[e90ca]

Hi all,

I have a 11' 335i sedan with only 70k miles and for about a month now, I've started having a slow leak that appears on my garage floor. It looks like its just a few drops each day now. Starting back from november 2015, I noticed my power steering tank needed to be topped off every 4-6 months or so. At that time, I didn't have any leaking on my garage floor yet. I've been checking the tank every few weeks to be sure the level is still at the minimum. I tried replacing the cap o-ring as well because I had read it could be the issue, but it seems to be ok. Looking on the hose that is connected to the tank, it does look like there is seepage or slight condensation sometimes, but i'm not sure if its coming from the PS tank or not. So I took my car into a local bmw repair shop and he put it on the lift and took the under tray off and it was actually dry. He found that the front left rack and pinion boot was leaking and he says the steering rack needs to be replaced. This is very costly, with labor, a remanufactured rack and pinion, and mandatory alignment, he's charging $1557. 2 other local bmw shops in the east bay want $2700!! I bought this car used with 45K miles and I use it as a daily driver for about 70 miles per day and drive normal and not aggressive at all.

My question is, does this sound like its really the entire steering rack and pinion needs to be replaced?

Could it be leaking from somewhere else instead and it could be a lesser repair cost?

Have read on some other posts that replacing the power steering crush washers on the lines could be whats causing the leak. Should I try this first?

Could it be the hoses connected to the power steering reservoir tank need to be replaced instead?

Really not sure what to do at this point.

[e90ca]

Anyone?

[Efthreeoh]

Hopefully we'll not get jacked up like the other recent thread on steering racks. But since you've explained the situation with your car I'd like to offer my advice.

ZF has been the primary steering rack provider for BMWs for decades back to the 1960's probably. My experience is from my E30 where back 20 years or so ago when it developed a leak and I was losing fluid just as you describe your car is. For the E30 rack, they were known to have weak seals at the end of the racks where the tie rods enter the rack body. The tell tale sign of a leaking seal is the tie rod bellows make a squishing noise when squeezed. Normally the bellows are dry of any type of fluid, so when the rack seals leak, the bellows fill with fluid. They'll not leak for a while until the amount of fluid is to the point that the bellows can't compress normally (when the tie rods move) and the oil must go somewhere so it leaks past the ends of the bellows. I suspect this is what the Tech was showing you. I'll add that he was treating you fair by bringing you back in the shop and walking you under the car on the lift to show you. There is liability risk he takes on in doing that.

The proper repair for this condition is installation of a rebuilt rack. ZF rebuilds its racks in the US and generally when you get a good quality rebuilt rack for a BMW, it is from ZF. On my E30, 20+ years ago (at around 105,000 miles), I had the rack replaced by an indy in the manner I described above. At the time I had no garage and worked on cars on stands in the street in front of my house. So with the need for an alignment and not ideal working conditions, I left it to a professional - today I'd replace the rack myself and take it to get an alignment. For the E30, the rebuilt rack lasted the rest of the car's life up to 295,000 miles.

Anyway... I am familiar with the E90 rack too, as I've drained the power steering fluid twice by removing the hydraulic hoses/lines and blowing low-pressure compressed air to get all the oil out. I've also done the oil pan replacement, which requires dropping the subframe. I unbolted the the rack during that procedure thinking it would help articulate the subframe better (it doesn't). The E90 rack is bolted to the front subframe between tabs using E12 bolts (IIRC). Even unbolted, it doesn't move any sitting between the tabs on the subframe. A brief search I did yesterday in response to another thread on the same subject I found that a rebuilt ZF rack is priced around $700. Keep in mind the indy will need to price the rack a bit higher since he offers a warranty on his work (parts and labor). I think his price of $1,600 is pretty fair for the repair he is performing. I'd ask these questions:

What is the warranty on the repair?
Are you using a rebuilt rack rebuilt by the manufacturer? or,
Who rebuilds the rack you are going to use as the replacement part?
Are you replacing the tie rod ends as part of the repair?
Are you replacing the power steering reservoir?

If it were me, I'd replace the reservoir because the reservoir has an internal filter, which could be contaminated with debris from the bad seal or worn metal internals of the rack. The labor is removing and replacing the old rack, which means pulling the tire rod ends, disconnecting the steering shaft, disconnecting the hydraulic hoses, flushing the lines, installing the new rack and tie rod ends, installing a new reservoir (if he replaces it), refilling the power steering fluid, and an alignment. For $700 or so of labor, I think it is a fair price if he is using good quality BMW OE or OEM parts. Mahle makes good suspension parts for the tie rod ends.

My 2 cents. Others may have a different opinion.

Good luck with it.

