Sooooooo, I have a leak. Was really bummed because I remember researching places that can service steering racks in case I ran into this issue and found zero. I know some of you have received bum racks as well so I proceeded understanding the risk. When I got this rack, it was in such good shape I was hopeful I dodged any leaks. oh well.
Got the car in the air and not 100% certain but the leak is either from the pinion/spline that connects to the steering shaft or one of the two hard lines below it. Pictures below.
I did some more research and came across this thread where miraculously, both of my potential leaks were discussed and fixed!!:
https://www.m3post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=997073
I also found this video showing how to replace the pinion/spline seal. hallelujah!:
https://youtu.be/W2F_VduxN7k
Part number for the pinion/spline seal. The specs are 20-30-5/6 that correspond to 20mm ID, 30mm OD, with the inner and outer lip being 5 and 6 respectively.: CORTECO 01016544B
Link to universal o-ring set used for the hard line o-rings: Link
I also starting looking for seal kits. I could not find any specific for the E9X M3 rack, but I did find one for the 335i.
Kit 1:
https://powersteeringseals.com/produ...e93-2005-2013/
I think the kit would be nice in case I find out I need other seals during disassembly, but that will only work if they seals are compatible. So not sure what I am going to do there.
For now, new nuts, bolts, and fluid has been ordered from fcp.
Update 27JUN2023:
Changed pictures to show the actual leak is from the pinion/spline.
Also did more research and found a shop on the east coast that could do a full rebuild and another that keeps the spindle seal and hard line o rings in stock they see the leak so frequently.
- Full rebuild:
https://bairesdriveline.com/
- pinion/spline seal and hard line o rings:
https://www.woodwardmotorsport.com/
Update 06JUL2023:
It's fixed!!!! So glad it worked out.
So i ended up ordering the pinion/spline seal and hard line o-rings from woodward motorsport in additoin to the o-ring kit and EAI seal from amazon.
Once everything arrived I compared everything. The EAI pinion/spline seal probably would havve worked, but I noticed the Corteco seal I got from Woodward had a raised lip on the inner hole which matched the OE seal, so I decided to use the Corteco seal. Others have used the EAI seal so that should work, but EAI could not confirm. Link to the EAI seal:
https://www.amazon.com/20X30X5-EAI-S...s%2C132&sr=8-1
WRT the hard line o-rings, there was a size in the universal kit (R-03) that matched the woodward part, but the universal o-ring was slightly thicker, and the OE o-ring was more smiliar to the woodward part, so that's what I ended up using. Again, others have used the o-ring from the universal kit and I do think it would have worked as well.
Finally, I was hoping the uiversal o-ring kit would have the correct size to replace the seal between the pinion/spline cover and the rack. It had the correct size diameter, but the seal was too thick unfortunately. The OE seal is really thin so I reused the original. So far so good.
Below are some additional pictures of some of the items discussed.