EPS issues?

[jamesdi]

Hi all,

My steering wheel is very heavy and hard to turn. I have an orange steering wheel with exclamation mark warning light illuminated on the dash and the sport button is always illuminated too - pressing it does nothing. The steering does also 'stick'/stay in place when driving and I have to forcefully change its direction to straighten the car up again. This fault would sometimes come and go and turning the car off and on again would sometimes get rid of the warning, but now its constantly there...

I jacked the car up yesterday, put on axle stands and turned the steering wheel. Much easier to turn now but still feels a little 'sticky/notchy'.

1) Does this suggest a fault with EPS motor under the steering column?
2) Any instructions/guides on how to remove WITHOUT ripping the whole column out?
3) Do I need a locking pin/alignment tool to keep everything in place after removing the motor? Do I need to mark anything?

I am thinking of sending it off to ECUTesting, but want to be sure before I do so.

Thanks

 

[enuff_zed]

Hi all,

My steering wheel is very heavy and hard to turn. I have an orange steering wheel with exclamation mark warning light illuminated on the dash and the sport button is always illuminated too - pressing it does nothing. The steering does also 'stick'/stay in place when driving and I have to forcefully change its direction to straighten the car up again. This fault would sometimes come and go and turning the car off and on again would sometimes get rid of the warning, but now its constantly there...

I jacked the car up yesterday, put on axle stands and turned the steering wheel. Much easier to turn now but still feels a little 'sticky/notchy'.

1) Does this suggest a fault with EPS motor under the steering column?
2) Any instructions/guides on how to remove WITHOUT ripping the whole column out?
3) Do I need a locking pin/alignment tool to keep everything in place after removing the motor? Do I need to mark anything?

I am thinking of sending it off to ECUTesting, but want to be sure before I do so.

Thanks

Hi James,
In short, yes, you need your EPS motor sorted. ECUTesting will turn it round and back to you in around 4 days for £295. Be sure to buy their service through Ebay as it is cheaper than their website.
I did it recently and if you search this weeks posts you'll see Portculis is halfway through doing his.
Have a read up of his thread, which should tell you most of what you need to know.
I removed the seat and steering wheel to make it much easier. Be sure you disconnect the battery and wait 30 minutes before unpluging the seat or the wheel or you'll be left with an airbag light.
Apart from those items I only removed the lower column cowling and the panel in the footwell.
No need to lock it all, but do mark it up with a marker pen before you staert, so it can be aligned again on rebuild.
Assuming you can get yourself into the footwell looking up then it is relatively straightforward.
(I'm knocking on a bit, so a precautionary call to the fire brigade before I start is always a good move. )
I could list everything here again but you may as well check the existing post a it'll tell you all you need to know.
Have a read of that then PM me your number if you like as I'm happy to be on the end of a video call if it helps.

Where are you?
If by any chance you could wrestle it to Norfolk and leave it here a week I'd do it for you.

 

[jamesdi]

Hi James,
In short, yes, you need your EPS motor sorted. ECUTesting will turn it round and back to you in around 4 days for £295. Be sure to buy their service through Ebay as it is cheaper than their website.
I did it recently and if you search this weeks posts you'll see Portculis is halfway through doing his.
Have a read up of his thread, which should tell you most of what you need to know.
I removed the seat and steering wheel to make it much easier. Be sure you disconnect the battery and wait 30 minutes before unpluging the seat or the wheel or you'll be left with an airbag light.
Apart from those items I only removed the lower column cowling and the panel in the footwell.
No need to lock it all, but do mark it up with a marker pen before you staert, so it can be aligned again on rebuild.
Assuming you can get yourself into the footwell looking up then it is relatively straightforward.
(I'm knocking on a bit, so a precautionary call to the fire brigade before I start is always a good move. )
I could list everything here again but you may as well check the existing post a it'll tell you all you need to know.
Have a read of that then PM me your number if you like as I'm happy to be on the end of a video call if it helps.

Where are you?
If by any chance you could wrestle it to Norfolk and leave it here a week I'd do it for you.

Splendid! Thanks for taking the time to reply in detail!

I'm going to try without removing the seat and steering wheel. Does the lower column plastic cowling come off without removing the steering wheel?

Thanks again mate, greatly appreciated!

