Rebuild my ZF Steering rack or buy from scrap ?

[J.M.D]

Hi Bimmeratis,

I am in a situation right now. My rack is leaking as of the moment and there is a little steering play as well since i bought the car (Almost 198k done on it). Until today i was toping up the SF and keeping it live.

But now decided to have a fix on the leak. Well have two options now.

1- I have an offer for used rack in good condition for 900 AED from a 330xi (My car 330i-M Sport)
2- Rebuild from local garage for 500 including removal and fitting ( 6 months warranty)

Now my question is how reliable is rebuilding as i never heard of any oil seals/gaskets produced bu OEMs for E46 racks, so these local garages using some (crap or may be not )universal rings ?

or to STOP & forget about rebuilding stuffs and to go for option 1 ?

[Wazif]

you've sort of answered your question :) unless they are using OEM parts which can be attested for quality. I'd stay away from the rebuild.

Before going for the used one, try to get some history on the salvage car...how old/how many kms was it driven for etc....if it seems to be a good condition, then go for it. Dont expect any warranty on it though.

[Bruno]

how much you want to bet that if you rebuild it will leak again??

[J.M.D]

you've sort of answered your question :) unless they are using OEM parts which can be attested for quality. I'd stay away from the rebuild.

Before going for the used one, try to get some history on the salvage car...how old/how many kms was it driven for etc....if it seems to be a good condition, then go for it. Dont expect any warranty on it though.

I went with the 2nd choice. Replaced the rack. Need to change the PS Pump now as i hear some wining noise when turning the steering in a stopped position and also the steering wheel is bit more harder than i wanted.

how much you want to bet that if you rebuild it will leak again??

I know as i was also not very confident for the re-build option. (A)

[Wazif]

Awesome!

hope the PS pump will be the last of your woes. The symptoms mentioned point straight to the pump.

[J.M.D]

Awesome!

hope the PS pump will be the last of your woes. The symptoms mentioned point straight to the pump.

Haha.. no it doesn't ends there as the journey will continue to the next episode i.e. to replace the struts and shocks to the coilovers. As of now the spring is cut on the front by the PO which i don't entertain. :thumbsdown: More over the car is so F***g stiff which is also another reason to migrate to coil-overs. As always any suggestion ?

[Wazif]

Haha.. no it doesn't ends there as the journey will continue to the next episode i.e. to replace the struts and shocks to the coilovers. As of now the spring is cut on the front by the PO which i don't entertain. :thumbsdown: More over the car is so F***g stiff which is also another reason to migrate to coil-overs. As always any suggestion ?

ouch sorry to hear that.... Go for Bilsteins, i've heard good things about them. No personal experience with coilovers, i've always dropped mine by replacing the stock springs. Using H&R and Eibach. Both are good and have no complaints so far.

[J.M.D]

ouch sorry to hear that.... Go for Bilsteins, i've heard good things about them. No personal experience with coilovers, i've always dropped mine by replacing the stock springs. Using H&R and Eibach. Both are good and have no complaints so far.

Thats cool to hear. You have experience with both ? or either of them ? Because i heard H&R again way too stiff compared to Eibach. Also heard just lowering springs will take out your struts and shocks way earlier. Any such bad experience ?

[Wazif]

Thats cool to hear. You have experience with both ? or either of them ? Because i heard H&R again way too stiff compared to Eibach. Also heard just lowering springs will take out your struts and shocks way earlier. Any such bad experience ?

Well both springs are running on different Chassis, so cant offer a like for like comparison.

The H&R is on the e46 and the Eibach on the e92. The e46 is a lot stiffer than stock, but cant compare it to the e92 cause the e92 is more refined and softer from the factory, the eibachs made it stiffer but still comfortable to daily drive (i was impressed by it!)

Regarding wear and tear, no issues so far (thank god!). been running H&R for 4 years+ on the e46. I did the bushing replacement as precautionary after 100k kms. Eibachs on the e92 were recently installed, so all is well so far.

I know many owners running just springs without any damage being done to stock struts.

[J.M.D]

Well both springs are running on different Chassis, so cant offer a like for like comparison.

The H&R is on the e46 and the Eibach on the e92. The e46 is a lot stiffer than stock, but cant compare it to the e92 cause the e92 is more refined and softer from the factory, the eibachs made it stiffer but still comfortable to daily drive (i was impressed by it!)

Regarding wear and tear, no issues so far (thank god!). been running H&R for 4 years+ on the e46. I did the bushing replacement as precautionary after 100k kms. Eibachs on the e92 were recently installed, so all is well so far.

I know many owners running just springs without any damage being done to stock struts.

Thanks Waszif. This input is again biasing me towards Eibach as my mind was set already for it. Thank You :) Other things i want to ask is , on the Eibach did you go with the Pro-Kit or the Sport-Line series ? I am tending towards Pro-Kit FYI.

[Wazif]

Thanks Waszif. This input is again biasing me towards Eibach as my mind was set already for it. Thank You :) Other things i want to ask is , on the Eibach did you go with the Pro-Kit or the Sport-Line series ? I am tending towards Pro-Kit FYI.

i went with the Pro kit :)