Sticky steering problem. Time to sort it! Help and advice.

I had the same issue. Took it into Sytners for inspection who quoted me £3K for a new steering column.
What a joke! I removed the steering rack end rubbers. Greased up the cogs while had the both front wheels off the floor and turned the
wheels from left to right, back and forth to get the grease into the rack. refitted the rubber sleeves and used plastic ties to each.
Problem went away!! Simples,
Cheap fix have a go and let me know if it works for you too.
 
Just been reading all the posts and expensive possible solutions! Honestly guys, grease the steering rack before you spend.........
 
I have tried it all and my steering is still not good. I also feel that steering feel is a bit numb for a car of this type.
Thats the reason i am doing the conversion. I have also sourced all the bits for less than £100!! I know a guy who knows a guy who owns a BMW barkers....

It will cost a few more quid once i recon the bits going on. But its a cheap cheap fix + man hours.
 
I answer to James Bond, yep I left the angle sensor in, the only leads I pulled were the leads connected to the motor (2 of them), good luck Machine Monkey, it's a straight forward conversion, you will need to cut the dashboard though to get the column out, although you cant see it once the trim goes back on.
 
Thanks Richard you may be getting a PM or 2!!

It seems straight forward enough. I had missed the bit about the purple tag! I was going to just settle for 3 turns and better feel. Where is this tag so i can try and find one at the beakers.
 
Hummm stranded rack 3 turns £30 or purple tag one for £75!!!

Would 1/2 a turn lock to lock make that much difference??? Opinions please forum?
 
Machine monkey said:
Hummm stranded rack 3 turns £30 or purple tag one for £75!!!

Would 1/2 a turn lock to lock make that much difference??? Opinions please forum?
Click to expand...

Probably not much help but i did this sort of thing years ago with a quick rack i fitted to a 205 gti. Made a big difference to the steering feel on the twisties etc but was a bitch to park, a really workout for the arms. Obviously this was a non power assisted system and I wouldn't have thought the steering would be too heavy with 2 1/2 turns verses 3 on a power steering system but will still be noticeably different. It will also be more twitchy on a motorway etc so i suppose it depends on what you want to use your car for predominately and what you personally like in terms of directness vs twitchiness and how much weight in the steering you find acceptable. Wouldn't the number of turns on an M Rack be a good guide to what works well on Z. Anyone known how many turns on one of these compared to a normal Z?
 
I think the zed is 2.5 turns already is it not?

I think i will be going for the cheap option of 3 turns anyway. It will probably help make the already snappy car less snappy when drifting. If i dont like it i can change it.
 
To be honest 1/2 a turn wont make that much difference, when I researched people changing racks on the Z3 people were going for purple racks for the positive feel through he steering, I just opted for the same, however you can get cheaper racks if you want to, the conversion wont be any different.
 
Do the number of turns change on the electric Z4 rack between having the sport button on and off with some clever gearing etc or is it simply a steering weight thing?
 
I dug this out which gives a good explanation of the EPS

http://www.bmwclub.lv/files/06_E85_Chassis_Dynamics.001.pdf
 
I am considering this conversion now too. I just wondered about the insurance poilcy, technically this is a modification, have any of you informed your insurance company, and if so what effect did it have on your policy premium? :?
 
I have the sticky steering issues, ok cold mornings but when it gets warm not ok etc....

So started the drilling and grease nipple mod... getting the drill depth right I'm unsure of, is the shaft running directly in the housing where you drill in, so there's no clearance between the two?....so when you drill you don't break through as such, because the shaft is immediately there? .... just goes hard to drill.
Hence needing grease under pressure to force its way in?
Looking in the hole, just looks like a blind hole, though it's gone difficult to drill etc.
..... So I stopped ... :?

Oh any links to pictures or videos that are still live? most seem dead now
 
9designs said:
I have the sticky steering issues, ok cold mornings but when it gets warm not ok etc....

So started the drilling and grease nipple mod... getting the drill depth right I'm unsure of, is the shaft running directly in the housing where you drill in, so there's no clearance between the two?....so when you drill you don't break through as such, because the shaft is immediately there? .... just goes hard to drill.
Hence needing grease under pressure to force its way in?
Looking in the hole, just looks like a blind hole, though it's gone difficult to drill etc.
..... So I stopped ... :?

Oh any links to pictures or videos that are still live? most seem dead now
Click to expand...

Have you been following this post ? http://www.z4-forum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=85889&p=1270024#p1270024
 
Nope...different issue.....

I finished the nipple fix today, didn't have any grease, so it's only had a squirt of WD40 for now and on the bush through the bulkhead... Test drove and all ok.... No sticking.... Grease for a longer fix arrives in a couple of days.
 
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