steering box play

[jcos16]

FYI
had my mechanic tighten the steering box and it made a world of difference.
The car now feels like a BMW.
Regards,
John
92 525IT 139K mi

[Bob UK]

Yea had my done and I agree

[dca]

Also nut under dash has greatest effect to correct clunk noises.

[NoSpeedLimits]

Cool! Sounds like something I should have done. So, what did it cost?

Also, does anyone know what the procedure involves? Is it a DIY job?

Is there a check to determine if this is necessary? such as this:

The other day I lifted one side of the front of my car and grabbed ahold of the tire at the 3 and 9 o'clock position and push/pulled on the tire. then did it for the other side. Both side appeared similar, but I was surprised at how much the tire was able to moved, and I took note that the steering wheel was rotating back and forth as I moved the tire. I was wondering what is an acceptable amount of play?

Sorry about all the questions, but you sparked my curiosity and I just want to make my sweet ride even sweeter.

[PhilipJCaputo]

From what I understand the wheels should be firm... I'm having the same issue... for me I'm going to replace the center tie rod... and then adjust steering box if necessary.

check this post out, I've included a couple of video's with it for better deail of the problem..

http://www.bimmer.info/forum/showthread.php?t=4497

I'm thinking that steering box adjustment is a DIY... check this link

http://www.bmwe34.net/..../steeringplay.htm

[NoSpeedLimits]

Thanks, by now you'd think I should have known better to check Bruno's site. Duhh....

Not sure why, but I couldn't get your videos to load up and play. I am assuming that my PC is missing the proper software because on occasion I experience problems with videos. When I click the link, I get a new pop-up window which populates with tons of miscellaneous characters and text...dunno??? If you feel like e-mailing them to me, I wouldn't mind checking them out. At least, I would have something to compare mine too.

Anyway, thanks for the information. It definitely sounds like I have too much play. I'll need to do some more investigative work before I dump anymore money into my car's steering components.

[PhilipJCaputo]

Its a windows movie file... so you need windows media player.... you can right click on the link.. click save as.... and then open it up with windows media player....

give that a try....

Thanks, by now you'd think I should have known better to check Bruno's site. Duhh....

Not sure why, but I couldn't get your videos to load up and play. I am assuming that my PC is missing the proper software because on occasion I experience problems with videos. When I click the link, I get a new pop-up window which populates with tons of miscellaneous characters and text...dunno??? If you feel like e-mailing them to me, I wouldn't mind checking them out. At least, I would have something to compare mine too.

Anyway, thanks for the information. It definitely sounds like I have too much play. I'll need to do some more investigative work before I dump anymore money into my car's steering components.