 

[enuff_zed]

Hi James,
In short, yes, you need your EPS motor sorted. ECUTesting will turn it round and back to you in around 4 days for £295. Be sure to buy their service through Ebay as it is cheaper than their website.
I did it recently and if you search this weeks posts you'll see Portculis is halfway through doing his.
Have a read up of his thread, which should tell you most of what you need to know.
I removed the seat and steering wheel to make it much easier. Be sure you disconnect the battery and wait 30 minutes before unpluging the seat or the wheel or you'll be left with an airbag light.
Apart from those items I only removed the lower column cowling and the panel in the footwell.
No need to lock it all, but do mark it up with a marker pen before you staert, so it can be aligned again on rebuild.
Assuming you can get yourself into the footwell looking up then it is relatively straightforward.
(I'm knocking on a bit, so a precautionary call to the fire brigade before I start is always a good move. )
I could list everything here again but you may as well check the existing post a it'll tell you all you need to know.
Have a read of that then PM me your number if you like as I'm happy to be on the end of a video call if it helps.

Where are you?
If by any chance you could wrestle it to Norfolk and leave it here a week I'd do it for you.

Splendid! Thanks for taking the time to reply in detail!

I'm going to try without removing the seat and steering wheel. Does the lower column plastic cowling come off without removing the steering wheel?

Thanks again mate, greatly appreciated!

Well good luck with that! You're obviously a lot more bendy than me
If you pull the steering wheel adjuster down you'll find a screw underneath it. I think there's one other? Then it just pops off.
Get yourself an 8mm ratchet ring spanner and a torch. The rest is easy (says the man with the sprained back and the nervous twitch! )

 

[jamesdi]

Well good luck with that! You're obviously a lot more bendy than me
If you pull the steering wheel adjuster down you'll find a screw underneath it. I think there's one other? Then it just pops off.
Get yourself an 8mm ratchet ring spanner and a torch. The rest is easy (says the man with the sprained back and the nervous twitch! )

Thanks for the tips

Just 2 bolts holding the EPS motor in place yeah?

 

[enuff_zed]

Well good luck with that! You're obviously a lot more bendy than me
If you pull the steering wheel adjuster down you'll find a screw underneath it. I think there's one other? Then it just pops off.
Get yourself an 8mm ratchet ring spanner and a torch. The rest is easy (says the man with the sprained back and the nervous twitch! )

Thanks for the tips

Just 2 bolts holding the EPS motor in place yeah?

Yup, torx head but easiest to remove with an 8mm ratchet spanner. Far less room needed.

 

[jamesdi]

Yup, torx head but easiest to remove with an 8mm ratchet spanner. Far less room needed.

Might sound stupid, but how does an 8mm ratchet spanner fit onto a torx head bolt? :|

 

[enuff_zed]

Yup, torx head but easiest to remove with an 8mm ratchet spanner. Far less room needed.

Might sound stupid, but how does an 8mm ratchet spanner fit onto a torx head bolt? :|

Easily :wink:
Best bit is, the thing is only a few mm wide. Should be a bi-hex (12 points) to do it though. I use Halfords Professional.
By the time you stick a torx socket on a ratchet handle you need all kinds of space to fit it in.
Check out Portculis and his active thread on it. He found it worked well.

 

[jamesdi]

Easily :wink:
Best bit is, the thing is only a few mm wide. Should be a bi-hex (12 points) to do it though. I use Halfords Professional.
By the time you stick a torx socket on a ratchet handle you need all kinds of space to fit it in.
Check out Portculis and his active thread on it. He found it worked well.

If you are referring to the bolt circled in red, that is actually an inverted torx head bolt...

 

[jamesdi]

Get yourself an 8mm ratchet ring spanner and a torch. The rest is easy (says the man with the sprained back and the nervous twitch! )

enuff_zed you are a life saver!

The 8mm ratchet spanner works wonders! Now getting ready to send it off to ECUTesting.

Thanks again for your help mate

 

[enuff_zed]

Get yourself an 8mm ratchet ring spanner and a torch. The rest is easy (says the man with the sprained back and the nervous twitch! )

enuff_zed you are a life saver!

The 8mm ratchet spanner works wonders! Now getting ready to send it off to ECUTesting.

Thanks again for your help mate

Good stuff.
I dreaded doing this job, but with lots of forum help I devised what I think is a simpler way and you're now the third one to do it like that, so I feel it was worthwhile.

When you come to refit it wedge the bolt in the spanner, line it all up then use a screwdriver to push on the head of the bolt while you ratchet it in to place.

 

[jamesdi]

Any idea what these connectors are for? They were already unplugged when I removed the footwell cover...

 

[jamesdi]

OH FFS!!!

