@@SPANNERRASHhi one question about in time 19:12 . Is that the spacer of the rack very important? I already installed for a while . Some times when I turn right , I hear a little clunk sound. Can you explain that spacer?
@@anilec333 I'd say its pretty important considering its related to the steering! 😆 Without that spacer the rack is able to move up and down, I am surprised you haven't had more issues without it. Maybe you can make your own spacer with a bit of tube, or a stack of washers. I'd recommend adding them!
I use the e46 steering and replace the tie rod end with e36. For the steering linkage. i remove the rubber bush and connect directly. the length is just perfect.. no need to buy another. TQ for the video you make..
Such a underated channel love all the videos and how you take your time to go in depth on pros and cons ect have to watched the full series on this and can say your doing a top job
I'm really glad you're enjoying the videos mate, that's amazing feedback to receive, thank you! I do try hard to make sure I include the key info that might help fellow E30 enthusiasts out. 😃
Cheers Matt! You can't go wrong with the Z3 1.9L rack or the E46 purple tag one. The latter might be favourable based on price and rebuildability these days.
The potential problem with putting the rack bolts in from the underside is that, in the unlikely event of the nuts coming off, the rack would be floating in space. A fussy (or conscientious, depending on your point of view) MoT examiner might consider it unsafe. I don't know whether your ball joints have castle nuts and split pins as they used to have on other cars or whether Nylocks are considered adequate these days, but castle nuts and split pins on the rack bolts would be an option if there is an issue. I'm sure that the groove in the splines is intended as clearance for the clamping bolts and security against the parts moving: you may need to have additional grooves machined in to align with the positions you can achieve with the clamping bolts on the Corsa component. Best wishes.
Thanks George, I actually checked in about the direction of those steering rack bolts and the parts diagram on realoem seems to agree with putting them in from beneath. Even BMW realised how much trouble it was going to be making steering rack installation an engine-out job! 🤣 And yeah I was of the same opinion about the grooves in the splines, which is why I was surprised to find the one on the rack-side doesn't interfere with the bolt at all. Very strange. We'll see how it goes but locking nuts and bolts will be something I do down the line in the optimisation phase of this build. Getting the parts together to create a working car is my primary objective at the moment but down the line details like that will be addressed. Cheers! 😄
BTW, i want to add your videos are the only ones I viewed till the end. great stuff i learned a lot from your creations. I am a graduating UA-cam mechanic, e30 specific one! LOL But i have yet to do body work. that will be next since i have a "nosecut" complete fromt panel which i wanted to replace the front valence.
Awesome I'm really glad you enjoy them so much. I do my best to include as much useful detailed information as possible in the hope it will help other enthusiasts such as yourself. I have some bodywork to do on my E30 still, but nothing major now I have fixed the rust. Hope your front panel goes on well. I have a replacement valance which I plan to fit too, but I'm not sure that will be soon! 😄
I'm so glad to found your Channel, i'm in the exact Way with my 320i Cabrio :) You help me very very much !! Thanks for the very good Videos, stay tuned and good Luck and (later) Fun with your E30 :) Greetings from Germany :)
Awesome, I'm really pleased my vids help you out with your own E30 build. That's why I try to share the best information I can hoping it helps out other enthusiasts! 😃 Thank you for watching them, hopefully future videos of this E30 build will continue to be useful, there are many still to come. I hope your 320i project is going well! 👍
Nicely done! Glad to see you went with the Z3 rack! Since I commented on your last video with a recommendation on this one, I've actually had a change of heart on the direction I'm going to go with mine. Not at all because I'm unhappy with the Z3 rack (quite the opposite..,because it's fantastic), but more because I'm looking to strip the engine bay down to its bare minimum. I'd thought about refurbishing the PS pump, lines, and going with a Chase Bays reservoir relocation kit...but the cost just didn't make sense. Since I don't mind the extra physical effort, my friend recommended going with a manual E85/86 Z4 steering rack. Since that's about the time they started doing electric-assist, the rack itself is much beefier than the hydraulic units. Apparently that will also come with a retrofit of the Z4 steering yoke...but interestingly enough it's a telescopic unit, and no big donut to fight. The upper part is a direct fit to the e30 non-airbag steering column...but I don't know about the lower yet. If it's easily modifiable, it might work out nicely for your motor swap clearance issues. It threw me off a bit watching you install yours, but I have to remember I'm in a LHD, and you have the steering rack AND headers to worry about. Should have the car hime in a few days and I'll be doing a test fit on the Z4 rack/yoke.
