Philip A
07-07-2007, 11:26 PM
If you have steering play in your M3, I have found there are 2 main causes
1 Wear in the tie rods, usually the "ball joints" at each end of the rack.
You can get new complete assemblies from Pelican for about USD30-50 each. any alignment shop can fit them and align. They are the same as any E36
2 The lower steering column "rag joint" gets slop in it. A replacement lower column from a BMW dealer in Australia cost me A$400 but , I bought it from a dealer as Australia is RHD and the LHD one MAY be different. I am sure a Pelican one would be much cheaper.
It is a DIY job,but takes a bit of time (on RHD) as the exhausts make it tight. It is easy to reset the steering wheel by setting it straight ahead, then making sure the wheels are straight ahead by running a straight edge from the front tyres down the sides of the car. It still will be out a "poofteenth" as the wear in the old one makes it impossible to be exactly the same.
regards Philip A
1 Wear in the tie rods, usually the "ball joints" at each end of the rack.
You can get new complete assemblies from Pelican for about USD30-50 each. any alignment shop can fit them and align. They are the same as any E36
2 The lower steering column "rag joint" gets slop in it. A replacement lower column from a BMW dealer in Australia cost me A$400 but , I bought it from a dealer as Australia is RHD and the LHD one MAY be different. I am sure a Pelican one would be much cheaper.
It is a DIY job,but takes a bit of time (on RHD) as the exhausts make it tight. It is easy to reset the steering wheel by setting it straight ahead, then making sure the wheels are straight ahead by running a straight edge from the front tyres down the sides of the car. It still will be out a "poofteenth" as the wear in the old one makes it impossible to be exactly the same.
regards Philip A