple of minutes and there don't appear to be any leaks. The hard line on the pump end is not at a great angle, and it makes it hard to route the line around the sump without touching it, keeping it away from the belt, but it's workable. I need to make a nice bracket that will make sure it can't touch either of the previously mentioned components. I wonder if an e90 high-pressure line would fit better, since it is designed for this pump and N52, so it should fit nicely on the pump end. But, the hard line on the rack end of that hose looks a bit different, as I think e90 racks are different than e46 racks, but it might fit, since the connection like to be in a very similar place - don't want to spend another hundred quid to find out, though.
I decided to mount the reservoir up next to the fuse box, as I don't want to modify anything to do with the air intake and risk upsetting some delicately balanced airflow calculations done by BMW engineers. I removed the fuse box from the plastic bracket and removed the bracket totally, to create more room, and they both fit in that space nicely. There is actually not much need to secure them in place, as everything fits so snuggly there, but I will make a bracket or something at some point.
I installed the cooler in front of the radiator, behind the bumper, but did not need to remove the bumper to do so. It is just cable-tied at the moment, but is quite secure - brackets will, though, be fabricated. It strikes me that the e90 cooler would fit better, since the e46 cooler goes up before it goes horizontal, in front of the radiator, meaning it interferes with coolant expansion tank plastic housing. The e90 cooler just runs straight horizontal, which would fit the space better and stays out of the way for aforementioned plastic bits. Don't take my word for this, but that's what it looks like from looking at pictures on RealOEM.
My steering wheel is now 180 degrees off. I assume this is as the rack has a different ratio, but can someone confirm that makes sense? I don't see any other way to orientate the intermediate shaft, as there is a plastic flange on the rack end that has to fit in the split in the yoke (meaning it only goes on one way) and its the same at the steering column end, where the column has a sort or metal key that needs to go in the same.
ionofchios
Member
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.
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.
ionofchios
Member
spec-al said:
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.
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
:driving:
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
:driving:yg54sg said:
I thought the LF30 only appeared on the early N52 engines in the e90?
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.
yg54sg said:
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.
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.....
- 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.....