[e90ca]

Hi Efthreeoh,

Thank you so much for the detailed reply, I really appreciate it. You seem like a good guy with a lot of experience in this. Here are the answers to your questions. And a lot of info you provided, I wouldn't have even thought about them either, so really glad you replied.

What is the warranty on the repair?
2 years warranty

Are you using a rebuilt rack rebuilt by the manufacturer? or,
Who rebuilds the rack you are going to use as the replacement part?

Yes, the shop which quoted me with $1,557 for the repair is using a rebuilt steering rack. The part itself is $1,012 and I believe he said it is made by Bosch. For OEM, he said the part is $1600, and he said to go with a rebuilt one is fine.

Are you replacing the tie rod ends as part of the repair?
Yes, this shop recommended replacing the 2 tie end rods and its only extra $18 bucks

Are you replacing the power steering reservoir?
No, the shop didn't mention to replace the power steering reservoir, but I can ask him and see how much additional cost that would be.

This shop said it will take about 3 hours to complete and his labor cost is $288 which is really not bad. And I would need to get a mandatory alignment as well, which is fine. I will try to ask him if he can a ZF brand steering rack or if he can let me supply him the parts instead of using the one he gets his parts from. It is some online parts store that he uses to order parts for repair. If I can save $300 bucks, that will sure be helpful.

Yep, the shop did bring me back to see the steering rack when the car was lifted up and I did see the boot on the steering rack was all wet with fluid, but the odd thing was that the under tray was completely dry.

Another local bmw repair shop offered to do a inspection for $79.80 and they said they will check to be sure the steering rack needs to be replaced or not and also will let me know of any other leaks that are happening. I am wondering if I spend the $80 bucks to have it done for piece of mind and for a 2nd opinion. They also say its not unheard of to need a steering rack replaced, but it is not a common repair. My previous 07 e90 328i with 115K and a previous 99 323i with 150k miles never had steering rack or any power steering issues either, so I am wondering why this is happening on my 335i. All my other friends with e90's never ever had this either. The steering wheel still feels solid and normal ever since I bought the car at 45k miles.

Another shop suggested me to do a PS flush and to replace the "crush washers". He said sometimes the washers get warped or loose and replacing them at the lines will stop the leak. Its about $100 bucks for this service. Is this worth trying?

[Efthreeoh]

Originally Posted by e90ca

Hi Efthreeoh,

Thank you so much for the detailed reply, I really appreciate it. You seem like a good guy with a lot of experience in this. Here are the answers to your questions. And a lot of info you provided, I wouldn't have even thought about them either, so really glad you replied.

What is the warranty on the repair?
2 years warranty

Are you using a rebuilt rack rebuilt by the manufacturer? or,
Who rebuilds the rack you are going to use as the replacement part?

Yes, the shop which quoted me with $1,557 for the repair is using a rebuilt steering rack. The part itself is $1,012 and I believe he said it is made by Bosch. For OEM, he said the part is $1600, and he said to go with a rebuilt one is fine.

Are you replacing the tie rod ends as part of the repair?
Yes, this shop recommended replacing the 2 tie end rods and its only extra $18 bucks

Are you replacing the power steering reservoir?
No, the shop didn't mention to replace the power steering reservoir, but I can ask him and see how much additional cost that would be.

This shop said it will take about 3 hours to complete and his labor cost is $288 which is really not bad. And I would need to get a mandatory alignment as well, which is fine. I will try to ask him if he can a ZF brand steering rack or if he can let me supply him the parts instead of using the one he gets his parts from. It is some online parts store that he uses to order parts for repair. If I can save $300 bucks, that will sure be helpful.

Yep, the shop did bring me back to see the steering rack when the car was lifted up and I did see the boot on the steering rack was all wet with fluid, but the odd thing was that the under tray was completely dry.

Another local bmw repair shop offered to do a inspection for $79.80 and they said they will check to be sure the steering rack needs to be replaced or not and also will let me know of any other leaks that are happening. I am wondering if I spend the $80 bucks to have it done for piece of mind and for a 2nd opinion. They also say its not unheard of to need a steering rack replaced, but it is not a common repair. My previous 07 e90 328i with 115K and a previous 99 323i with 150k miles never had steering rack or any power steering issues either, so I am wondering why this is happening on my 335i. All my other friends with e90's never ever had this either. The steering wheel still feels solid and normal ever since I bought the car at 45k miles.

Another shop suggested me to do a PS flush and to replace the "crush washers". He said sometimes the washers get warped or loose and replacing them at the lines will stop the leak. Its about $100 bucks for this service. Is this worth trying?