Yep I decided it was the best possible rack for me, and why skimp when it comes to something like steering? I had to justify the extra cost. 😆 A Z4 electric rack used as a manual rack? That sounds pretty interesting indeed! To be honest I've never really experienced a car with a manual rack, but I know from having a car with a weak PAS pump that it becomes quite a workout when you want to do something like a three-point-turn! 😂 And that really puts me off, I want weighty but not heavy steering ideally. I'll look up that swap though as it sounds interesting, and maybe my concerns are a bit overblown about manual racks. And yeah being a RHD E30, the steering linkage is a huge pain when it comes to clearance with the exhaust, but I'll overcome it I'm sure. You'll have to let me know how your Z4 rack works out in the end.
@@selespeed3 Interesting, where do your racks leak from? I usually find if they leak its the lines being worn out. Luckily I had my Z3 rack fully rebuilt with new seals so leaking is unlikely - I hope! 😄
@@SPANNERRASH when i had the first one in june 2017, it was fully rebuilt with new seals. Cost me RM350 or roughly GBP62. But it did not last long. And by 2021 it started to leak badly. Leaks so bad oil starts coming out from the right side inner tie rod (boot full of oil) and also at the input shaft where the line is connected. So, i decided to buy another one in 2022. cost me RM450 or roughly 72 GBP. price has gone up for all parts e30. But I am quite sure it will leak again.
Great video as always !! I was thinking of changing my steering rack with a e46 one but i didnt know about the air escape grooves thank you for telling in the video !! Also if you remember me i was asking you in the past about the throttle body gap from your m40 engine , i adjust mine and also found a hole in the intake pipe and change it and now it runs perfectly !!
Hi mate, yeah I discovered about the vented inner tie rods when I was researching, It's definitely worth bearing in mind if you do the swap. Combining E46 inners with E36 outers seems to be the answer though! You'll love the 3-turn purple tag rack on an E30, makes a massive difference to how they drive. That's brilliant news about the M40 engine, really glad it's running right for you again, they're solid little engines those. 😃
You're far too kind Jimmy! 😃 Glad you like the vid, hopefully I can follow up very soon and explain about the steering linkage and PAS lines once I've figured it all out myself.
Hi!! I always watch your videos and i just live them... rally nice info and i am doing the same swap in my e30 like you.... almost. I just mounted my Steering Rack from E46 blue tag... i needed to change my E30 rack But u have a question that you also had about the holes. Did you youse the iner holes? Because like you said the angel is not 100%....Thanks again for your videos....
Nice, really glad you like the vids! Ahh yes, definitely use the inner holes. I realised afterwards that if you use the outer holes there will not be enough space for the engine sump to clear the rack with an M5X swap. Even though it's tight, stick to the inner holes. I think the outer ones are for manual steering racks which are much slimmer in design. Hope that helps!
Hi, this is the company I used to rebuild the Z3 rack: ebay.us/wj9hqU I am pleased with the result, but the black paint job they did leaves a lot to be desired. 😃
why are you spacing the rack down instead of upward, other than the steering shaft being short. from my understanding, if the car is lowered, and you can move the rack up, to compensate for any amount of lowering it would get rid of a large amount of bump steer. my rack is spaced up, and on the forward holes and has been for several years, but im going thru the car again and found myself finding alot of people spacing the rack down and using the rear holes. my car is swapped, no power steering, gold tag zhp rack from a us 330i e46 with the lines looped. just curious on your input, id imagine spaced down is to give the most factory feel?
