tibbs.james

I have found various write ups on it, but they have all been for LHD drive cars. I would be willing to modify a steering joint as i have a spare. The only usefull info I found is this > http://www.bmw-rallying.co.uk/forum/viewto...d0405235d5fd00d

Yep, my old one was stuffed and it has been replaced but symptoms are exactly the same.

Hi Guys. 3 months ago my e30 ( alloy body ) steering rack failed and there was fluid everywhere. So that was alright i got a second hand replacement and put it in, has been going perfectly ever since until........ I felt a terrible notch / click when turning, This steering rack is not leaking but i have been told by people to check over tie rods and ball joints and anything else that might be causing some slop. I have had the torch under the car while running and checked over such things to no result. i only get the notch in the steering when the car is running, but i have been told it is very unlikely to be the pump so it could only be the steering rack ? all the tie rods and ball joints have been replaced and appear to operate correctly. After more inspection i removed the rubber boots and had a look at the rack itself and noticed it seemed to be moving up and down as the wheels turned. ( i hope to shove a dial gauge on this tonight and measure how much vertical play it has ) I am certain this is not meant to be like this. Now questions. 1. Are the alloy body E30 steering racks known to have a lot of issues ? 2. Are the earlier Cast Steel E30 Steering racks known to have less issues and be more reliable ? 3. Would i be right in assuming that later model E36 steering racks while very similar ( and documented to fit e30's ) would be a re design of an E30 rack and such reliability issues may have been solved ? 4. Would I be correct in assuming it pointless to install an older Cast Steel e30 steering rack into the car and the best option would in fact be a E36 steering rack ? yes the car has suspension modifications and I do like sporty driving. 5. Can E30 steering racks be rebuilt on your bench top at home, and are the parts available ? Part of me wants a rebuilt rack since I am rather annoyed about having to replace it AGAIN. but I am also temped to a quicker E36 rack...... Help Please !

My Car gave me some busted tie rods and Mondays wheel alignment is not redundant. I gave myself the Han kook Z211 Semi Slick Dot legal tires though !

Right I have had the car in nosed into the workshop to try and diagnose the problem. Both the front struts all check out perfectly, no noise or roughness coming from there. As far as i can work out the noise is infarct coming from the power steering rack but I am still unsure on exactly what is making the noise and where its coming from. With the power steering belt removed the click/notch was all but gone but i do believe i can feel it very faintly. I think with the P/S belt installed this amplifies the notch/click Rack could be stuffed, sounds like i need steering rack number .3 If anybody can help me out diagnosing the problem that would be appreciated. S**T if this carries on I'm going to have to get a car that can actually get me to work.

Belt is good, checked tension of the belt last night while i swapping my Universal Joints. The Front strut assembly was recently replaced with 51mm, struts, i suppose it could be this. I only ever get the click when there is a bit of steering effort required. Good point Glenn, its not the spring plates but it could be the upper bearing for sure, it was fitted up as it came apart with all the correct washer and everything, what problems would i be looking for upon dis assembly ? These struts have been fitted for a month now with no problems.

As it turns out after taking the car to work today The Notch'y and click'y feeling at 50km and slower speeds is still there when turning So this could be my already replaced power steering rack stuffed ( it was a mint second hand one with no leaks ) Or it could be the power steering pump. I ask this because when the engine isn't running and turning the wheels lock to lock on the garage floor feels perfectly fine. Will the P/S rack be any worse off if i remove the belt and test it like that ? If it turns out the pump is shot can I just leave the belt off and drive it without power steering ?

Hi Guys On Friday i felt my steering start to click when driving around roundabouts and car parks.Turns out it was the lower steering universal joint had gone sloppy on me. But don't worry i have replaced the whole joint with a mint low km's one. My real issue is that the dealer wants around $1000 for a complete unit ex Germany and this seems ridiculous. I don't normally like fitting second hand or non rebuilt parts but i have been forced to due to cost and availability. Have these universal joints been successfully rebuilt before ? I would like to have mine rebuilt and fit a urethane steering coupler but i want to know if this is possible, the actual joint looks like its pressed together in a way it won't come apart again. Any Idea's appreciated. so if you own and old BMW check your steering rubber coupler and make sure the joints are not sloppy.

