Your BMW's tie rods are an integral part of the steering system. Primarily the tie rod is tasked with transmitting steering inputs to the wheel spindle. With high mileage and age the inner and outer tie rod ball joints can develop play which can cause alignment and steering performance issues. In addition to normal wear and tear from high mileage tie rod assemblies can also fail from torn or missing steering rack dust boots and torn outer ball joint dust boots. We highly recommend replacing the steering rack boots when installing new tie rod assemblies or inner tie rods for this reason.