New Steering Rack, tie rods, rear shocks, mounts, brakes, egad!
Posted by Kelly
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They're almost as expensive as children aren't they?
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I did see that commecial! I proceded to show everyone around with an amount of pride that no one understood
So let's break this down a little. You may have to remind me how dirty you are willing to get and how many miles are on your car.
Do you know, or did the mechanic say, what symptoms led him to believe the steering rack was bad? I've seen many a thread on replacing the E30 steering rack, but 100% of those threads are about people upgrading, or putting in something that is less likely to fall apart at the wrong time. All of it is for track use though. Perhaps someone around here has seen a bad steering rack, but I know I'm on my original steering rack, and I have some solid miles on my car!
Sadly, the alignment goes hand in hand with the tie rods (a lot of steering/suspension component work requires an alignment). But tie rods pretty much require an immediate alignment. Depending on the history of your car, there could be a few other things slightly out of the way that the mechanic may have missed, but that would cause fun steering issues or tire wobble. You might want to check out your control are bushings. There are a number of things down there that can rot out and degrade (ask me how I know), but the control arm bushings are a bit further back in the steering assembly and it's possible the mechanic could have missed them. It's the kind of thing that becomes a good "While you're replacing everything else..." sort of deal.
Me too! You should come on over, we can have a rear shock party! 
Perhaps others can correct me, but my understanding is that rear shocks and mounts are a breeze to replace yourself. Springs in the back, and shocks/springs in the front can be a real PITA, but the back shocks are a good DIY. This is where reminding me of how willing you are to get dirty would be helpful
Actually, reading what you said again it sounds like you are set on having the mechanic do at least this portion of the work?
Brakes and rotors, something that I will never pay a person to do. I could be dieing, crippled, and blind, and I'd still want to change my own brakes because of how easy it it. And cheaper! And with a little bit of critical thinking, almost impossible to do wrong.
I'm assuming you don't want to put racing shocks/springs on this car, but want to stick with "stock" like components. There are many good options for this, and people here have already mentioned my own personal preference for sticking with a stock ride height. However I'll add that it would be good to make sure that the springs are still a stock height. If the previous owner lowered it using Koni's and different springs, sticking a stock shock in there may not work out well. If your mechanic is worth his salt, he should be thinking about that possibility and double checking what is already on there and how compatible it is with what he buys.
If you aren't looking for other major components to spend money on, than the only thing I might ask the mechanic about while he is under the car with a good light source, is to double check all the rubber mounts and bushings, and make sure the muffler isn't about to fall off. At least that's what I check when I'm under my car :-) Best of luck, Kelly! Everything I read says that after doing some suspension work like what is being proposed, that the car will ride noticeably different. It's so very nice to spend money "repairing" an older car, and actually get an improvement in drive-ability from it. That doesn't happen real often ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1989 - E30 - M20 - Manual. Approximately 270,000 miles 2000 - E46 - M52TUB28 - Manual. Approximately 110,000 miles 
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Hi Kelly,
Glad to see Beemie is up and running again...and safely
I see you had the wheel alignment done so it's possible that prior to this, the alignment was off. If there is too much toe in or toe out, the steering can range from super easy to armstrong only mode. As Rick points out, it could just be a little while before the new rack is broken in and/or you have adjusted to it. I didn't offer any input this time since the other guys were handling it so well. I guess we trained em good, huh? 
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Hi Peter and Rick, Thanks for you notes above. Per Rick's question, yes the steeling wheel now does return to the home position more easily. It is still a bit stiff. Nonetheless, the turning force that I must apply with my hands is now even and regular. Before the new rack, sometimes the pressure would be hard-easy hard-easy. It was strange. Anyway, all is well now. :-) Kelly |
Hey Kelly All's well that ends well I just did (okay, had it done) a new front end on my car and it's still a little stiff but it's starting to feel great now and having everything tight is really cool. Now I have to tighten up the rear end 
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So what mechanic did you go to? I'm a Bay Area person (when not suffering over here in Germany) and I know a slew of folks and parts suppliers. If you are in the City, I might know someone but am not sure. If you are elsewhere, there is a guy in the East bay in Dublin named Art Funk who is BY FAR the best BMW mechanic I've ever seen. Funk's European. Art is such a good guy that he has even allowed me to borrow tools, but he is also the only person I would allow to touch any car I'd ever own.
For future reference for everyone on brakes: Get them from Turner motorsport. They have a plenty sufficient for street use pad as part of a package deal that is quite impressive: rotors for all 4 corners, pads for all 4 corners, brake fluid, and brake pad sensors all for $220!!!!!!!! Glad to hear it all got done, though. The difference in steering wheel input could be a difference in the fluid your mechanic used. Hopefully he drained and bled the system completely as you don't want to have to do it again (unless you are planning on a Z3 rack conversion).
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Good point about the PS fluid. All too often mechanics put PS fluid in instead of the ATF that BMW designed the pump and rack for. Regular PS fluid eventually eats through the seals 
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Hi LTS! Good point about the fluid. I'll look at my receipt. I take my car to Richardson Automotive on Lombard St in SF. I do like them a lot. To me, the seam very earnest and hardworking. They also calm me down about the repairs as opposed to the first mechanic who caused great anxiety. They don't specialize in BMWs per say, but there are usually a few in the parking lot. My car is a normal stock street driving E30 - very smooth running, happy-go-lucky car which knows few stresses except the occasional emergency stop or maneuver which urban driving requires. When to you return to the Bay Area? Why are you suffering in Stuttgart? Vegetable deprivation? Cheers, Kelly :-) |
That might be but I've always wanted to try it! I signed up for an extra year in the army for Germany and a few schools, of course I got shipped straight to Vietnam but hey, .....
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