Best steering feel mods for E85 roadster

detch · Post by **detch** » Wed Apr 17, 2024 9:24 am

Hi,

I'm diving into the topic of improving the steering feel in my 2.5 E85. Because I can't do anything with the power or anything worthy with the brakes. So I want to make the car as fun and engaging to drive as possible.
In general I'm missing a better steering feel. But I'm coming from my BMW M2, so maybe I need to manage my expectations.

I'm currently changing the coil overs and doing the alignment.
I'm considering polyurethane bushings.
I have Pirelli P Zero on the front (could be newer but it's fine I think).
Any ideas? Inspirations?

Rockhopper · Post by **Rockhopper** » Wed Apr 17, 2024 4:25 pm

Hydraulic conversion is the way ahead, if you can get the parts, if you can find someone to do it, if your insurance will cover you afterwards and if you can live with the increased fuel consumption.

Anything else is just papering over the cracks.

skmattwell · Post by **skmattwell** » Wed Apr 17, 2024 5:51 pm

Agreed, that's why I'll be doing mine this year. Although waste of time telling the insurance company, you'd end up paying 20x the worth of your car in excess and future quotes if you were to make a claim.

Rockhopper · Post by **Rockhopper** » Wed Apr 17, 2024 8:23 pm

Insurance companies are not stupid- if you have an accident and they notice you have undeclared modifications you’ll be in a world of pain.

detch · Post by **detch** » Wed Apr 17, 2024 10:32 pm

Out of curiosity. What does it take to do this conversion? Roughly, I'm not expecting the exact parts list.

skmattwell · Post by **skmattwell** » Wed Apr 17, 2024 11:22 pm

Rockhopper wrote: ↑Wed Apr 17, 2024 8:23 pm Insurance companies are not stupid- if you have an accident and they notice you have undeclared modifications you’ll be in a world of pain.

By a world of pain you mean they won't pay out? It's cheaper to just scrap your car than get insurance companies involved nowadays.

detch wrote: ↑Wed Apr 17, 2024 10:32 pm Out of curiosity. What does it take to do this conversion? Roughly, I'm not expecting the exact parts list.

If you're very mechanically minded you can achieve it yourself but it's quite involved. I'm not going to attempt it myself given the critical nature of steering and consequences of it failing.

Someone has made a list of parts and rough guide of how to do it on this forum. Some onf the parts are very hard to get hold of as they can only be sourced from Z4Ms

Mr Tidy · Post by **Mr Tidy** » Wed Apr 17, 2024 11:23 pm

detch wrote: ↑Wed Apr 17, 2024 10:32 pm Out of curiosity. What does it take to do this conversion? Roughly, I'm not expecting the exact parts list.

This might be worth a read then:- viewtopic.php?p=2032684&hilit=hydraulic#p2032684

raymond.harper · Post by **raymond.harper** » Thu Apr 18, 2024 7:14 am

The only part you needed from the Z4M was the intermediate shaft but one of our intrepid members can convert the original shaft

skmattwell · Post by **skmattwell** » Thu Apr 18, 2024 9:27 pm

raymond.harper wrote: ↑Thu Apr 18, 2024 7:14 am The only part you needed from the Z4M was the intermediate shaft but one of our intrepid members can convert the original shaft

I was told the cooler pipe needed to be from a z4m too. Apparently you can do the conversion without one but not recommended

raymond.harper · Post by **raymond.harper** » Fri Apr 19, 2024 6:00 am

skmattwell wrote: ↑Thu Apr 18, 2024 9:27 pm
raymond.harper wrote: ↑Thu Apr 18, 2024 7:14 am The only part you needed from the Z4M was the intermediate shaft but one of our intrepid members can convert the original shaft
I was told the cooler pipe needed to be from a z4m too. Apparently, you can do the conversion without one but not recommended

When I did the conversion many years ago, I used a stock cooler. The car ran for over 50000 miles without incident

Z4-forum.com

Z4-forum.com