X5 Tie rod steering E53 2004 3.0
 

Issue. Small play felt in steering wheel while turning at slow speed. 127k miles

Diagonosis. Tiny amount of play - steering rack to steering wheel. And tiny play Driver side tire when push pull test at 9 and 3 position.

Fix. Replaced driver tie rod full assembly. Lemforder part. And boot
Much better steering feel. Almost eliminated slow speed turn play feeling.

Repair observations.

1. Febi boot was a nightmare to install at the rack end.
Wasted over 45 minutes on it. Tight area. Poor visablity. It was worse than the rest of the job combined. The boot was too tight to fit over the rack. And the boot had a tiny lip of plastic on the inside of the leading edge.
I got it on after shaving down the leading edge with a utility knife and coating everything with grease. PITA! Boot kit came with a tube of grease - nice.

2. Inner Boot clamp is impossible it crimp. Had to buy a normal screw operated clamp.

3. Big ass box wrench required to attach the TR to the rack and pinion. It measured just under 1 1/2 inches. Maybe 34mm. No one carries a metric box open wrench that big. Also. Tight area.
Solution. Raised the front to as high as my jack stands would go. Bought a big crescent wrench for $20. Worked perfectly.

4. Bavauto.com has a helpful video on their blog site.

5. Since I was there, I also replaced both sway bar links.

6. I had an impact wrench to remove bolts and I cleaned and soaked all of them 3 different times over a week period. No problems

7. Ball joint. No nightmare. Did not need a puller. A couple of taps with a 5 pound hammer and it popped. Easy.