Don't suggest to the indy that you can bring the parts, it will just piss him off, and he'll not warranty the repair. All you need to do is squeeze the bellows and if it makes squishing noises then it has fluid in it and the rack has a leak and needs to be replaced. I'd not worry if it is a rebuilt Bosch. Just make sure the rack is rebuilt inside the USA, is really all I'd be concerned about.

The warped washer is BS. That shop doesn't know what it is talking about. I've removed the hoses twice from my rack and have reused the washers and they've never leaked.

[e90ca]

I had a local shop remove my steering rack because he had ordered a steering rack form Oreilly auto parts because they had one in stock and it also included a life time warranty. But after we went to pick it up, it turned out it was the incorrect steering rack because my rack has a black cap and this one didn't have it. So the shop ended up putting back the old steering rack back on because the online shops that he found, the price of the rack was like $1k and it had to be ordered and would take anywhere from 7-10 days or more, which meant I had to leave my car in his shop and I'd be out of a car for that long. So ended up he put back my bad steering rack for the time being. Luckily the leak is slow and only a few drops per day so I can just continue to top it off every few months or so.

After entering the last 7 digits of my VIN (E576861) into the realoem.com website, it is also showing the part number to be 32106777463.

http://www.realoem.com/bmw/enUS/show...diagId=32_1509

If you see on this rack, there is no black cap. But mine has it, and the shop said it needs to have the black cap to fit into the steering mechanism on the car.

If you look at the pictures, the part # showing on my current steering rack is 6 777 459.03 instead of 6 777 463

Does anyone know why is it that mine has a black cap on it?

I contacted Rich at rackdoctor.net and sent him the pictures as well and waiting for his response.

[e90ca]

Originally Posted by e90ca

I had a local shop remove my steering rack because he had ordered a steering rack form Oreilly auto parts because they had one in stock and it also included a life time warranty. But after we went to pick it up, it turned out it was the incorrect steering rack because my rack has a black cap and this one didn't have it. So the shop ended up putting back the old steering rack back on because the online shops that he found, the price of the rack was like $1k and it had to be ordered and would take anywhere from 7-10 days or more, which meant I had to leave my car in his shop and I'd be out of a car for that long. So ended up he put back my bad steering rack for the time being. Luckily the leak is slow and only a few drops per day so I can just continue to top it off every few months or so.

After entering the last 7 digits of my VIN (E576861) into the realoem.com website, it is also showing the part number to be 32106777463.

http://www.realoem.com/bmw/enUS/show...diagId=32_1509

If you see on this rack, there is no black cap. But mine has it, and the shop said it needs to have the black cap to fit into the steering mechanism on the car.

If you look at the pictures, the part # showing on my current steering rack is 6 777 459.03 instead of 6 777 463

Does anyone know why is it that mine has a black cap on it?

I contacted Rich at rackdoctor.net and sent him the pictures as well and waiting for his response.

Anyone?

[e90ca]

on realoem.com, how come the steering rack doesn't have the same black alignment piece as my current steering rack?

Do I really need to get a steering rack which has the same black alignment piece as my current steering rack?

[e90ca]

after searching online for info about the "black alignment piece" I am trying to describe. I found out it is the Pinion input shaft plastic dust cap/cover that needs to be removed from your current steering rack and placed onto the replacement rack, as most new steering racks do not come with this piece?

Can anybody confirm this is the case?

[mweisdorfer]

I have seen a Bosch Rack for about $688.00 on FCP Euro.

Might be a good idea to change the tie rods while your in there

https://www.fcpeuro.com/products/bmw...zf-32106777463

[mweisdorfer]

https://www.fcpeuro.com/products/bmw...zf-32106777463

[e90ca]

Originally Posted by mweisdorfer

https://www.fcpeuro.com/products/bmw...zf-32106777463

Thanks for the reply and link. I emailed FCP Euro and they also confirm this rack "should" also have the black alignment piece, so I am praying that it will indeed have it once I receive it. Whats great is its a Bosch-ZF brand they say as well.

[javeci01]

try rackdoctor.net

[e90ca]

rackdoctor is unreachable! I called them many times and nobody picks up the phone. Tried calling in the early mornings and also early afternoon. I even emailed Rich at rack doctor 3 times and no reply.

I just ordered the steering rack from FCP Euro today and should get it next week sometime, and hopefully it will be the right rack that I need.

[e90ca]

I received the bosch steering rack from FCP Euro and it was INDEED the correct steering rack that I needed and looked exactly identical to my OEM ZF steering rack with the same black alignment piece on the input shaft. Had it installed today and it was a perfect fit according to the tech. Best thing about buying from FCP is that they have lifetime replacement on their parts. Had alignment done after and car feels like new again. If anyone is looking for a rack, check out FCP.