E85/E86 Steering Problems

F

flaneur7508

Member
 France
Hello I have a 2004 E85 3.0i and I have the well documented power steering issue. I’m reading through the various posts on this forum (very useful) but I have one question.

In short the power steering doesn’t work. I don’t believe there is a warning light on the dashboard that I recall. I’ve not tested if the Sports mode button works.

I did change the fuse at some point. After that I think the steering worked for some days and then failed again.

My comments might seem vague but the car is occasional use and has been siting in a garage in the countryside in the middle of France for a few years. I sent it to an indy garage a year ago (not specialised in BMW BTW) and he told me it would cost €4,000 to fix. Clearly that’s way too much.

Given the location of the car (100KM to the nearest BMW dealer) my options are limited.

So to my question. I saw a few folks mention the battery state. My battery is probably end of life, I had to charge it even to start the car. What are the chances that the issue could be the battery? I know I’m probably hoping beyond hope but has a replacement battery been a solution for anyone?

Thanks for any pointers.

Cheers!
 
Until you know you have a good battery on it you won’t be able to rule that out of any diagnosis.
As you are probably aware, this forum is predominantly UK based, so if you need a replacement motor, don’t get one from a UK seller as the RHD motors rotate in the opposite directions. Your best bet would be to send yours to ECU Testing
 
flaneur7508 said:
Thanks for that. FYI it's a RHD, but you made a good point. I didn't know there would be any difference.
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Is it? Well just as well I asked I suppose.
ECU Testing is your best bet still.
It could even prove cheaper to drive to the UK and ask someone like me, or one of the other 'fixers' to swap it over for you.
 
enuff_zed said:
Is it? Well just as well I asked I suppose.
ECU Testing is your best bet still.
It could even prove cheaper to drive to the UK and ask someone like me, or one of the other 'fixers' to swap it over for you.
Click to expand...
Once over about 20mph the steering isn't too bad tbh.
 
1. New battery
2. Check codes
3. See if Sport button works
4. Check Fuse 22
5. Report back with findings and we can possibly work out what the issue is.

FYI, recently had a chap on here with failed steering and it turned out to be the crankshaft sensor. It wasn't sending an engine speed signal and below 300rpm the steering shuts down.
So we need to define your problem first.
 
Alright. So i'll get a new battery. When you say codes do you mean ECU testing? If so.. is ECU testing is something a BMW dealer would have to do right? (Sorry i'm not a car guy in the least) If thats the case, I guess one solution would be to drive it to the dealer thats 100KM away and get it tested first.
 
ECU Testing in this instance is the company in the UK that diagnoses and fixes electronic devices used in automotive applications

They fixed my ABS pump / control unit a few years ago, all good.
 
Right. That's not an option. I think my best bet is to get the battery and drive the car to the BMW dealer for a proper eval.
 
flaneur7508 said:
Right. That's not an option. I think my best bet is to get the battery and drive the car to the BMW dealer for a proper eval.
Click to expand...
By codes, I meant get someone to plug a handheld code reader into the car and let us know what they find.

I have done many of these on my own cars and for other people now.
ECU Testing charge £295 to repair the motor (in fact it's the ECU on the top of it that fails)
You would probably have to pay a bit more for postage costs.

As i'm getting on a bit now, I remove the seat and steering wheel so that I can lay upside down in the footwell to do the work. Even with that, I can do it all in around 2 hours if I have a replacement motor to hand.

You should be aware that BMW only change the whole column, which is why you have been quoted so much I suspect.

But, of course, before we dive in at the deep end we need to be sure we are fixing the right problem.
 
It’s a very small and worthwhile investment to buy a code reader. You can get the BMW specific Creator 310+ on eBay for around £50, and used ones occasionally cropped up for nothing. They are easy to use and can reset warning lights etc. Forum members will be able to offer much more pinpointed advice if they know what the live error codes are.

Failing batteries can cause a host of issues with the Z4 electrical system, so if yours will no longer hold a charge you need to replace it. If you are storing the car, you’ll be better off keeping the battery on a trickle charger / battery conditioner, or disconnecting it altogether.
 
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