M42club.com - Home of the BMW E30/E36 318i/iS
DISCUSSION => Suspension => Topic started by: e30boarder on October 28, 2010, 05:00:00 PM
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the engines out of my car... i thought it would be an ideal time to upgrade the steering rack since i hear about some of the issues on here. i havent had any problems with my current setup but i wouldnt mind an upgrade. i have a white e36ti junker sitting in my yard and i was thinking of stealing the rack out of it. ive done alittle bit of research on the e36 rack swap but I just wanted to make sure that the steering rack in the e36ti is the same? I was thinking of stealing the whole suspension to... not sure yet though..
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From what I've heard all the e36 racks are the same except the M3 and Z3, which are slightly faster. I've also read that you'll need to bend the P/S lines a bit, get some washers to shim the rack & maybe make a new lower cover plate for the firewall.
The front suspension on an e36 Ti won't work for the e30. Springs are too wide & the wheel gets moved a bit too far back into the wheel opening. To do that I'm told you need late e36 M3 arms (96-99 with e30 ball joints pressed in), e36 M3 or e30 springs and e30 M3 offset CABs. Rear suspension is very similar but the Ti hubs have narrower bearings.
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My e36 rack came out of a Ti. Hardest part is cutting the firewall to make the steering shaft line up.
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hows the steering with the new rack? basically, was it worth the trouble?
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the write up on r3v didnt say anything about cutting the firewall. Is that a different way to do it?
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An e36 rack swap is in the top 3 of mods to do. Since it has an airbag the shaft angle has to be modified so you have to cut the firewall. I've seen pictures of people just barely nibbling the firewall but mine needed to be cut and moved almost 3/4 of an inch. Good part is you don't have to modify the guibo joint.
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ok so instead of cutting the joint or knuckle, you cut the firewall?
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post #154
http://www.r3vlimited.com/board/showthread.php?t=66247&highlight=steering+rack+swap&page=8
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Dunno if you did this yet, but when I installed my e36 rack, it went in no problem. Had to bend the PS lines, obviously. I also had to cut some of the plastic shielding away from the driver's side wheel well randomly, and when I drove it, it vibrated like crazy against the firewall plate. Really annoying, so I went to Sears and got a cone grinder for the drill, removed the black plate from the interior, and rather awkwardly ground it down as best I could (only ended up taking a sliver off it where it was contacting). Been enjoying faster steering since :cool: