Steering Rack Play
 

Hi,

I’m struggling to find much detail on the E53 steering racks....other than on full replacement. I have diagnosed a front knock to be the steering rack. There’s no fluid leaking and it is the rack/rod that comes out has play in it. Speaking to some mechanics, you can change a nylon bush in lots of racks to rectify this, but I can’t seem to find any part #s or diagrams for the rack internals.....just the rack as a whole.

Issue is the same as in this video - https://youtu.be/qEjsBk3bOnY

Any colour would be appreciated.

Cheers

I have the same problem and did some research but never did get to open her up. Stopped using my X5 for a year or so when I got into Subarus. I am looking to finally fix this once and for all too lol!

Our steering racks are made by ZF. There are 2 variants, a standard one and a variable assist one (servotronic).

There is an adjustment for preload on the rack body, on the opposite side of where the steering shaft meets the rack. This is locked in place by a big nut around it. There is a nylon bush underneath this that pushes on the rack. Some people (like me lol) tried to tighten this up and remove play and were successful, but steering effort increased and self centering lessens or goes away.

So a bit more research shows that in other racks there are bushings at the ends of the rack too. I have not been able to verify if ours have these but I assume they do.

There is a company in Eastern Europe that sells repair kits for our rack. I havent confirmed if it includes end bushings but IIRC it includes the preload bushing. I will try searching back and will post a link to the company.

Opening her up is another matter. I've seen some DIY teardowns of ZF racks with exploded diagrams but again I have to search for those pages.

I am interested in this issue as well. My steering feels excellent, but if turned off I can also hear a slight knock if I shake the wheel back and fourth... I was planing on tightening that bolt on the knuckle, but glad now that I did not...

I am still trying to work out if I just get one from a wreckers with 130kms on it and swap them out. I still can’t find anything for the rack bushes.

Found the company that sells a seal kit. Not sure if the bushings are included though.

X5 E53 Steering Rack Seal Kit

If you click on this thread there is a picture of the inner rack bushings. The one that looks like a potato chip is for the rack pre load, and the 2 round bushings go on either end of the rack housing where the rack exits. I believe these are the ones we need to replace to resolve the clunking.

https://www.bimmerforums.com/forum/s...eed-this-piece

Not sure how you guys feel about Pelican Parts but check these out - steering column bushings for E53 X5, 2000 to 2006, they also have a number of other individual parts for the column:

https://www.pelicanparts.com/More_In...20&SVSVSI=BE53


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Thanks Purplefade, Pelican is cool and their DIY guides are a nice reference if they have them for your application.

However I think the OP needs parts and info for the steering rack itself, not the column.

Oh yes, just re-read that [emoji106]. Yep, definitely not a lot out there for the actual rack bushings ☹️


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I think I am in on this as well. I haven't comfirmed it yet 100% but about 90% sure I have some slight knocking coming from the rack bushings. I have rebuilt a few racks(not BMW) years ago, and do remember that getting parts can be an issue. For sure compensating for wear by adjusting the preload is not a good idea.

Hi 80stech, there is a link to a company offering a kit for our racks. It has a list of included parts too. Since you have experience with racks maybe you can tell if the needed parts are there?

I was trying to, but I dont have experience opening steering racks so I couldnt tell.

It looks like I need to register to get a look at what is in the kit, so I will do that. It will be a bit of a crap shoot regardless because we can't tell for sure whats needed till we have one apart. Definitely a good place to start though! :)

^that would be neat, thanks!

Maybe we will finally reach the point that we can do these racks ourselves. I see a lot of remans, but they always seem to concentrate on leaks. I emailed one of the better known sellers to ask if they did the bushings and they never answered. Since I was looking at remans because of the clunk and not leaks, I wanted to be sure they did work in those areas. I'd hate to get a reman that clunks or will clunk soon after install!

That is a really good point! I avoid reman stuff as much as I can exactly for those kind of reasons. Have you taken off your end boot and observed the movement as in the video? Out of curiuosity, did you change your inner socket joints some time before this problem came up?

Yes I've taken off the end boot. Rack is moving up and down as it goes in and out of the housing. And yes, this was also after I did most of the front suspension including new OE socket joints with tie rod end assemblies.

Taking the socket joints off really worried me. They are on really tight and there are no flats on the rack shaft to hold. I was almost sure I must have damaged something but everything seemed fine after. I actually didn't tighten the new socket joints nearly as much and put a little lock-tite on instead. Maybe we squished the teflon bushings when we changed the socket joints ? I can't seem to get much more info from that link you posted but I have a feeling they are only selling the seals. We need what is shown on that E46? picture that is linked. Maybe the bushings are the same? It might be a good idea to look for parts according to the rack not the vehicle.