Good question, everything I read seemed to indicate spacers on top to put the rack in the right position. But potentially spacing it upwards seems possible and you may well be right regarding bump steer. I will have a closer look at that when the car is a driver and see if I can move it. I'm honestly not sure there would be space to do it with how close the engine sump on the M52 is to it already. But I guess I can find out. Using the inner holes turned out to be essential for avoiding that sump too with the powered Z3 rack. Check out some of the later videos to see how the engine fits with what I've got. With a non-PAS rack the outer holes are correct. Thanks for the input on that I will definitely look into whether I can space the rack upwards.
@@SPANNERRASH ahh, that makes sense for fitment for sure, I have a 1uzfe front sump, it has tons of room. Thanks for the quick reply as I was ready to move the rack being at home for the day lol
Cheers Shane, I do try my best to share what I learn. I'm looking forward to figuring out that steering knuckle and those PAS lines, those are the final piece of this steering puzzle. Scratching my head about the lines a bit currently though...
@@SPANNERRASH is the power steering pump in the same location / side with the engine swap ? I would be thinking to get new pipes made, they are going to be nearly impossible to bend without cracking or damaging them. I know there is a cost but save your sanity.
@@shanechiddy4303 You're probably right mate to be fair, the pump seems roughly in the same location on the M52 engine as it was on the M40, its just the ports on the Z3 rack are very different, much more than I expected having read so many people saying they can be given a slight bend. Maybe that's true for LHD cars and not RHD. 😒
Hey Marco, that's an interesting point you're adding. I actually didn't see any locking rings on the Z3 rack, and it did have the tie rods still attached when it arrived (but in poor condition like the rest of the rack). Are the locking rings like washers that have been hammered over? Also, the new E36 tie rods I got didn't come with any. I will hopefully not have an issue, but I guess I will keep an eye on that.
@@SPANNERRASH yeah exactly, mine has washers you have to hammer over. Theres a little slot in the rack where the washer grabs into. Prevents the inner tie rod to spin loose. If it makes any sense
@@e30_318is_project Yep! I know exactly what you're talking about, I'm pretty confident the Z3 rack does have those notches on the rack ends and that will be why. Maybe I will go back and add those locking washers at some point! Thanks for pointing that out mate. 😄
Current aftermarket e30 tie rods do not have notches for the locking rings anymore. Also, e46 racks did not have locking washer from the factory. Hence, I would not worry too much.
So many years with so much info out there and yet people still get this stuff wrong. The z3, e46 purple and e46 facelift gold tag racks are all the same RATIO aka "speed" - 13.7:1. The 2.7 turns"lock to lock" in the z3 rack is because it has less travel than the e46 3.0 turn racks, actually making it LESS desirable.
This is true between some racks, such as E36 and E36 M3 racks. But I don't believe this is true between Z3 2.7 and E46 3.0 racks. From my understanding, they offer the same or very similar steering angle. I'm only 95% sure though. 😀
This is factual data. E30 racks are 20.5:1 ratio. E36 and e46 prefacelift racks are 15.4:1 ratio. Z3, e46 purple and e46 "712" gold racks are 13.7:1 ratio. M3 racks are a progressive ratio. All these 2.7, 3.0 and 3.2 are not actual ratios, never used by engineers, and are terms invented by enthusiasts, and essentially just a unofficial name for a part. I can easily limit full travel on an E30 rack to make it 2.7 turns lock to lock, it will still be the same slow 20.5:1 ratio.
@@Psychedelicbananas Thanks for sharing more detail, where are you sourcing your data? It's starting to sound compelling even if it does conflict with my understanding. 😄 If true it's no great loss luckily as I got the rack at a great price and probably won't miss a hair more steering angle.
Love your commitment to your e30. Im currently doing an E36 Alpina rep but early days. How come you haven't painted under arches before fitting suspension?
