Jeff Krause  (Driver's Edge)

Date: October 13, 2001

Product Provided: E30 M3 steering rack

Complaint: On September 29, 2001 I won an eBay auction for an E30 M3 steering rack that came out of Jeff Krause's personal car, a very rare yellow 1988 E30 M3 convertible. Jeff Krause is well known in the BMWCCA and prides himself as being an enthusiast and a real BMW guy. My original steering rack had a slight leak, and after Jeff assured me that the rack was in perfect shape with no leaks whatsoever, I bid on it and won the auction. After making an immediate payment via Paypal it took Jeff 3 months to ship it to me, giving me such reasons as "it's a very big package, these things take time" and "I had a bad day today so I didn't feel like shipping it out." After putting up with his negligence for 3 months, it finally arrived in mid-December.

I had the rack professionally installed about a week later. The rack looked older than the 114k miles that Jeff stated in the auction description and the tie rod assemblies were shot, so I replaced them and cleaned off all the dirt and grime on the rack before installation.

Two days later, I noticed a huge puddle of ATF under my car. I jacked it up, pulled the dust boot off, and ATF came pouring out. The rack was leaking so bad that I had to add 1 quart of ATF per week and everywhere I parked my car I left a mess. Several emails to Jeff went unanswered, but he finally responded weeks later by saying that the rack was in good condition when he pulled it and that he is not giving me a refund. I repeatedly stated that the rack was not as described and that I wanted to have some sort of compensation for costs (whatever he felt was appropriate) but he refused. Numerous requests for a refund, or even a partial compensation have been denied. His driving enthusiast and car-guy attitude that he advertises on his website is a scam. Jeff Krause is nothing more than an eBay con artist, looking to make a quick dollar any way he can.

How bad was the rack? Check out the pictures on the left. It shows the scar caused by the left seal, and there is a large area of rust (that's right, rust!) beside it. What my mechanic and I believe is that after Jeff pulled the steering rack out of his M3, he left it standing outside in his backyard (with the right side on the ground) for a few months with the left dust boot loose or removed. Over time, water entered the rack, rust formed, and started to eat it through. So even if the seals were in excellent condition, which they were not, the holes left by the rust would allow the ATF to escape, causing a leak. Because of this the rack cannot be rebuilt and is now worthless. Jeff has denied this accusation. I ended up rebuilding my old rack and reinstaling it. The cost of the M3 steering rack, shipping, new tie rod assemblies, installation, alignment, removal, attempted rebuild, reinstallation, and realignment cost me over $700, for which I could have purchased an E36 M3 rack from Zionsville Autosport (and had some cash leftover for the install).

Jeff Krause sells his garbage on eBay under the user name m5jeff@driversedge.com. And once again, I have been screwed by another E30 owner :(.


NOTE: I have recently learned from a fellow E30 enthusiast (who has a real M3 convertible imported from Europe) that Jeff's "rare" yellow M3 convertible was built from nothing more than a wrecked 325iC and two junker M3s, though he passes it off as a factory original. A true poser indeed, now it's no surprise that the rack he sold me was in such bad shape, considering it came from a junkyard queen.