[ahmedb]

Originally Posted by Brittman

The tool was purchased from these people below for like £42. Very friendly, excellent communication and you can pay via paypal. Delivery was around three days I think via DPD tracked courier. Seem a bit pricey I know but I think its worth having this in your tool kit if your planning on keeping your car for a few years. The car is transformed after adjustment, no more cringing whilst going over bumps, and also mine was wandering a little at higher speeds.... All cured


MS G Equipment
Kharkov,Ukraine
office: +380577280171
mob. +38 098 630 86 30 (whatsapp, viber, wechat)
skype: MSG Equipment
[www.servicems.eu]www.servicems.eu
[www.servicems.it]www.servicems.it
[www.sts.parts]www.sts.parts

As above, one of my previous F31 330d's came with this tool from the same link. The previous owner said it fixed the knock a treat. I sold mine back on the forum for about £30 I think so you could buy it, use it and sell it back on and it will hardly cost you anything.

[F31er]

Has anyone had tyre wear issues associated with the steering rack knock? My drivers side tyre is wearing on both the inside and outside edge.

I have the knock and can feel play in the rack when pushing and pulling on the tie rod with the car jacked up.

[florinbrv]

Originally Posted by ahmedb

As above, one of my previous F31 330d's came with this tool from the same link. The previous owner said it fixed the knock a treat. I sold mine back on the forum for about £30 I think so you could buy it, use it and sell it back on and it will hardly cost you anything.

I'm interested in buying the tool. Any chances you can let me know the user who bouth it from you?

[ahmedb]

Originally Posted by florinbrv

I'm interested in buying the tool. Any chances you can let me know the user who bouth it from you?

It was from MSG Equipment, tool MS00084.

On the first page of this thread, someone posted a pdf link attachment of the catalogue.

[mrjanosf]

How about this? Did anyone try the repair kit?

[jps24]

Another frustrated out of warranty f30 owner here. My trusted mechanic is very reluctant to look at this issue - he is aware of the preload tensioner that is described in the thread, but advises against messing with it for the same reasons that Turboprop mentioned above.

I don't have ~£3,000 to spend on a new steering rack, but frankly am concerned that this noise has got worse and would affect my ability to sell the car on.

I've been keenly watching the responses to the video above, in case this new £30 'thrust piece' component is a viable fix....

Does anyone know of a good BMW specialist that understands this problem? I gather that going to BMW themselves with a car that is second hand is basically a waste of time?

Won't be bothering with another f30!

[Sasquartch]

I'm interested in this too
I've already had the rack replaced under warranty but 2 years and 25k miles later the knock is (just) coming back
Basically a shit design, I dont think I've ever had to replace a rack before in 37 years of car ownership despite my F30 being one of the newest cars I've owned.
I hate to say it but it's things like this that make a Hyundai / Kia / Toyota 5 or 7 year warranty look very attractive. And yes, I would drive a Kia Stinger.

[Hooded]

Originally Posted by jps24

Another frustrated out of warranty f30 owner here. My trusted mechanic is very reluctant to look at this issue - he is aware of the preload tensioner that is described in the thread, but advises against messing with it for the same reasons that Turboprop mentioned above.

I don't have ~£3,000 to spend on a new steering rack, but frankly am concerned that this noise has got worse and would affect my ability to sell the car on.

I've been keenly watching the responses to the video above, in case this new £30 'thrust piece' component is a viable fix....

Does anyone know of a good BMW specialist that understands this problem? I gather that going to BMW themselves with a car that is second hand is basically a waste of time?

Won't be bothering with another f30!

Personally with no warranty I would either buy the tool for £30/40 and tighten the nut very slightly to see if that stops the knocking (as many have done) or just leave it and try and forget about it. Apparently (according to the specialist I use) in almost all cases it doesn't cause excessive play in the actual steering and will pass an MOT with ease.

[Turboprop]

Originally Posted by toomanyBMWs

I have a similar problem, did you at the end tighten the nut and did it solve the problem?

Hi toomany,
It worked for me, I did it personally and the problem was solved, just squeezing a little that 3 hole nut on top of the rack

[qa15ar]

Originally Posted by s11nny

i just had this replaced on my 2014 f32, was getting the knocking with engine off and testing also noticed the clunk when parking in parking spaces.
BMW replaced the steering column free for me. was authorised from bmw to replace.

How did you manage that????

[Hooded]

Originally Posted by s11nny

I didnt lol. Didnt even ask dealer called up said it will be sorted free. Car has full bmw service history. And i did have bmw extended warranty but with 250 excess to pay. Dealer didnt mention that either maybe they know its common now so replace free

Good result anyway.
I wouldn't worry about stationary knocking (particularly when the engines off), but you certainly shouldn't hear any knocking while parking, so it needed sorting.

