Power steering failure, not good.

[Bakedbean100]

Hi All,

I was driving home from an evening out last night when the steering suddenly weighted up and the power steering warning came on.

The issue won't go away even when the car is reset etc. I checked fuse #22 and no issues there. Took the car to a BMW specialist today and it has been diagnosed as a faulty power steering module/column :x . After doing some research i was prepared for this and read of some big bills, the indie are going to strip and recondition the unit for £750inc vat. This seems reasonable but just thought i would see if anyone knows of any cheaper/easier options?

I have only had the car for 5 months so i feel a little miffed with the car tbh.

 

[Machine monkey]

You could ask your indie if he could ditch the motor off the coloum and the rack itself. And fit a hydraulic system off a 3 series I have the bits to do this to my car soon. It's been done and works. I paid £100 for all the bits needed.

 

[Chris_D]

You could ask your indie if he could ditch the motor off the coloum and the rack itself. And fit a hydraulic system off a 3 series I have the bits to do this to my car soon. It's been done and works. I paid £100 for all the bits needed.

Good to know MM. E36 or E46 3 series?
I'm scrapping an E36 coupe atm and wondered about any 'poachable' parts I should retain...

 

[Machine monkey]

You could ask your indie if he could ditch the motor off the coloum and the rack itself. And fit a hydraulic system off a 3 series I have the bits to do this to my car soon. It's been done and works. I paid £100 for all the bits needed.

Good to know MM. E36 or E46 3 series?
I'm scrapping an E36 coupe atm and wondered about any 'poachable' parts I should retain...

You would have to look and see? Mine came from a e46 but if the rack is the same length and the connection to the steering shaft are in the same place and size I can't see why it wouldn't work. You would then have to see if the pump and resuviour go in the same place. The m54 in our z4s have all the beakers and bolt holes for the 46 ones. I will dig out some pictures of my bits tomorrow.

I guess check the part numbers on realoem but I would think they are different disentangle mean they won't work.

Also you want s purple tag rack quicker lock to lock (I think m sport models had these) it's almost the same as the z4 rack.

 

[Chris_D]

You could ask your indie if he could ditch the motor off the coloum and the rack itself. And fit a hydraulic system off a 3 series I have the bits to do this to my car soon. It's been done and works. I paid £100 for all the bits needed.

Good to know MM. E36 or E46 3 series?
I'm scrapping an E36 coupe atm and wondered about any 'poachable' parts I should retain...

You would have to look and see? Mine came from a e46 but if the rack is the same length and the connection to the steering shaft are in the same place and size I can't see why it wouldn't work. You would then have to see if the pump and resuviour go in the same place. The m54 in our z4s have all the beakers and bolt holes for the 46 ones. I will dig out some pictures of my bits tomorrow.

I guess check the part numbers on realoem but I would think they are different disentangle mean they won't work.

Also you want s purple tag rack quicker lock to lock (I think m sport models had these) it's almost the same as the z4 rack.

Good to know for a future mod.
I'd prefer a hydraulic setup tbh. the electric steering feels crap frankly. a bit disappointing.

 

[Machine monkey]

Agreed best thing about the only other Bmw I have had was steering feel. The z4 really doesn't have any.

I will post pictures when I do mine.

 

[GuidoK]

are you sure the rack itself is the same length? (I mean the inner moving rack to which the tie rods connect within the gator, not the outer aluminium housing).
To some extend it would be logical as subframe, suspension arms, tierods and kingpins are the same, but that would also mean there is no compensation for different ackerman angle due to different wheelbase.
Do you also know if there's a very quick e46 rack available? (a quick steering rack is something I'd still like to have)

 

[Marius]

are you sure the rack itself is the same length? (I mean the inner moving rack to which the tie rods connect within the gator, not the outer aluminium housing).
To some extend it would be logical as subframe, suspension arms, tierods and kingpins are the same, but that would also mean there is no compensation for different ackerman angle due to different wheelbase.
Do you also know if there's a very quick e46 rack available? (a quick steering rack is something I'd still like to have)

yes quick racks are available ,they got purple tags and ratio very similar to m3 csl mine waiting to be fitted

 

[Chris_D]

are you sure the rack itself is the same length? (I mean the inner moving rack to which the tie rods connect within the gator, not the outer aluminium housing).
To some extend it would be logical as subframe, suspension arms, tierods and kingpins are the same, but that would also mean there is no compensation for different ackerman angle due to different wheelbase.
Do you also know if there's a very quick e46 rack available? (a quick steering rack is something I'd still like to have)

Hey guido, found ur youtube channel recently, messing about in the hills. Where was that, looks nice?
Didnt realise ur a dutchie! Waar in nedefland woon jij?
I read somewhere that the rack on my e46 m3 was 'quicker' than other bog standard e46's. Have to clarify that but could be an option.
Theres a bmw specialist up in Heerhugowaard that was telling me about a steering transfer he did from an e46 m3 to a 330 and told me it was sportier. Dont know if he was referring to the weighting or the lock-to-lock turning value.

 

[GuidoK]

yes quick racks are available ,they got purple tags and ratio very similar to m3 csl mine waiting to be fitted

Are you sure the purple racks are quicker than z4m racks?
There's a lot of info on the 'purple rack' on US forums (partnumber 7852 974 678)


But there is also a lot of misinformation? that it was only fitted originally on the ZHP (330i), but on german ebay you see them all over the place from lots of e46 with different engines for low prices. Like this one for example

In this post (e46 zone) it is even said that the z4m roadster has the same ratio as that purple rack (and that the coupe is slightly faster).
MAybe first measure the stock z4 rack what ratio that is.
BTW giving a ratio to a rack is actually partly nonsense. the steering ratio is defined as the amount of degrees the steering wheel has to turn to turn the wheels 1 degree. That is partly a matter of the rack, but also partly a matter of the steering knuckle/kingpin. The shorter that arm, the more the wheel turns for a set movement of the rack. For the e46 and z4 those knuckles are the same, but the z4m has a different knuckle. However I dont know if that has a shorter arm or not.

A quick non assisted rack in the same size would be ideal (I'd like to keep my eps, its very light :wink: ). But chances of that are probably nil as non powered racks in the past were obviously non powered..... (and the current eps systems are totally different)

Didnt realise ur a dutchie! Waar in nedefland woon jij?

Ik woon in het zuiden van drenthe

 

[Marius]

yes quick racks are available ,they got purple tags and ratio very similar to m3 csl mine waiting to be fitted

Are you sure the purple racks are quicker than z4m racks?
There's a lot of info on the 'purple rack' on US forums (partnumber 7852 974 678)


But there is also a lot of misinformation? that it was only fitted originally on the ZHP (330i), but on german ebay you see them all over the place from lots of e46 with different engines for low prices. Like this one for example

never said they quicker than z4m :lol: but they big improvement on standard m3's ,also can be found on all sorts of e46's , mine came from 320i .prices are £20-40 ,