He’s already stripped the old under seal and applied a new coat of under seal which is why it’s grey not black. Watch the old videos if you haven’t, worth while.
Hey Martin, yeah I'm deeply invested in this E30 build now, absolutely must see it though to the end. 😆 The E30 Alpina rep sounds cool, hope it goes well for you. I did consider painting the wheel wells black, but then the grey Dinitrol 447 that's on them now seems plenty strong. If I feel like you can see into the wheel well because its too bright, it wont be a big deal to get in there with a brush at a later date. But we'll see. Cheers!
Yeah that doesn't surprise me, they seem to do all kinds of racks, I guess they are a specialist place. It felt quite expensive spending that much on a rebuild. but I think I'll be glad in the end when my steering feels nice and tight. All these racks are old and worn at this point.
![Painting The E30's Engine Bay [COLOUR REVEAL] Kapci Basecoat & Clearcoat Paint | 038](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/RiZh_uSMarE/mqdefault.jpg)
![Painting The E30's Engine Bay [COLOUR REVEAL] Kapci Basecoat & Clearcoat Paint | 038](/img/tr.png)
Superb! The most clearly informative of the rack swap video in UA-cam! Best🎉
Thank you! Hope the video helps you out. 😁
@@SPANNERRASHhi one question about in time 19:12 . Is that the spacer of the rack very important? I already installed for a while . Some times when I turn right , I hear a little clunk sound. Can you explain that spacer?
@@anilec333 I'd say its pretty important considering its related to the steering! 😆
Without that spacer the rack is able to move up and down, I am surprised you haven't had more issues without it. Maybe you can make your own spacer with a bit of tube, or a stack of washers. I'd recommend adding them!
I use the e46 steering and replace the tie rod end with e36. For the steering linkage. i remove the rubber bush and connect directly. the length is just perfect.. no need to buy another. TQ for the video you make..
Thank you for sharing that insight, cheers!
Such a underated channel love all the videos and how you take your time to go in depth on pros and cons ect have to watched the full series on this and can say your doing a top job
I'm really glad you're enjoying the videos mate, that's amazing feedback to receive, thank you! I do try hard to make sure I include the key info that might help fellow E30 enthusiasts out. 😃
Great video! The standard rack on my E30 is dead and looking for improved options, this was very helpful.
Cheers Matt! You can't go wrong with the Z3 1.9L rack or the E46 purple tag one. The latter might be favourable based on price and rebuildability these days.
The potential problem with putting the rack bolts in from the underside is that, in the unlikely event of the nuts coming off, the rack would be floating in space. A fussy (or conscientious, depending on your point of view) MoT examiner might consider it unsafe. I don't know whether your ball joints have castle nuts and split pins as they used to have on other cars or whether Nylocks are considered adequate these days, but castle nuts and split pins on the rack bolts would be an option if there is an issue. I'm sure that the groove in the splines is intended as clearance for the clamping bolts and security against the parts moving: you may need to have additional grooves machined in to align with the positions you can achieve with the clamping bolts on the Corsa component. Best wishes.
Thanks George, I actually checked in about the direction of those steering rack bolts and the parts diagram on realoem seems to agree with putting them in from beneath. Even BMW realised how much trouble it was going to be making steering rack installation an engine-out job! 🤣
And yeah I was of the same opinion about the grooves in the splines, which is why I was surprised to find the one on the rack-side doesn't interfere with the bolt at all. Very strange. We'll see how it goes but locking nuts and bolts will be something I do down the line in the optimisation phase of this build.
Getting the parts together to create a working car is my primary objective at the moment but down the line details like that will be addressed. Cheers! 😄
BTW, i want to add your videos are the only ones I viewed till the end. great stuff i learned a lot from your creations. I am a graduating UA-cam mechanic, e30 specific one! LOL
But i have yet to do body work. that will be next since i have a "nosecut" complete fromt panel which i wanted to replace the front valence.
Awesome I'm really glad you enjoy them so much. I do my best to include as much useful detailed information as possible in the hope it will help other enthusiasts such as yourself.
