Faster more reactive steering for E31 and E34

[Rich8]

Quick Arms $588
This is a new and exciting item coming to the market place to give your e31 and E34 more responsive steering. Some would describe it as: “CSi + steering”.

From the driving seat, you will immediately appreciate the swift response to steering wheel; the road wheels will turn more for the same steering wheel input.

MANY E31 owners have other BMW’s or high performance cars, and after driving the 8, they feel that the steering is slow and a little numb. These new arms go a long way to addressing this problem. These are a simple replacement for the stock steering arm, and they are inexpensive, simple and effective.
Following installation of the plates, a professional alignment is required.

Here are pictures

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/w2kkrc43v...vraNFisRa?dl=0

PM me or call/text at 623 570 2777

[Rich8]

The large rubber bushing on the front upper control arm where it mounts to the chassis has always been a weak link on the E31, E32 & E39 because it wears quickly and then badly affects the braking, steering and handling. Changing to the Wokke monoballs is a GREAT upgrade and if your rubber bushings were old, then you notice a huge improvement overall in the front end and it does make the steering FEEL more direct, but it does not MAKE the steering quicker. The stock steering speed and response is what I have addressed here with the new Quick Arms.

We have been developing these arms for several months, and have been running them on 3 cars for some time with great results and feedback.
The response to steering wheel input is more urgent now, so better direction change with less hand movement.


Changing to these new steering arms is quite simple and they install very quickly.....disconnect 3 ball joints and then undo the 3 bolts that hold the arm to the bottom of the strut. then bolt in the new arms.

I have made these new arms shorter from the bottom of the strut to where the steering rod attaches. So if you move the steering wheel a certain amount, then these new arms will move the road wheel further than before.....you will get a quicker response to steering wheel inputs.

After installing these new arms, you will have to reset the front toe alignment.


When you first drive this change, it will give the impression of a much sportier car, more nimble and more reactive. After 20 or 30 miles driving in corners, you will become quite accustomed to the new feel, and maybe take it for granted that the car feels more nimble. I guarantee that if you then changed back to your old arms, you would be quite disappointed how slow and numb the steering feels.

When BMW built the hi-performance 850CSi, they wanted quicker steering response, and they got it by installing a quicker ratio steering box. My friend went down this route, hunting for 2 years before he found someone selling a CSi steering box (they are more rare than hen's teeth). Then it took the two of us almost a full day to get his box out and the CSi one in. but after driving my car, he wants to go through all the trouble to take his CSi box out and install the Quick Arms, then sell his box.....he will make money and have better steering

The Quick Arms are a little quicker than the CSi, so this puts the CSi at about 2/3 of the difference between the stock and my steering. As I mentioned above, the first impression is that this new steering is quite a bit quicker, but you get used to that very soon.


Here is a link to pictures of the arms in Dropbox

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/w2kkrc43v...vraNFisRa?dl=0

[Sleepyhead97]

Any idea how this would affect steering slop in the E34? Any plans to see if this could help with a steering rack conversion or would you have any plans to develop a rack and pinion conversion? Thanks

[Rich8]

If you are the proud owner of a BMW with steering slop issues, then these Quick Arms will allow the expert, intermediate and beginner driver to correct for these issue's quicker.

Some BMW's have a steering box, and some have a steering rack, but it doesn't matter which you have because they both move a Tie Rod which connects to a steering arm that is bolted to the outer suspension by the wheel, and this movement started by the steering box/rack is what moves the road wheel.
We have developed our Quick Arms to be a shorter version of the factory arms found on the E31, E32, & E34, so the road wheel moves quicker and further for the same hand movement on the steering wheel.
Developing a quicker steering rack would be VERY expensive and also a lot more work to install than my Quick Arms.
If you understand this concept, you will see that there is not a need to change your Steering rack.

[bdiefAZ]

Sleepyhead 97, Just to clarify, these arms make the steering more responsive and help with slow steering.

If you have sloppy steering, it could be from worn components that may need to be replaced.

[szacsi72]

I would like to hear numbers. What's the ackerman%? Did you do anything to compensate bump steer and if yes, what? Did you do anything against too much angle? As the linear travel stayed the same, with more ratio, you get more steering angle. As you made the ratio quicker, you do realise that the steering box slop becomes worse by this? You do realise that as the steering box slop is still there, but with a bigger ratio, the nonlinear transition between steering and not is now worse? You steer, you steer, nothing, boom. Too much steer. This is especially bad if you have stiff springs and sphericals in the control arms.

You do also state they are "inexpensive".
For close to $700, there are so many upgrades that could be had. Such as a front suspension refresh..

The quicker ratio box also makes the slop smaller, while keeping the maximum steering angle the same, this is not an alternative to that.
I'm not sold.

[kombinator]

I would like to order a pair

[kombinator]

So I have installed them lately and driven around for 1000km.. I must say you definitely feel a difference. I must adjust the end stops otherwise the tire would come dangerously close to the frame. There is just one thing that I do not feel comfortably with:
On very low speeds once you turn more than 360° the steering will go full lock on its own. Even though having controlled the toe/camber twice it does this strange behavior. Has anyone else this issue? I can provide a video if needed. It really feels unsafe (but only at waking pace, anything above is ok)..