[xxxjecxxx2]

Replaced my steering rack with a used one. Purchased it used from LKQ for $450 plus $75 core. Comes with a 6 month warranty. My car is a 2012 2013 335i with 72k on the clock without Variable Sport Steering. I decided to take some pictures as I could not find much info on the forums. I am happy to say that this was much easier than what I expected.

Symptoms: Horrible steering noise at low speeds, steering wheel shaked more than usual especially during hard braking and overall very loose feel.

Before :

Noise on old steering rack

After :

Pictures of the new rack










Jack up the car and support with some jack stands.


Remove the two connectors on the steering rack. Remove the two reverse torx bolts. You will need a 16mm wrench to hold the nut in place while you turn the bolt. The reverse torx is a E12. You can see the two bolts here. Where the steering rack meets the black sub frame. The rightmost connector does not need to be removed as it is part of the steering rack.



This is a picture of the nut that is holding those two bolts in place. Use Ese E12 socket to remove.





Use that same socket to remove the single bolt connecting the steering rack to the steering shaft. Hard to see in this picture but make sure the steering wheel is centered and you will see the bolt. I've included a picture of the angle I used to remove the bolt with a long extension. Once the bolt is removed you can simply pull up on the steering shaft, towards the firewall, and it will separate from the steering shaft.




Once the three bolts are removed you can pull the steering rack towards the front of the car. I allowed it to hang from the tie rods and later placed a jack under it to support it while I removed the tie rods.



There is no need to remove the wheels as now you can have enough space to get to the tie rod bolts on each side.




21mm wrench and T40 torx. I used a 21mm socket to loosen the bolt. Once it's loose, it will just spin in place. This is where the 21mm and torx come in. Complete this for both sides and then you can pull out the old rack!



I connected the right tie rod first then screwed in the two bolts for the steering rack. It's not nearly as heavy as I thought it would be so I was able to lift into place by myself. Once you have the rack bolted in and one tie rod in, you want to align the wheel (not steering wheel) to be as straight as you possible (eyeballing). Then connect the opposite wheel. You will need an alignment after this so it just needs to be good enough to drive to the shop!






Connect the wires for the new steering rack. Make sure your steering wheel is aligned along with your two front wheels before connecting the steering shaft back. After that lower the car and turn it on! The used EPS will need to be programmed to your car.




I programmed mine using ESYS. Hope this helps!

[xxxjecxxx2]

Reserved

[Polo08816]

Very nice work and thanks for the write up.

[Tim@codemybimmer]

Thanks for the DIY write up.

I cant help but notice, did you replace your VSS steering rack with a normal Servotronic steering rack? Or was the rack revised so much that the motor housing is much smaller?

[a803sgo]

Great write-up.

[xxxjecxxx2]

Originally Posted by Timbits93

Thanks for the DIY write up.

I cant help but notice, did you replace your VSS steering rack with a normal Servotronic steering rack? Or was the rack revised so much that the motor housing is much smaller?

You are welcome! I believe the rack has been revised so many times that the motor is much smaller now. There are about 32 different part numbers for the steering rack on RealOEM. This is one of the reasons why I wanted to take pictures with them side by side to make it easier to see the differences.

http://www.realoem.com/bmw/enUS/show...diagId=32_2071

My production date is 0712
Donor car prod date is 0616

Originally Posted by a803sgo

Great write-up.

Thanks!

[magic77]

Great write up can you post the coding steps also as I'm sure that will help others as well

[Aaroona]

Coding steps would be hugely appreciated. I think I am going to have to go through this process myself very shortly. So want to make sure I'm not going to tits it up!

[the_man_in_blue]

Any chance that pictures can be reuploaded?

[xxxjecxxx2]

Originally Posted by the_man_in_blue

Any chance that pictures can be reuploaded?

Updated. Not sure if they are in same order as before but should help.

Your inbox is full

[the_man_in_blue]

Originally Posted by xxxjecxxx2

Updated. Not sure if they are in same order as before but should help.

Your inbox is full

Awesome, thank you

I was able to get the rack out based on this post, and it's much easier than it looks.

However, this part

Use that same socket to remove the single bolt connecting the steering rack to the steering shaft.

seemed wrong to me. The pinch bolt on the steering shaft was smaller than the 2 on the subframe. I think I got at it with a 10mm wrench that I could barely get in there.

The rest went as planned, and it is much lighter than I expected too.

Did you have power steering right away, or is that something that came after coding?

(I have yet to put the rack back in)

[xxxjecxxx2]

The steering will work but you will have a lot of errors on the dash. I can't help with step by step in coding but in short.

The EPS needs a FSC code. It's like an activation code. BMW calls these repair codes and some folks on the forums can get them.

After the FSC code is there, you will need to code the rack. Then run through the startup procedures for the steering. Hope that helps.

[the_man_in_blue]

I replaced the motor on my steering rack, and got the rack in last night. Of course, I get those same errors and the power steering doesn't work.

Start the car up this morning, and no errors, and I have power steering. All is perfect.


Drive 10 miles to a shop I want to go for an alignment. I park, go inside and get asked to pull my car around to one of the bays.

Of course, now I get the error again and power steering is out. It was just fine 5 minutes before.