I have some bodywork to do on my E30 still, but nothing major now I have fixed the rust. Hope your front panel goes on well. I have a replacement valance which I plan to fit too, but I'm not sure that will be soon! 😄
I'm so glad to found your Channel, i'm in the exact Way with my 320i Cabrio :) You help me very very much !!
Thanks for the very good Videos, stay tuned and good Luck and (later) Fun with your E30 :)
Greetings from Germany :)
Awesome, I'm really pleased my vids help you out with your own E30 build. That's why I try to share the best information I can hoping it helps out other enthusiasts! 😃
Thank you for watching them, hopefully future videos of this E30 build will continue to be useful, there are many still to come.
I hope your 320i project is going well! 👍
Love the videos man, thank you for the great quality and great camera shots
Cheers man! Really glad you enjoy them. 😃
Nicely done! Glad to see you went with the Z3 rack! Since I commented on your last video with a recommendation on this one, I've actually had a change of heart on the direction I'm going to go with mine. Not at all because I'm unhappy with the Z3 rack (quite the opposite..,because it's fantastic), but more because I'm looking to strip the engine bay down to its bare minimum. I'd thought about refurbishing the PS pump, lines, and going with a Chase Bays reservoir relocation kit...but the cost just didn't make sense. Since I don't mind the extra physical effort, my friend recommended going with a manual E85/86 Z4 steering rack. Since that's about the time they started doing electric-assist, the rack itself is much beefier than the hydraulic units. Apparently that will also come with a retrofit of the Z4 steering yoke...but interestingly enough it's a telescopic unit, and no big donut to fight. The upper part is a direct fit to the e30 non-airbag steering column...but I don't know about the lower yet. If it's easily modifiable, it might work out nicely for your motor swap clearance issues. It threw me off a bit watching you install yours, but I have to remember I'm in a LHD, and you have the steering rack AND headers to worry about. Should have the car hime in a few days and I'll be doing a test fit on the Z4 rack/yoke.
Yep I decided it was the best possible rack for me, and why skimp when it comes to something like steering? I had to justify the extra cost. 😆
A Z4 electric rack used as a manual rack? That sounds pretty interesting indeed! To be honest I've never really experienced a car with a manual rack, but I know from having a car with a weak PAS pump that it becomes quite a workout when you want to do something like a three-point-turn! 😂 And that really puts me off, I want weighty but not heavy steering ideally.
I'll look up that swap though as it sounds interesting, and maybe my concerns are a bit overblown about manual racks.
And yeah being a RHD E30, the steering linkage is a huge pain when it comes to clearance with the exhaust, but I'll overcome it I'm sure.
You'll have to let me know how your Z4 rack works out in the end.
Thanks for replying appreciate the time 👍🏽 great videos btw
Cheers!
i have the e46 purple tag. it feels superb. best feeling. better than e36 steering.
Yep it's a brilliant upgrade at 3-turns lock to lock. 😁
@@SPANNERRASH oh I forgot to add. The e46 rack leaks easily. This is my second one since 2017. All bmw racks leak and leak badly.
@@selespeed3 Interesting, where do your racks leak from? I usually find if they leak its the lines being worn out.
Luckily I had my Z3 rack fully rebuilt with new seals so leaking is unlikely - I hope! 😄
@@SPANNERRASH when i had the first one in june 2017, it was fully rebuilt with new seals. Cost me RM350 or roughly GBP62. But it did not last long. And by 2021 it started to leak badly. Leaks so bad oil starts coming out from the right side inner tie rod (boot full of oil) and also at the input shaft where the line is connected.
So, i decided to buy another one in 2022. cost me RM450 or roughly 72 GBP. price has gone up for all parts e30. But I am quite sure it will leak again.
