Cannot Get Good Steering Feel -is it the rack?

[omoplata]

I am completely new to the BMW world, coming from Hondas previously. Now I just got a 1984 320, with loads of engine mods, and am working on a couple other things to make the rest better. However, the great steering feel BMWs are known for continues to elude me. After buying the car, I changed the steering rack (with a used unit), because the first one had a great deal of slop and dead zone in the center.

Now this new rack is a touch tighter, but also has a dead zone in the center and a semi-dead zone around the center. The funny thing is that the 2 mechanics I showed the car to are not alarmed by this nearly as much as I am.
First the "sneeze zone" (where, by design, nothing is supposed to happen) around the center in each direction, is large. Then for another several centimeters in either direction, the wheels do turn but not very much. The car has unassisted, "dry" type steering, and you can definitively feel this when you try to start turning the wheel while the vehicle is stationary. For the few centimeters in either direction, you can turn the wheel very easily, then for another few centimeters, it is harder, then it gets harder still. It is as if the car had an exaggerated variable steering ratio to make tight turns easier. What I am used to seeing is the steering effort peaking right after the dead zone is passed and staying at this peak throughout the entire range of motion.
Due to the issues described above, the car feels laaaazy and truck like.

The mechanics I am showing this to are like "well; it is kind of sub-par, you're right", but they are not at all like "what is this? this feels terrible" which to me it does. One factor complicating the issue is that my shocks are gone and I am in the process of getting new ones, so they tell me that steering feel will improve with proper shocks. Sure it will, but new shocks will not reduce the dead zone in the center, which you feel while the car is parked.

A final issue puzzling me is that the steering feels significantly lighter than I was expecting. Sure it is hard to turn the wheel while the car is not moving, and I try not to do that unless I have to do a super tight maneuver -it is unassisted after all. However, it is not as hard as I recall my Hondas. Yes, not a perfect comparison since the BMW engine is narrow and pushed further into the firewall, placing less load on the front tires and all that, but still.... It is also illustrative how one mechanic immediately remarked "don't touch your steering... it is the lightest dry steering in an E30 I ever saw; normally these are so hard to turn. I like the relative ease with which this turns". Sure, I like less hard rather than unturnably hard.... but does the relative ease of turning the wheel maybe give you all a hint as to what might be happening?

3 Questions Please:

1- Could my expectations be off? Maybe the dead zone in the center and the semi-dead zone is normal? Though I would be quite shocked if this is the case

2- Getting another steering rack is daunting, because it will be a used piece and I am not sure if anyone can tell without going through the hassle of installing it first, whether it will give far better feel than this. Can this unit be fixed? I am outside of Europe and there are places that fix these racks, though I am frequently advised against it and told that such fixes rarely yield the desired result (and the unit goes bad in a short while again)

3- What solutions do you guys recommend?

Thanks to all

[darknezz7]

Swap in a 1.9l z3 steering rack. Go from 4:1 to 2.7:1 lock to lock and they are much more responsive.

Mines wore out and feels like a truck too... I have the rack sitting waiting for me to put it in... It was a new unit, close to $400. You have to modify the steering linkage a bit.

Stop comparing a 80's bmw to a honda...

[hotdish]

If the steering has a loose zone in one spot, like the center, it's probably the rack. I had the same issue on my e36 M3 and a "new" rack solved the problem.

You can find out for sure by getting someone to turn the steering wheel while you're underneath the car and seeing where the slop in the linkage is.

You could increase the pinion preload, which would get rid of the slop in the center, but maybe cause the rack to bind and not return to center in the less worn areas.

[omoplata]

...

You could increase the pinion preload, which would get rid of the slop in the center, but maybe cause the rack to bind and not return to center in the less worn areas.

Thanks a lot for the very useful answer. Does the above apply regardless or can the wear be so bad that the above fails to do much at all?

[hotdish]

Thanks a lot for the very useful answer. Does the above apply regardless or can the wear be so bad that the above fails to do much at all?

If the rack is still loose with the preload increased to the point where the it doesn't return to center, the rack and pinion probably need to be replaced.

[omoplata]

If the rack is still loose with the preload increased to the point where the it doesn't return to center, the rack and pinion probably need to be replaced.

I appreciate it.
If you increase the preload, will the steering be heaver throughout the entire range of motion?

Also, if the center is worn out bad, what are the chances of getting it successfully repaired

Thanks