E85 Power Steering Problem

M

Masterjjb

New member
Hi All,

I just bought a BMW Z4 E85 a few weeks back and although there were minor things that needed looking at I was happy that I could fix all of these myself or with a simple garage visit for things like alignment and new tyres.

I had only driven it 5 times before I thought I'd like a bluetooth module in the car so I went ahead and installed this adaptorhttps://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B09V6ZGDMW?. The previous owner told me he had fitted a CD Changer and I could see that the surround was a bit mashed up from someone trying to take the air vent out previously. I fitted the module and it worked fine and even went for a drive and enjoyed my music finally.

The next time I drove the car I brought home an Autel scanner to see if there were any faults with the car. I was surprised that there were quite a few faults which looked to be either absent sensors, shorts to ground or voltage supplies. Two most notably were with the ESP which were:
006128 - Electric Power Steering (EPS), vehicle speed - Status Absent
006116 - Electric Power Steering (EPS), relays - Status Absent

I thought well there isn't anything on the dash so I'll drive to where I needed to go that day and deal with them later. Upon getting on the motorway and yellow engine warning light came on so I pulled over, did another scan and couldn't see any faults which were new. My thought process now was to wipe the fault codes so if the light were to come on again I'd have the most recent codes so I could pinpoint the problem.
The light didn't come back on and I got to my destination.

After a two hour walk I got back to my car and now the power steering light is on and the wheels are hard to turn. Did another scan and now the ESP will not respond to the diagnostic tool.
I've since been looking at the forum for posts on things to try in order to get it responding again and I've done the following:
Unplug battery and leave for 1 hour.
Unplug the changes to the radio just in case it was causing some sort of CAN interference.
Test the fuses
Visually inspect the cables going into the ESP and plug and unplug them
Test the power cables are fine with a multimeter.
Put a booster on the battery to provide the car with slightly more power in case the ESP wasn't getting enough. (The Autel scanner says its voltages are within a good range)

My hope is that I can figure out what the problem is rather than having to send the ESP module off to get rebuilt at ECUtuning.
 
Masterjjb said:
My hope is that I can figure out what the problem is rather than having to send the ESP module off to get rebuilt at ECUtuning.
Click to expand...

Welcome aboard.
Sadly, the fact you cannot communicate with the EPS ECU is fairly indicative of a failure anfd it'll need to go off to be fixed.
If your car has a Sport button try that too. If it doesn't work then its another good indicator of EPS ECU failure.
It is actually a fairly straightforward job to get the EPS motor out. I've done several now and also talked a few other people through it via Whatsapp calls in return for a donation to forum funds.
Whereabouts are you? I'd be happy tohelp out if needed.
 
enuff_zed said:
Sadly, the fact you cannot communicate with the EPS ECU is fairly indicative of a failure anfd it'll need to go off to be fixed.
Click to expand...

I saw the posts about taking it out (like this one [https://z4-forum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=103782) and it seemed relatively simple till I got under the wheel and peered up. Then again I wasn't in the mindset of taking it out at that point, just inspecting the wires.

I was also curious about looking at the PCB to see if I could mend it but seeing that is one of these small white types and covered in soft gel to protect it from moisture I'm not sure its worth looking at.

enuff_zed said:
Whereabouts are you? I'd be happy tohelp out if needed.
Click to expand...

That would be much appreciated and I'd gladly donate as it has already been useful for me in many ways. I'm in Southwest London though I see that's quite the distance from Norfolk.

Here I was thinking I got a nice car as it looked great in many ways but as I've been looking closer it needs a whole host of things being done to it.
For example the coolant expansion tank needs replacing most likely as its leaking coolant. The rubber air intake hose is split too so I need to fix this as well. These are easy fixes though compared to this ESP module.
 
Masterjjb said:
enuff_zed said:
Sadly, the fact you cannot communicate with the EPS ECU is fairly indicative of a failure anfd it'll need to go off to be fixed.
Click to expand...

I saw the posts about taking it out (like this one [https://z4-forum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=103782) and it seemed relatively simple till I got under the wheel and peered up. Then again I wasn't in the mindset of taking it out at that point, just inspecting the wires.

I was also curious about looking at the PCB to see if I could mend it but seeing that is one of these small white types and covered in soft gel to protect it from moisture I'm not sure its worth looking at.

enuff_zed said:
Whereabouts are you? I'd be happy tohelp out if needed.
Click to expand...

That would be much appreciated and I'd gladly donate as it has already been useful for me in many ways. I'm in Southwest London though I see that's quite the distance from Norfolk.

Here I was thinking I got a nice car as it looked great in many ways but as I've been looking closer it needs a whole host of things being done to it.
For example the coolant expansion tank needs replacing most likely as its leaking coolant. The rubber air intake hose is split too so I need to fix this as well. These are easy fixes though compared to this ESP module.
Click to expand...
All your problems seem to be standard issue and easily fixed tbh.
I could come to you to sort your EPS motor, but it would be two trips and obviously I'd ask for my fuel to be covered at the least.
(It takes a few days to get the motor repaired and back to you.)
Another option is for me to bring a spare motor with me. It would mean only one trip and I know it is a working one.
The issue with that would be that you have no idea it would last for.

Or, as I said, I can talk you through it. Not that difficult really.
 
You could try turning the steering wheel full lock to full lock while stationary but I think the motor has probably gone faulty.