^Possible! Yeah, there would be a lot of force on those bushings for sure.

Your idea sounds like a good approach to it, will be looking around for more details.

Offhand, I remember checking if there were other vehicles that use the same rack but it looks like it is E53-exclusive.

Hopefully there are racks with parts that interchange though.

Hi all,
I had my rack rebuilt by one(ZF Steering?) of the ONLY 2 Co's in U.S(at time I researched-maybe 5 years ago) that did rebuilds for our racks. They would NOT accept my rack directly from me.....forced me to go through one of their "Authorized" vendors(Pep Boys) to get it fixed :rolleyes
I had "Play" in mine(no leaks) and removed it/pkg'd it up myself/sent it off through PB and got a swap out(reman'd) one in return( I KNOW it wasn't my exact one cuz I signed mine in an inconspicuous place to test if they rebuilt MINE). Anyway, I had to pay PBs between $600-$700 for rack......New one thru BMW was $3000+(JUST the part!)
PBs actually did ZERO and prob earned a pretty penny off me. Rack is still going strong!
Interesting if this fix works!!!!:thumbup:


Steve

Just saw this thread.

Don't know if it helps but over here in the Middle East racks are pulled and the teeth are cleaned up (mill work) and then new seals replaced. As I understand it by the time the gears are adjusted (lash) it's been too long and the teeth on the rack are screwed too badly to allow you to actually adjust them hence the teeth cleaning.:dunno:

Maybe you can tighten the lash up enough to be good but I'm not sure how big a risk it is if the teeth are mildly toasted...

Blackvette, it would be cool if we could get ZF rebuilds, not some random parts guys pick and pulls.

EODguy, I played with lash adjustment but it also tightens steering up too much. A proper fix would be much preferred.

Just wanted to say it's 2022 and I am still living with my clunking steering rack. :bustingup

My steering slip-u-joint started is now more noticeable than the rack so I don't know if the rack maybe corrected itself a little bit (maybe teflon came back to shape) or I just don't notice it because of the slip joint assembly. I had replaced the slip joint once but it latest less than 100K km. ;(

I had a deadband in my steering wheel when I first got the car - about one inch at the steering wheel left-right with no movement of the wheels. Might have been reasonable to blame it on the rack.

But it turned out it was just the double-u-joint in the steering column. I did not even need to replace any parts. I just needed to carefully reposition it, and tighten down the set screws. I'm not the only on to have had this problem and solution - other examples on here.

I'll have to check my old one but I think it was the joints that had the play. I remember thinking though, that it might be repairable so I kept the old one.

Here's the thread, in case there is any hope the problem is here rather than in the rack.

https://xoutpost.com/bmw-sav-forums/...ring-play.html

As I remember and briefly noted in that thread, there was some play I could see down at where the steering column goes into the rack, but that turned out to be insignificant. Once I tightened the u-joint screws, things felt as tight as anything, and still are now at 203k miles.

Try this if you are doing adjustments, doung gears by "feel" almost never works out well.
https://www.aerospacemanufacturingan...nt-app-081318/

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That is pretty cool, thanks!

There really is an app for everything now lol

[emoji106]

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2023 and the rack in the 3.0 clunks on lol!

I noticed there are brand new Chineseium racks now available. I wonder how those perform.

I had mine rebuilt and the hardest part is the little torque converter on the rack as it is a point of failure that you can't buy a replacement for.
(At least I couldn't)

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I think I had this from pretty much day 1! took it somewhere to get it rectified but they couldn't tighten it up....just learnt to live with it alas...and so don't have an ultimate driving machine....but hey way things are going we are all going to end up back to carts and horses after we are first instructed to go green and use public transport instead of cars...sorry couldn't help the sarcasm

I hear you brother [emoji1787]

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Oh boy have I done a ton of steering stuff on the e53 lately. Dissected every piece of it.
Always start with cleaning the universal joint with a ton of brake clean. You will not believe how much crap gets stuck in there.
Don’t forget to lube it up again and maintain it as well. (Or buy a new one but€€€€).

Second I’d replace the rubber disc on the steering wheel side. Either for a new rubber or a poly/alu part. It’s crazy how much better the power steering pics up when there is no compression before the input shaft of the rack. (You’ll have to drill out those rivets so take some time for this)
Yes it might let you recognize a wobbly wheel sooner but isn’t that something you’d also want?
In short great steering setup but needs tlc due to age.

Hope it helps.