I recently came about some information that steering racks have a way to adjust how much pressure is I believe put against the rack from the pinion which can be adjusted through a nut at the end of the area where the rack is, pictured below.
Both my cars have some level of steering wheel play in the center, e46 is more severe and it would make little sense to me that a rack could wear that much so maybe this has some effect on it. Keep in mind I have checked many times and the play is between the input of the steering shaft and the internals of the rack, not tie rod ends.
Attached below is a link to what seems to be a guide or service manual for ZF racks used in Jaguars but they look very similar to the ones in our cars and you can see how they work and how to adjust this preload.
Some cars have a bolt in the center which can be threaded in and out to put pressure and a nut around to lock it in place, our racks have only a very large type bolt and a spring inside that goes against a U shaped part (this seems to be a notorious wear item on F30s)
I'm wondering if anyone here has done it, I read a few threads here and maybe one or two guys know about this but that's it. Information is scarce to say the least. Any tips or general knowledge about steering racks would be appreciated as I think this isn't a rare issue and people just tend to live with it under the assumption the rack is just worn out