Cancelled and went home. Grrr

[dvzznts]

Did you get everything resolved? I recently replaced the entire steering rack and had it successfully programmed remotely by BMW Programming & Encoding (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCaz...xFGuq-aA/about)

The EPS on the new rack is already out from water damage and I would like to replace just the motor, which I believe can be removed directly from the rack. How did you replace just the motor? Do you simply reinsert/realign and tighten the bolts? The belt doesn't appear to have the necessary tension shown in these pictures from a different thread.

https://f30.bimmerpost.com/forums/sh...ght=EPS&page=5

[Dark_knight]

Wow, great thread.

My F32 2017 430i had a damaged undertray that had let water splatter all over the steering rack.

The dashboard lit up and I intermittently get the heavy steering issue.

Im in the UK, Northwest based - can anyone recommend a reliable firm to reppace either the whole rack or just the motor and recode?

I saw a firm called ECU Testing who say they can rebuilt it? For £255... they say they can do sensor replacement but I have no idea. Can that be done?

Any other help or advice appreciated.

[BoogeyMan'sBMW]

What kind of noises were you experiencing at low speeds? I see the clicking in the video but anything else?

[programmrz]

hate to necro this thread, but how were you able to do the coding? can you pm me to help me get this set up?

[N20MY]

I had my steering rack rebuilt. Basically just replacing the steering rack with one from a donor part. The rest: EPS motor, pinion shaft, etc were not replaced. Now the power steering works but with lots of errors. Tried to do an EPS start up procedure but doesnt seemt to work.

Am trying to get in touch with BMW Programming & Encoding to help.

Do you know how/what did they do to resolve your steering rack issue?

Originally Posted by dvzznts

Did you get everything resolved? I recently replaced the entire steering rack and had it successfully programmed remotely by BMW Programming & Encoding (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCaz...xFGuq-aA/about)

The EPS on the new rack is already out from water damage and I would like to replace just the motor, which I believe can be removed directly from the rack. How did you replace just the motor? Do you simply reinsert/realign and tighten the bolts? The belt doesn't appear to have the necessary tension shown in these pictures from a different thread.

https://f30.bimmerpost.com/forums/sh...ght=EPS&page=5

[Yrad119]

Originally Posted by xxxjecxxx2

Replaced my steering rack with a used one. Purchased it used from LKQ for $450 plus $75 core. Comes with a 6 month warranty. My car is a 2012 2013 335i with 72k on the clock without Variable Sport Steering. I decided to take some pictures as I could not find much info on the forums. I am happy to say that this was much easier than what I expected.

Symptoms: Horrible steering noise at low speeds, steering wheel shaked more than usual especially during hard braking and overall very loose feel.

Before :

Noise on old steering rack

After :

Pictures of the new rack










Jack up the car and support with some jack stands.


Remove the two connectors on the steering rack. Remove the two reverse torx bolts. You will need a 16mm wrench to hold the nut in place while you turn the bolt. The reverse torx is a E12. You can see the two bolts here. Where the steering rack meets the black sub frame. The rightmost connector does not need to be removed as it is part of the steering rack.



This is a picture of the nut that is holding those two bolts in place. Use Ese E12 socket to remove.





Use that same socket to remove the single bolt connecting the steering rack to the steering shaft. Hard to see in this picture but make sure the steering wheel is centered and you will see the bolt. I've included a picture of the angle I used to remove the bolt with a long extension. Once the bolt is removed you can simply pull up on the steering shaft, towards the firewall, and it will separate from the steering shaft.




Once the three bolts are removed you can pull the steering rack towards the front of the car. I allowed it to hang from the tie rods and later placed a jack under it to support it while I removed the tie rods.



There is no need to remove the wheels as now you can have enough space to get to the tie rod bolts on each side.




21mm wrench and T40 torx. I used a 21mm socket to loosen the bolt. Once it's loose, it will just spin in place. This is where the 21mm and torx come in. Complete this for both sides and then you can pull out the old rack!



I connected the right tie rod first then screwed in the two bolts for the steering rack. It's not nearly as heavy as I thought it would be so I was able to lift into place by myself. Once you have the rack bolted in and one tie rod in, you want to align the wheel (not steering wheel) to be as straight as you possible (eyeballing). Then connect the opposite wheel. You will need an alignment after this so it just needs to be good enough to drive to the shop!






Connect the wires for the new steering rack. Make sure your steering wheel is aligned along with your two front wheels before connecting the steering shaft back. After that lower the car and turn it on! The used EPS will need to be programmed to your car.




I programmed mine using ESYS. Hope this helps!

Can you describe how did you programmed?

[fabian.zac]

is the loose feel away?

[tellaouiF30]

I'm currently trying to replace the steering rack on my F30. I've got the steering shaft disconnected, the outer tie rods disconnected, and all the bolts holding the steering rack are off, but I can't find a way to remove the rack from the car, as part of the subframe is in front of the rack so I have no way of pulling it forward. Has anyone else run into this?

[giraffewt]

I am on the same boat. Haven't dropped the rack off. Took a close look at the components - all look fine to me. The only thing is the belt but I cannot find any place to buy it.

There are so many different part number of the rack for my 2013 F30 328i. Anyone knows if they are interchangeable?