Replacing power steering w/ manual
 

Not exactly an MB question but could apply. I was reading on bimmerfest.com about a guy who had replaced his 325 power steering rack with a manual. Another guy had been thinking about just leaving the belt off to be rid of leakage and power drain. The other dude said that steering a power unit w/o the belt is significantly harder than with a manual rack. I'm sure that's right.

My pump belt habitually squeals. It's a hard one to tighten and every time I do it, it starts squealing again in 4 or 5 months. The pump is showing age in other ways too. A new pump would be about $250 while the manual rack is $540. Any ideas on whether or not I'd notice the extra power?

If nothing else, all that cranking of the steering wheel will help me get in touch with my inner primitive man.

Is this the Benz or the BMW you're talking about?

The BMW. A guy on bimmerfest mentioned Korman Fast BMW and I found the 3 series unit on their website.

My MB power steering is working fine. I wouldn't seriously consider it on the Bimmer if the pump wasn't possibly in need of replacing.

The only power you'd notice would come from your new buff arms. :D Jeez dude -- the pump is still half the price of the swap, isn't it?

Yeah, $280 or so is a lot to spend for bragging rights. "Oh dude, my manual unit weighs 12 pounds less than the power unit and I now have 2 or 3 more hp to play with."

"Oh hey, and check out these new guns." :D

It seems to me you are proposing going through a lot of trouble instead of FIXING the system like you should in the first place.

When was the last time the power steering system was flushed? What is the problem with adjusting a drive belt every few months. On ANY car drive belts should be checked at every oil change. It takes about 15 seconds per belt to pull on it to see if it is tight and look at it to see if it is glazed or cracked.

Do you expect belts to run 200,000 miles completely maintenance free?

Good luck,

I suspect you're right. Somehow the idea of getting rid a small drain on power and losing some weight appealed to me.

Yup. I haven't done a thing to the PS pump in the 4 years I've had it. Wouldn't hurt. :rolleyes:

I believe a divorce and a diet would get the job done nicely. :D

I really don't think the power steering pump drains any substantial amount of power when it is not heavily loaded such as in straight ahead driving.

Good point. I'd wondered about that.

:P

personally
 

i like the feel of manual steering. and my "guns" are already pretty big.

but for resale you prob want to keep it stock.

i am in the minority. but if there were a group of folks who would go for manual steering i would think it would be old beemer fans!

tom w

Good point, about Bimmer fans perhaps being attracted to manual steering. I'd like to put it in but damn, I've got a whole lot of other projects needing a $500 dollar bill before that one. Oh well, I haven't checked to see if I won the lotto today (a couple of bucks a month -- max -- is all I spend on that crap. The lottery is a tax on people who didn't do well in math in high school)

yep
 

i am one who is not behind on the lottery.

never bought one yet.

tom w

Ain't it something. I see people lined up sometimes when the jackpot gets big, spending $20, $50.... In Cal., about half the winners were on public assistance. So they were spending taxpayer dollars on the damn thing. Mathematically, it would follow that about half of the revenues brought in by the lottery came from the public trough to begin with. Oh man....