E39 Steering recommendations

[Huttey 0]

First of all I am a novice, so I am after all the help I can get and after reading the threads on this informative forum I thought I would ask the experts.

I am looking at what reasonably priced mods/upgrades I can do to a 1999 E39 540 to improve the general ride, primarily in the steering area. I don't know if this is unique to my car but when cornering at reasonable but not too fast pace there is a feeling that the car is about to let go, could be me could be the car. Hope this makes sense, anyway I look forward to your recommendations.

[Nic325i 0]

Worth bearing in mind also that the steering of E39 540i's was somewhat compromised from the factory because they use a recirculating ball steering mechanism rather than rack and pinion type found on others (528i, 530i, most other cars). Not sure why the inferior system was used, space problems maybe?

[Huttey 0]

You can do lots , but first give us some detail of the car like -

manual / auto

Stock / sport suspension

15,16,17, 18, 19 inch wheels

Tyres - size and type and age

Finally how you want it to drive.

I have an E39 528 which has been progessively "enhanced"

Auto

not sure, is there anyway of determining whether stock/sports?

17" staggered

Good condition, 1 yr od - Front 235/45 R17 97W, Back 255/40 R17 97W

Probably like a 320, I just want to get rid of this impending feeling of doom if I were to tap the accelerator a little bit more. Less body roll and reduce the feeling that the tail is about to go past me.

[kiwi535 538]

make sure alignment etc is up to scratch

sports supension will sit a bit lower than std slightly with possibly a more aggressive set up

Not sure if your car has anti roll bars,but upgrade or install to mtech std minimum,and lower it a bit.

[turbolizard 38]

....do to a 1999 E39 540 to improve the general ride, primarily in the steering area. I don't know if this is unique to my car but when cornering at reasonable but not too fast pace there is a feeling that the car is about to let go....

I have aan e34 540 and did a couple of things that greatly improved the steering.

1. I tightened the adjusting nut on the steering column that allows the wheel to telescope in and out - this helped a bit.

2. I adjusted the steering box to remove backlash on centre. This made a huge difference to straight line tracking and turn in. I think I may have had to jack the engine off the mounts to do this as it was quite hard to get to but was well worth the effort. I found some info on the net describing what to do - will try and find for you if you cannot.

I'm not absolutely certain this also applies to e39 540, but recirculating ball steering is used on the v8 e39 so there is a good chance.