E36 power steering rack conversion

[BMW_e30]

I have an 84 e30 and was thinking about doing the conversion and was wondering if there's anything I should be careful of


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[M20_fever]

Being an '84 I assume it has an M10 or M40? What is it you want to gain from the rack swap? Is this a track car? There are plenty of writeup on the swap, but basically unless you plan on pulling the engine you will either need to bend the mounting tabs down or lift the engine to get the new rack in. You will also need to modify the steering u-joint.

[87e30]

Didn't the m40 start in 1987?

[ten2doyle102]

I just finished my rack swap and it is so worth it. . I got my hands on a z3 rack 2.7l2l so it's super responsive now. I have a late model car so the linkages don't have to be modified, however yours being a early model will need it. Usually required grinding the rivets out and replacing the rubber vibration damper with some steel spacers.

Depending on the car, you may have to futz with the lines as well. Depending on how they get routed, you'll have tweak them till they don't rub.

For me, the engine was out so it was simple to install. Most seem to bend the tabs down, but that seems sketchy.

You'll need some 1/2 spacers as the e36 rack is shorter. Finally, e36 or e30 tie rods will work.

There's lots of write ups out there.

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[Patlan]

I imagine this kind of a modification cannot be done by someone extremely knowledgeable, right?

[Yoshi]

You mean can't be done unless you're extremely knowledgeable? It's not too bad honestly. It's a pretty direct swap.

[M20_fever]

There is enough write-ups online for this that a monkey could do it, provided that monkey could work a computer.

[Bartle]

Hey, never overestimate capabilities of monkeys like me haha. But yeah, this is well explained in a lot of the places online.

[87e30]

There is enough write-ups online for this that a monkey could do it, provided that monkey could work a computer.

Infinite monkeys could do it!

[Yoshi]

I like the write up where they stop half way through to eat tacos.