[jinjur]

Ours has had 2 racks now in the space of 1 year (under AUC thank god) and they have noted that there is still knock

It is going in at the end of the month for new column and linkage so lets see how that helps

It is a big concern as the rack itself is just stupid money. Stupid.

J

[Hooded]

Originally Posted by jinjur

Ours has had 2 racks now in the space of 1 year (under AUC thank god) and they have noted that there is still knock

It is going in at the end of the month for new column and linkage so lets see how that helps

It is a big concern as the rack itself is just stupid money. Stupid.

J

The thing is though, when exactly is it knocking? If it's just making a noise when rocked back and forth while stationary but there's no knocks whilst actually driving and there's no excessive play I certainly wouldn't be spending lots of money changing the rack out of warranty. The solution is to stop rocking the steering wheel left and right while stationary as it's not designed for that and could make it worse if you keep doing it.

Now if there's excessive play in it or you can hear knocking noises during normal driving then it needs looking at.

So many cars on the road have steering that makes a clunk or knock if you rock the steering wheel back and forth while stationary. My mates 5 year old Mazda 3 does it, the Kia pool car at work does it, but they both pass the MOT with no excessive play in the rack and neither make any noise during normal driving.

[PeaceWalker87]

alright, reviving an old thread, sorry if this has already been addressed in another thread, if so, please delete this.

the issue with these steering racks comes from the thrust piece that controls or monitors the distance between the rack and the pinion. The piece would wear and allow for too much play between the rack and pinion and that's the clunk sound we hear. Tightening the thrust nut will only result in rack failure, already know too many guys who messed up their rack.

the Thyssenkrupp (manufacturer) has released a repair thrust piece [BMW part# 32106891974] here's a description written on the online catalog about this repair piece: This repair kit is only a solution for
vehicles with acoustic irregularities
in the steering gear!
It is mandatory to observe the repair
instructions!
The repair kit is only logical for
Thyssen steering systems (High and
Sport).

but our problems aren't done just yet. the repair work is no easy feat. here is a link for the repair instructions https://www.newtis.info/tisv2/a/en/f...nit/1Vnc3X9PQZ

and the most important part of that repair is BMW special measuring tool 83302458076 and the only place I could find it was ECS and they have it on backorder.

Even thou I have most tools and do about 90% of the work on my cars, I decided that the best thing is to bring this information to my nearest BMW service center and save enough money to cover the repair. im probably gonna ask BMW for goodwill, because it's an issue that they're well aware of, and that was never really fixed for the F30 chassis... I know a couple of people with 2018 340i that are starting to show symptoms.

I hope this info helps someone, and hopefully someone on here has the balls (and money) to do this on their own.

[ads_ali]

Does the car fail it's mot if there is the steering rack Knocking sound?

[muffking]

My previous one didn't fail on 2 MOTs and it knocked even with the engine running. The test may be at the wheels though the the lift the car off the wheels and give them a pull in all directions, so the rack may knock at the steering wheel end, but not necessarily at the rack ends.

[Hooded]

Originally Posted by ads_ali

Does the car fail it's mot if there is the steering rack Knocking sound?

Not as long as there isn’t any excessive play in it, which in most cases there won’t be.

[James-335dx]

BMW technicians are just that "technicians" they are not mechanics and so can't "fix" or even diagnose issues. They just plug it in for an error code and replace whatever part isn't working by following the detailed instructions from BMW.

One of my mates is a BMW technician and told me just that. They just change parts, especially if the car is under warranty. Last week he swapped an M4 performance exhaust with carbon tips because it rattled on start up. He's fairly sure it was just lose but was told to change it as the car was under warranty. Then the dealers parts department claimed the sale of a £3,000 exhaust on their sales figures.

I asked him about the steering knock, he told me it's due to the type of system fitted and that with the engine switched off the knocking is normal. He said if dealers are fitting new racks then it's either because they don't know what else to do or they are just cashing in by charging BMW for the labour.

Seems like a legit response to me

[Hooded]

Most cars over 5 years old have a slight knock on the steering if you rock the steering wheel hard left and right while stationary. As long as you can’t hear anything whilst driving and there’s no excessive play In the steering I really wouldn’t worry.

[Md1976]

I had the nocking very loud on my X3 F25.
Just tightened the T20 bolt on the rack, was very lose, had to turn the nut twice around... nocking is completely gone!
Thanks to share this easy fix! The stealer wanted to sell me a new steering rack