You could take it to RBM Hampshire who charged me about £150 to take out and reinstall the motor after it had been fixed by ecutesting
 
enuff_zed said:
I could come to you to sort your EPS motor, but it would be two trips and obviously I'd ask for my fuel to be covered at the least.
Click to expand...
I'll look at trying to do it myself first and call on you if I get any problems or queries. What would you say is the best forum post to follow as a guide?

MKZ4000 said:
You could try turning the steering wheel full lock to full lock while stationary but I think the motor has probably gone faulty.
Click to expand...
Tried this too. Weirdly the steering angle sensor is completely fine so I guess this is a different module.
 
Masterjjb said:
What would you say is the best forum post to follow as a guide?
Click to expand...

If you PM me your mobile number I still have the complete conversation, with photos, that I sent to another member just before Xmas.
Would probably be easiest to send you that.

Once you get access to the motor the best tool to use is an 8mm ratchet ring spanner to remove the two bolts.
Make sure you mark the motor and the spacer ring before you dismantle it so you can realign them properly and hopefully noty have sticky steering issues.
 
It's been a while but here's an update.
I ended up following this Youtube video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K00JRcr7Ivk and then sending the EPS off to ECU Testing to get repaired.
Whilst it was helpful to follow this video, it was an absolute pain to get the steering column reattached to the U-Joint.
Therefore just take the motor off whilst the column is still in the car.

Once refitted the car was working fine with no faults for a while, however coming back to my car after leaving it at Gatwick long stay for a week I found it had stropped working again. The only correlation I could find was that both times it failed it was raining so maybe I have a wiring problem somewhere.
It has come back to life now but I'm going through the warranty process with ECU Testing and have to check out some wiring and sensors before I send it back.

These were the codes that came back after I scanned it recently:
006112 - Absent - Electric Power Steering (EPS), ignition
006116 - Absent - Electric Power Steering (EPS), relays

Annoying that this has come back as I was looking forward to almost having the car back to working order after just having to replace the coolant expansion tank and fix an oil leak.
 
I assume you've made the battery is in tip top condition?

Having said that this is the second time I've heard of people having issues after an ECU Testing repair.
 
The person I bought the car off said he recently had the battery replaced as the old one died.
I had checked it with the Autel scanner I used and I was getting healthy voltage levels.
The first time it died after I cleared the faults so that wasn't really anything to do with the battery.
 
Masterjjb said:
It has come back to life now but I'm going through the warranty process with ECU Testing and have to check out some wiring and sensors before I send it back.
Click to expand...
My guess is you'll just be removing the motor this time? :wink:

If you send it back and it's not fixable they will not quibble, just refund you. Helped someone else who had exactly that.

If it all goes wonky let me know, I have a complete column here, or you could just have the motor off it.
You'll need to recalibrate the Steering Angle Sensor in that case but no biggy.

I'm away 14/3 to 25/3, but will be on Whatsapp and may remember to check it on my way back from the pool 8)
 
enuff_zed said:
My guess is you'll just be removing the motor this time? :wink:
Click to expand...

Got that right! :rofl:

One problem is that they want me to check the "external sensor at the top of the rack for damage or water ingress". When I queried which one this is they said the Torque sensor, but looking at photos on here shows that it's internal and a pain to pull apart.

I think I'll be taking my time doing all this checking before sending it back as I actually want to be able to drive this car whilst it somewhat works...

Sometimes I do get the feeling of just selling the car and buying a basic run around again, but where's the fun in that.
 
Masterjjb said:
One problem is that they want me to check the "external sensor at the top of the rack for damage or water ingress". When I queried which one this is they said the Torque sensor, but looking at photos on here shows that it's internal and a pain to pull apart.
Click to expand...

I've changed a column for that fault. You would get a specific code for it if that was it.
I also found it would easily reset and only come on again if you turned the wheel quickly.

Tell them you've checked and it's all fine.

Worst case, get your money back and you can have a complete column from me for less than that. :thumbsup:
 
dimapima said:
[ref]enuff_zed[/ref], Hi. I have problem with EPS - error code S0100. Could you help me please?
Click to expand...
Sorry, I cannot find a reference to that code? Did it have any text with it?
What exactly is your problem?
 
enuff_zed said:
Sorry, I cannot find a reference to that code? Did it have any text with it?
What exactly is your problem?
Click to expand...

"No connection with EPS". The steering wheel became heavy and hard to turn left right. BMW Z4 2004 E85.
 
OK. Does your car have a Sport button? If so, does that still work?
Does the steering reset if you turn the ignition off and back on?
Sounds most likely to be a failure of the ECU on the EPS motor, which can be fixed for £295 if you are able to remove and refit yourself.
I am assuming you are in the UK?
 
dimapima said:
enuff_zed said:
Does your car have a Sport button? If so, does that still work?
Click to expand...
No, unfortunately I don't have this button.

enuff_zed said:
Does the steering reset if you turn the ignition off and back on?
Click to expand...
No

enuff_zed said:
I am assuming you are in the UK?
Click to expand...
Yes, Merthyr Tydfil
Click to expand...
OK, so next question is, are you handy with spanners?
Its not too complicated to remove the motor. Then you send it off to ECU Testing who can hopefully repair it and return it within 3-4 days with a lifetime warranty.
You do have another member [ref]colb[/ref] nearer to you than me. He is in Newport. Not sure if he has done a motor swap though?
But it may be worth getting to him to do a more thorough check on codes etc before you dive in at the deep end.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top