Re:Steering Rack Rebuild

[Al Waschka <awaschka@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

My car is an 85 325e, so my experience may or may not be applicable to your
situation.  Lost my seals after topping off my system with power steering fluid
instead of the AT fluid recommended for my car.

Saw the same prices you did, except the dealer wanted over 1200 for mine.  For the
E30, the rebuild kit is available as a dealer part, your dealer should be able to
find it for you.  I also needed some of the parts (not all) in the "install kit".
Total was a little over $100.  The job is EASY, once you get the rack out, but it is
NOT OBVIOUS and you will need instructions.  There are a lot of O-rings and seals in
there, and some of them are VERY close to the same size.  Be careful when you take
things out and write down the order and label the parts as you take them out.  The
total process was in my factory shop manual.  If you don't have one, you'll need one
for this job.  The cost of the parts and the manual may just equal the cost of the
rebuilt rack, but then you'll have the manual for anything else you want to do.

The biggest risk is there is some damage that is not covered in the kit, like the
piston area is scored, or something like that.

Again, this is for my 85 325e, I don't know if your experience will be the same as
mine, but the rebuilt rack has a year and about 15K on it and it is working fine.

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