I have recently fitted these to my E30 and before that to my Datsun Z. Best shocks available without going to a coil over. $750 for the lot is a bloody cheap price, I would absolutely recommend these to anybody who enjoys a tight responsive handling car. Ollie has a good price going on these,don't make the mistake of buying one end only as you will no doubt want the full set a week after fitting. Good luck with the sale Ollie.

Fitting the bushings up with the control arms fitted to the car went very well, very easy to do . I have removed the control arms before and for me it takes longer to remove the control arms than it does to just change the bushings under the car. And then you don't need a ball joint remover either. If you have a large Vice, Hacksaw, small coping saw, grinder and usual tools you will be sweet to do it this way.

ok sorry to revive an older topic. Tonight i cut the old rubber bushing with a coping saw, removed the lollipop easily enough. With the rest of the rubber bush stills tick to the control arm i very carefully used a grinder to only just cut through the metal sleeve. ( note this did not contact the actual contrl arm as there is another layer of rubber to protect it ) I cut the inside metal sleeve of the old bushing of the lollipop in 2 places 90% of the way through ( once again not cutting all the way to make sure to not damage the lollipop housing ) I pressed in the new bushing with a big vice a socket and a metal place on the back to make sure the pressere was even, this worked very well. I am also fairly certain i can press the new bush & lollipop onto the control arm while the control arm is mounted on the car, by using 2 lengths of threaded rod and a steel plate through one of the holes on the control arm and another steel plate on the bush & just tighten them up as required. I will report how this goes tomorrow morning, everything up untill this stage for one side has taken around 90 minutes with plenty of tools and a nice concrete floor handy. I hope this is helpful to some people, I am using OEM BMW m3 offset bushings.

Do you need to remove the Viscous part ? because you can just undo the 8 10mm bolts holding the plastic fan piece on if you don't need to remove the entire fan assembly.

Once your down to the water pump, its almost a good excuse to go a little bit further and do cam belt, cylinder head and exhaust manifold gaskets too. On my car i did all the cam belt and water pump job, used the car for a week then blew a head gasket. It only took marginally longer to remove the whole cylinder head once the cam belt was off. Rust repair is looking good!

Enviro Degreaser is the best product i have ever used. Many engine and machine shops use it instead of ACID dip. It comes in a 20L drum and if you put it in a bucket or a tank it can be used many times over and over again, even once its filthy black you can skim the gunk off the top and use it just as good as clean stuff. Works better than brake cleaner, totally non toxic, won't harm your skin . You generally only need to brush a little bit on leave for 5 minutes and hose off. Its quite expensive but one drum should last a whole year. Compare that to a $6 can .. and it works out a lot better. http://www.tergo.co.nz/Tech%20Data/HTML/En...20Degreaser.htm

If somebody Can provide the M3 alignment specs I would be willing to try these out and report back. My M3 bushings are here for me to install,I will book alignment in for monday if somebody can probvide some specs.

Thanks for the Numbers JIB I will fit them up and see what the alignment machine says. As the shop will have the toe on their computer i can confirm if you remembered the correct factory spec. CamB What did the car feel like before it had a new wheel alignment when the new bushings were fitted. Definitely a big improvement to be had after a wheel alignment? Reason I ask was mine was done a month ago not realizing my lower arms and bushings were stuffed. I Do know i need to have one done, but how soon is another question.

Thanks for comments Incary & CamB, Yes I am DIY so I i might measure it and see what it is, might have to make do for a while. Fitting the Offset Bushings is no worries, but what about wheel alignment, is there specific requirements that can further improve handling once these are fitted ? If i take it to a normal wheel alignment place is there any possible way they can muck it up, or i could I provide them with some specifications to use ? My issue is I do not work in a rural town and only have access to basic tire shop wheel alignment facilities. What would be considered too low for front camber?