@@selespeed3 That sounds really annyoing, hopefully the first company just did a bad job and its not going to continue with your new rack. 🤞
Great video as always !! I was thinking of changing my steering rack with a e46 one but i didnt know about the air escape grooves thank you for telling in the video !! Also if you remember me i was asking you in the past about the throttle body gap from your m40 engine , i adjust mine and also found a hole in the intake pipe and change it and now it runs perfectly !!
Hi mate, yeah I discovered about the vented inner tie rods when I was researching, It's definitely worth bearing in mind if you do the swap. Combining E46 inners with E36 outers seems to be the answer though!
You'll love the 3-turn purple tag rack on an E30, makes a massive difference to how they drive.
That's brilliant news about the M40 engine, really glad it's running right for you again, they're solid little engines those. 😃
Best video to date ... very informative from the master!!
You're far too kind Jimmy! 😃 Glad you like the vid, hopefully I can follow up very soon and explain about the steering linkage and PAS lines once I've figured it all out myself.
Hi!! I always watch your videos and i just live them... rally nice info and i am doing the same swap in my e30 like you.... almost. I just mounted my Steering Rack from E46 blue tag... i needed to change my E30 rack But u have a question that you also had about the holes. Did you youse the iner holes? Because like you said the angel is not 100%....Thanks again for your videos....
Nice, really glad you like the vids!
Ahh yes, definitely use the inner holes. I realised afterwards that if you use the outer holes there will not be enough space for the engine sump to clear the rack with an M5X swap.
Even though it's tight, stick to the inner holes.
I think the outer ones are for manual steering racks which are much slimmer in design.
Hope that helps!
@@SPANNERRASH Thanx I allready use the inner holes :)
if you use the inner hole.. the steering linkage will be too long.. remove the linkage bush.. bolt it directly.. it wil fit perfectly.
Do you know what tie rods would be needed if keeping the 4x100 standard e30 wheels
You'll need to double check, but I believe you can use standard E30 inner and outer tie rods with this rack.
I want to ask u about NTY steering rack is it good company or not
Hi, this is the company I used to rebuild the Z3 rack: ebay.us/wj9hqU
I am pleased with the result, but the black paint job they did leaves a lot to be desired. 😃
why are you spacing the rack down instead of upward, other than the steering shaft being short. from my understanding, if the car is lowered, and you can move the rack up, to compensate for any amount of lowering it would get rid of a large amount of bump steer. my rack is spaced up, and on the forward holes and has been for several years, but im going thru the car again and found myself finding alot of people spacing the rack down and using the rear holes. my car is swapped, no power steering, gold tag zhp rack from a us 330i e46 with the lines looped. just curious on your input, id imagine spaced down is to give the most factory feel?
Good question, everything I read seemed to indicate spacers on top to put the rack in the right position. But potentially spacing it upwards seems possible and you may well be right regarding bump steer. I will have a closer look at that when the car is a driver and see if I can move it.
I'm honestly not sure there would be space to do it with how close the engine sump on the M52 is to it already. But I guess I can find out.
Using the inner holes turned out to be essential for avoiding that sump too with the powered Z3 rack. Check out some of the later videos to see how the engine fits with what I've got. With a non-PAS rack the outer holes are correct.
Thanks for the input on that I will definitely look into whether I can space the rack upwards.
@@SPANNERRASH ahh, that makes sense for fitment for sure, I have a 1uzfe front sump, it has tons of room. Thanks for the quick reply as I was ready to move the rack being at home for the day lol
Does a 1999 BMW BMW Z3 2.8 Roadster steering rack work for this swap ?
It should work, but that won't be the 2.7 turn rack. Thats only found in the 1.9L 4-cyl Z3.
In my eyes, it's between that one and the E46 purple tag.
well done buddy! keep up the god work
Thanks Alex, I appreciate it mate! 😃
Brilliant detail, as always.
Shane, Australia
Cheers Shane, I do try my best to share what I learn. I'm looking forward to figuring out that steering knuckle and those PAS lines, those are the final piece of this steering puzzle.
Scratching my head about the lines a bit currently though...
@@SPANNERRASH is the power steering pump in the same location / side with the engine swap ?
