Steering rack OEM BMW or ZF

I have installed two Z3 racks, I love it... Bought both used on Ebay from CA from low mileage cars and look fantastic, wouldn't hesitate buying used from a salvage if you know the mileage.

I have a Z3 steering rack and love it. Extremely tight steering.

I picked up and e36 rack (wish I went z3 at the time). Tightens everything up.

I put one in my car and didn't retrofit servotronic and I firmly believe that was the best steering i've ever felt in any car in my life.

Highly recommend the Z3 rack. Much go kart.

New reman'd steering rack from German auto parts installed Saturday, took about 7 hours...Pump is silent, steers nice, doesn't rattle on center, doesn't grab the wheel out of your hands anymore.

Put a used w8 rack in that had 66k on it. Tested it out before I buttoned it all up, seemed great. Buttoned it all up, drove a few miles on a test drive, no issues or noises at all.

I had my pressure hose go out, then the rack go in a similar situation to you (a little leak turned into a blown out rack). go get a zf rack, and replace the hose (sadly, they both cost about the same, and it's not cheap). i've been running solid since then.

Most VR6s came with a ZF brand steering rack which uses different length tierods than ABA engined cars which mostly came with TRW steering racks.

There's a couple reasons I've found by taking one apart that failed within a year. I've never been happy with the steering response from a re-man. I found the center wear between the rack and pinion gears to be almost laughable. There was an eighth of an inch of slop between the teeth. That's why I could move the steering wheel from side to side while going straight and nothing would happen. The biggest problem I found was the abundance of rust pitting on the cylinder walls. Obviously hydraulic fluid is hydroscopic and moisture getting in causes that. Brand new seals won't help if the mating surface is pitted. I think it's just the luck of the draw. You might get one that's in good shape internally and never have a problem. Then again, you might get one that was sitting for ten years full of water before it was rebuilt.