Thanks JIB, that's quite helpful. My rear camber isn't excessive but i am getting mild inside edge wear on the rear tires, however it took 2 years of having it lowered to get that far so im happy with tire wear at the back. Chch BMW are selling me a pair of genuine BMW E30 M3 eccentric front bushings for around $96+gst, if they are good enough for a M3 they will work fine on the E30. Does the 1/2 degree camber change on the offset tops really make a difference or are adjustable ones required to make enough difference ?

Hi Guys. I would like to post my reviews on my current suspension setup on my E30 320i. Also read lower for questions on front camber castor. The setup is Koni Sport rebound adjustable front and rear ( Older model yellows that do not have the external white adjustment ) 325 Front and rear larger sway bars. Ireland Engineering rear sub frame mounts and T/A bushings Eibach progressive springs ( rate unknown ) 30mm drops. I have never been for a ride in an H&R bilstein fitted E30 or a series car for that matter but with the eibach lowering springs and the front shocks set to 50 % hard front and back the car feels very nice on the road. The ride is slightly firm and you do feel bumps in the road but its still rides very well and is not harsh in any way. NO REAR SWAYBAR i noticed more body roll and unpredictable oversteer with no sign of understeer. REAR BAR FITTED Traction was a lot better body roll was gone around an average to sharp corner there was no real sign of understeer. Around a tight roundabout there was fairly apparant understeer and the front tires making a fair amount of noise. I think the car was a lot better with a rear sway bar, currently fitted with a single spinner and spinning up a wheel by accident is almost totally gone. Front Camber,Castor. What are the options here for front camber castor. currentlty i have factory strut tops and factory rubber bushings. Bushings need replaced ASAP, Could somebody please explain the advantage over the offest "m3" type bushing and why people use it ? I would also like to know if increasing my front camber a little with help with the hints of under steer i have been getting, 30mm lowered to give an idea of ride height and front camber. Any advice on what type and brand of bushing to go for would be great. Cheers James

Wheel alignment on the back of an e30 does not exist unless you have the camber and castor adjustable read end modifications.It only tells you how far out of spec it is What type of tires do you have ? somebody more qualified might offer advice if the type =, model and brand of tires are causing trouble with your setup also. Do you run a LSD or single spinner ? somebody might offer opinion if that will make a big difference with stiffer springs/quality shocks like you have. I am very interested in how you go as I have fitted koni adjusrables to my car and expeirenced very similar results to what you did. i still have not fitted a rear swaybar either.

Ok Escort Vs WRX in a crash Somebody find example of an escort crashing at 120kmh, then somebody find an example of a wrx crashing at 120kmh. you better make sure the cars cars into the same object in the same conditions on the same road for a fair and direct comparison. If nobody can do this stop talking rubbish about who thinks what about different cars from different era's, unless you have suitable experience or knowledge comparing either does not help anybody int his topic. So speed cameras... There might be more of them soon and yes its frustrating .....so what ? Don't speed and don't waste your money on fines, If you get done for speeding bad luck. Bring on Better driving training and better attitudes and more respect as mentioned earlier in the thread.

I have a 40 Sony Bravia, not the full HD the one below it and it, I walked into the shop and checked out every tv in the dam place. In the end i decided this one had the best quality picture. It does have all the motion flow stuff as well. When i went TV shopping i was not sure what i would end up with, i just made sure that i got a tv that i liked. Not because somebody said that one was better than the other. Of course price also came into it. It was easy to compare because they all played the same HD preview dvd. I like my LCD it makes a killer computer screen for playing car racing games

2 Years ago I helped Modify and rebuild a 2 door 83 starlet. With a rebuilt engine, mags and brand new tires and primer paint job we sold it for $1500. We considered ourselves lucky to get such a high price but it was one of those- smile when you put your foot down kind of rebuild engines. As mentioned above starting the bidding at $1000 seems fair and reasonable.

if you do some investigating you might find suitable length thread and torque rating ARP studs that suit a diffierent model or brand. the v6 nissan im building is full of ARP parts numbers ment for diffierent engines.

Repco have them for about $45 just steel painted ones They work good as long as your tires are not wider than standard