[rj330]

Is this normal? I've read that the 2001 330s were plauged by light steering but had heard that the 2002 330s had new racks put on them that make the steering feel heavier/confident. I just checked and my steering rack has a 2.8 turns lock-to-lock ratio which would confirm that it has the new revised steering rack. And, my tire pressures are set at 30F/35R. The strange thing is that the 2002 330i SP that I test drove two months ago when I ordered my car felt like it had heavier steering.

Does anyone have any suggestions what the light steering on my car may be caused by?

 

[AF]

Can you answer 2 questions . . .

First, does your car have a sports package ?

Second, did the test drive car have the sport package ?

 

[Mystikal]

Can you answer 2 questions . . .

First, does your car have a sports package ?

Second, did the test drive car have the sport package ?

He answered both in the text/user info!

 

[AF]

He answered both in the text/user info!

DUHH !!! I remember reading his question on the org yesterday so I just skimmed through it . . . anyway maybe this will help:

I have driven 3 2002 330i's

All of them had heavier steering feel then my 2001 before I got the retrofit. Out of the 3 2002's, one of them had a little lighter steering then the other 2.

- There was no rhyme or reason for it that I know of because the 2 2002 330i's that had the heavier steering were both a sport package model and a non-sport package model.
- The 2002 330i that felt a little lighter was a non-sport package model

Now just so you know, my 2001 330Ci always had heavier steering then most of the other 2001 330's I had driven and it did not matter what the production date was. All the 330's I have driven were never exactly the same. Some were lighter and some were heavier so I think it's just a vary in the production that no one can really help with.

I made the HUGE mistake of letting the dealer mess around with my old steering rack and they made it so light that it was terrible.
I ended up getting a retrofitted rack and it is much better now.

DO NOT let the dealer mess around with your steering rack !!

 

[nate]

Light is not necessarliy bad, Ferraris have light steering....

You steering feels light due to the quick ratio most likely, that or your tire pressure are super high...

 

[rwg]

DO NOT let the dealer mess around with your steering rack !!

I have that problem. Did you pay for your retrofit or did they fix it for you a second time? I leased this time around, so I was sort of just dealing with it until I buy the next one, but if they will fix it . . .

 

[AF]

I have that problem. Did you pay for your retrofit or did they fix it for you a second time? I leased this time around, so I was sort of just dealing with it until I buy the next one, but if they will fix it . . .

The dealer had only messed around with my original steering rack when I complained it felt lighter turning in one direction then the other . . . it wasn't that big a deal but I got obsessed with it and had the dealer replace a valve release bolt on the rack and they had added fluid to the rack as well . . . it was a major mistake becazsue after they doid the work, the steering was terrible.

So I decided at that time (about 1-2 months ago) that I will get the steering retrofit that was offered to me almost a year ago.

I got the retrofit done a few weeks ago and now my steering is excellent !!

No complaints but FYI 2002 is no doubt a better rack . . .

So anyway, to put it simply . . . I only had one retrofit

 

[bmw325]

There are definitely production variances that may account for this-- but another wrinkle in all of this is that BMW changed the steering rack used on the 330 during September 2001 production. After this date, the 2002 325s continued to get the "065" steering rack that was introduced on the e46 compact and on the 330s from April 2001--but the 330s started to get a different rack. No one knows why they did this, but it could be a possible reason why your steering feels lighter than the ones you test drove. When was your production date? Perhaps you could visit your dealer and drive a recently built 330 to see if it has the same "lighter" steering that you're experiencing.

Before you even bother with doing that, check your tire pressures-- lower pressures will make the steering feel a bit heavier (but don't go below 30 psi).

 

[rj330]

Question for robg

Rob,

What do you think about running 30psi on all 4 tires even with the staggered tire setup? I have the SP so it came with 225s in front and 245s in back.