I would be thinking to get new pipes made, they are going to be nearly impossible to bend without cracking or damaging them.
I know there is a cost but save your sanity.
@@shanechiddy4303 You're probably right mate to be fair, the pump seems roughly in the same location on the M52 engine as it was on the M40, its just the ports on the Z3 rack are very different, much more than I expected having read so many people saying they can be given a slight bend. Maybe that's true for LHD cars and not RHD. 😒
Heey, my e36 rack on the e30 has lock rings on the inner tie rods, the z3 rack doesnt ?
Hey Marco, that's an interesting point you're adding. I actually didn't see any locking rings on the Z3 rack, and it did have the tie rods still attached when it arrived (but in poor condition like the rest of the rack).
Are the locking rings like washers that have been hammered over?
Also, the new E36 tie rods I got didn't come with any. I will hopefully not have an issue, but I guess I will keep an eye on that.
@@SPANNERRASH yeah exactly, mine has washers you have to hammer over. Theres a little slot in the rack where the washer grabs into. Prevents the inner tie rod to spin loose. If it makes any sense
@@e30_318is_project Yep! I know exactly what you're talking about, I'm pretty confident the Z3 rack does have those notches on the rack ends and that will be why. Maybe I will go back and add those locking washers at some point! Thanks for pointing that out mate. 😄
@@SPANNERRASH no problem! Safety first 😄
Current aftermarket e30 tie rods do not have notches for the locking rings anymore. Also, e46 racks did not have locking washer from the factory. Hence, I would not worry too much.
So many years with so much info out there and yet people still get this stuff wrong.
The z3, e46 purple and e46 facelift gold tag racks are all the same RATIO aka "speed" - 13.7:1.
The 2.7 turns"lock to lock" in the z3 rack is because it has less travel than the e46 3.0 turn racks, actually making it LESS desirable.
This is true between some racks, such as E36 and E36 M3 racks.
But I don't believe this is true between Z3 2.7 and E46 3.0 racks. From my understanding, they offer the same or very similar steering angle.
I'm only 95% sure though. 😀
This is factual data.
E30 racks are 20.5:1 ratio.
E36 and e46 prefacelift racks are 15.4:1 ratio.
Z3, e46 purple and e46 "712" gold racks are 13.7:1 ratio.
M3 racks are a progressive ratio.
All these 2.7, 3.0 and 3.2 are not actual ratios, never used by engineers, and are terms invented by enthusiasts, and essentially just a unofficial name for a part.
I can easily limit full travel on an E30 rack to make it 2.7 turns lock to lock, it will still be the same slow 20.5:1 ratio.
@@Psychedelicbananas Thanks for sharing more detail, where are you sourcing your data?
It's starting to sound compelling even if it does conflict with my understanding. 😄
If true it's no great loss luckily as I got the rack at a great price and probably won't miss a hair more steering angle.
Love your commitment to your e30. Im currently doing an E36 Alpina rep but early days. How come you haven't painted under arches before fitting suspension?
He’s already stripped the old under seal and applied a new coat of under seal which is why it’s grey not black. Watch the old videos if you haven’t, worth while.
Hey Martin, yeah I'm deeply invested in this E30 build now, absolutely must see it though to the end. 😆 The E30 Alpina rep sounds cool, hope it goes well for you. I did consider painting the wheel wells black, but then the grey Dinitrol 447 that's on them now seems plenty strong.
If I feel like you can see into the wheel well because its too bright, it wont be a big deal to get in there with a brush at a later date. But we'll see. Cheers!
@@SPANNERRASH yes I see your point. I have picked up a fair few tips watching your videos. Keep up the awesome work 👍
The same company does rebuilds for the E30 one too for £275.00
Yeah that doesn't surprise me, they seem to do all kinds of racks, I guess they are a specialist place. It felt quite expensive spending that much on a rebuild. but I think I'll be glad in the end when my steering feels nice and tight.
All these racks are old and worn at this point.