Hole in steering wheel rack?

[Carolinejohn]

I took my car to the local garage (a little garage who's looked at my car many times for free) for its mot. It passed however told me a few things need doing. I have a mini cooper s 54 plate with 41,100 miles on the clock. I noticed the steering has got really bad recently so when he told me there is a hole in the steering wheel rack I wasn't massively surprised.

He told me he would ring me tomorrow with a quote, but was wondering if anybody could give me a heads up on how much it might cost?

Hope someone can help me.

Thank you.

[mab01uk]

I would guess he means there is a hole in one of the rubber gaiters/bellows on the steering rack. These allow the rack to move while keeping in the grease or oil lubricant. Should not be an expensive job to replace one, if not done dirt and grit can get in and oil out causing wear in the rack, also an MOT failure point.
However..........to replace the whole steering rack if was worn and your steering is really bad can be quite an expensive job for parts and labour!

Diagram of Steering Rack:
RealOEM.com BMW R50 Cooper POWER STEERING

[Carolinejohn]

Thank you for your reply. I have a feeling it's the whole rack! As you can tell I know nothing about cars. The steering fluid is leaking out at the moment which is making the steering poor, but wouldn't say it was awful.

When he rings with a quote tomorrow I will question exactly what's wrong.

When you say expensive, how much is expensive?

Thanks again.

[mab01uk]

This price shown below for a Mini rack is certainly alot less than from BMW main dealer so if your garage shop around for parts prices and charge reasonable hourly rates it may not be too bad.
BMW MINI RACK 01>06
BMW MINI POWER STEERING RACK 01>06

Around £300 from EuroCarParts:
http://www.eurocarparts.com/steering...steering-mount

REMY Mini | Euro Car Parts UK?s No.1 Car Parts Retailer

[Carolinejohn]

Thanks for that. It's really useful gives me a rough idea.

He is really good and labour rates are generally good so hopefully shouldn't be too bad.

I also need to fork out for new brake pads.

Oh well it was never going to cost nothing.

Thanks for your help you have been great.

[rsmith]

OUCH, that is really expensive but you don't have much choice because if i where on your shoes i will stick with the oem (recommended by most members) or oem parts that comes from my dealer (which is not advisable because of their below the belt prices). better be safe than sorry, it will be advisable not to use the car unless it is already repaired. Well guys in this forum are really helpful and knowledgeable. They've been very helpful to me ever since i joined this forum. Somebody also suggested to me to get steering parts from this site.