E85 Hydraulic steering conversion part 1

[maxman]

You make it sound so straight forward ,seems strange you are among the few to have attempted this.I take into account you must have done a lot of research ,which has made it seem straightforward .Top man
There has been a couple of great mods of late which members have shared the knowledge roof motor in the boot,now this .

 

[ZeroSwayzak]

hi raymond, i was searching for the part two of this topic!

how is it going for you after the mod? having the sticky steering problem i am considering the hydraulic swap, fond a decent price on this Z4M column, what do you reckon?

 

[kis]

One thing that will be interesting will be your performance and fuel economy now. The main reason BMW will have selected EPS for the E85 over the E46 hydraulic system must surely be emissions and consequently fuel economy.

Pretty much a year later... what's your review on it? Better? What about performance and econ as MACK mentions above?

 

[Capa]

I'd be interested to see where this went in truth. EPS isn't as bad as I was fearing, but it would be good to know about this should mine ever crap itself.

 

[Machine monkey]

I have only driven mine a few miles after doing this conversion. And night and day proper steering feel the way the car should have been designed.

I have said many times that the 323 I had years ago was such a better car to drive because of the steering. This makes the z4 a proper sports car if you ask me. Also forget the CDV delete fit a proper single mass clutch as this has transformed my car too. And the lightweight fly wheel allowing the car to rev properly well win win.

 

[Ducklakeview]

hi raymond, i was searching for the part two of this topic!

how is it going for you after the mod? having the sticky steering problem i am considering the hydraulic swap, fond a decent price on this Z4M column, what do you reckon?

I saw that on eBay, but it's missing the one part you actually need.. The intermediate shaft...

Mike

 

[ZeroSwayzak]

okey, and what about the one in the posted picture, is it needed?
it is okey to have the one from an e46?
is it okey to keep your original one (removed from the electric motor probably)

 

[Ducklakeview]

Keep the old one, remove the motor.

 

[ZeroSwayzak]

I have only driven mine a few miles after doing this conversion. And night and day proper steering feel the way the car should have been designed.

hey monkey i am about to do the same job, acquired the parts (yellow rack instead of the purple). How is fuel economy and engine power been affected by this swap? cheers

 

[Ducklakeview]

I have only driven mine a few miles after doing this conversion. And night and day proper steering feel the way the car should have been designed.

hey monkey i am about to do the same job, acquired the parts (yellow rack instead of the purple). How is fuel economy and engine power been affected by this swap? cheers

Can see the difference being negligible, and undetectable in normal use TBH, they fit the electric setup to help emissions more than economy, and the weigh difference isn't going to be that much.

Mike

 

[mjennings23]

I have only driven mine a few miles after doing this conversion. And night and day proper steering feel the way the car should have been designed.

hey monkey i am about to do the same job, acquired the parts (yellow rack instead of the purple). How is fuel economy and engine power been affected by this swap? cheers

I lost a negligible amount of fuel economy (Maybe 1-2mpg tops) and no noticeable difference in power output, I expect even if there is a loss it'll be around 1-2% so outside of a dyno you'd never notice.

 

[ZeroSwayzak]

buuum done! here is my conversion on 3.0i, yellow steering rack serial ending 716 and luk lf20 pump. everything is running fine but i'd like to know if the others who made this swap have encountered a perceivable loss in engine power

 

[Yorkie Z]

buuum done! here is my conversion on 3.0i, yellow steering rack serial ending 716 and luk lf20 pump. everything is running fine but i'd like to know if the others who made this swap have encountered a perceivable loss in engine power

You seemed to have fitted that quite easily. Have you lost power??

 

[ZeroSwayzak]

yeah, you can feel it especially while the vanos haven't kicked in yet

 

[raymond.harper]

I did not notice any loss of power but fuel consumption fell by around 2 mpg

 

[ZeroSwayzak]

what pump have you fitted in?

 

[raymond.harper]

LF20 . Did you fit a cooler ?

 

[ZeroSwayzak]

no

 

[ZeroSwayzak]

i dont think it can have any influence on the power absorption

 

[brickers911]

Ray, were the hoses for the supply and return from an e46 or z4m, thanks