Got a call from ECU Testing today saying that the symptoms the car was experiencing (No power steering, warning light on dash and sport button always on) are related to the faulty EPS motor. Unfortunately they cannot rebuild my faulty unit or send me a replacement. I asked what exactly the issue was but Emily just said the engineer suspects it to have an internal hardware fault. For whatever reason, she said I cannot speak to or contact the engineer who tested my unit? :roll:

She gave me the part number required: 0273010011

However, this part number doesn't exist on RealOEM???

I asked if I buy a replacement EPS Motor would it fix my issue? They said I may need to have it coded to my car. Is this true?

Anybody here replaced their EPS Motor? And how do you "code" it? Difficult?

Hope someone can help soon please.

 

[enuff_zed]

OH FFS!!!

Got a call from ECU Testing today saying that the symptoms the car was experiencing (No power steering, warning light on dash and sport button always on) are related to the faulty EPS motor. Unfortunately they cannot rebuild my faulty unit or send me a replacement. I asked what exactly the issue was but Emily just said the engineer suspects it to have an internal hardware fault. For whatever reason, she said I cannot speak to or contact the engineer who tested my unit? :roll:

She gave me the part number required: 0273010011

However, this part number doesn't exist on RealOEM???

I asked if I buy a replacement EPS Motor would it fix my issue? They said I may need to have it coded to my car. Is this true?

Anybody here replaced their EPS Motor? And how do you "code" it? Difficult?

Hope someone can help soon please.

Sorry, replied on your wanted thread.
That's bad news. I assume they've refunded you all bar the postage?
Sounds like your only option is a replacement and yes it needs to be a corresponding part number.
No idea how it gets coded though.
Make sure your 'wanted' is completely specific about which one you need and keep your fingers crossed.
Or of course, try a hydraulic conversion?
Stuart (bigwinn) says he wants to investigate doing that. Maybe you could get together on it?

 

[Zforbes]

Anybody here replaced their EPS Motor? And how do you "code" it? Difficult?

I've changed one although e89, no coding necessary

No guarantee on e85 though.

Part number doesn't look quite right to me, try searching for the BMW part number maybe, although you may need to confirm manufacturers

https://ecu.de/bmw/lenkungssteuerger%C3%A4t-%28servolenkung%29/z4-%28e85%29-elektrische-servolenkung/bmw-6765161-bosch-0273010011-zf-7804277111-144703.html

Info for part number, advert for repair unfortunately

 

[jamesdi]

OH FFS!!!

Got a call from ECU Testing today saying that the symptoms the car was experiencing (No power steering, warning light on dash and sport button always on) are related to the faulty EPS motor. Unfortunately they cannot rebuild my faulty unit or send me a replacement. I asked what exactly the issue was but Emily just said the engineer suspects it to have an internal hardware fault. For whatever reason, she said I cannot speak to or contact the engineer who tested my unit? :roll:

She gave me the part number required: 0273010011

However, this part number doesn't exist on RealOEM???

I asked if I buy a replacement EPS Motor would it fix my issue? They said I may need to have it coded to my car. Is this true?

Anybody here replaced their EPS Motor? And how do you "code" it? Difficult?

Hope someone can help soon please.

Sorry, replied on your wanted thread.
That's bad news. I assume they've refunded you all bar the postage?
Sounds like your only option is a replacement and yes it needs to be a corresponding part number.
No idea how it gets coded though.
Make sure your 'wanted' is completely specific about which one you need and keep your fingers crossed.
Or of course, try a hydraulic conversion?
Stuart (bigwinn) says he wants to investigate doing that. Maybe you could get together on it?

No, I haven't received any refund yet...

The part number that Emily emailed me, 0273010011, refers to the black plastic part/module which is attached to the EPS motor. I presume this is the faulty part/ECU of the EPS motor. Here is a picture of it before I sent the motor to ECU Testing...




I can't find any with the exact same part number as that. The closest I can find is 0273010010.

Since the unit will need programmed/coded to the car anyways, is it vital that this part number must be the exact same?

Thanks

 

[jamesdi]

I could also get ECU Testing to send my unit to BBA Reman or Autotronics. These are 2 other repairers of the Z4 EPS motor on eBay. Maybe they could fix and talk me through it in better detail?

Anyone used either of these repairers?

Thanks

 

[jamesdi]

Anybody here replaced their EPS Motor? And how do you "code" it? Difficult?

I've changed one although e89, no coding necessary

No guarantee on e85 though.

Part number doesn't look quite right to me, try searching for the BMW part number maybe, although you may need to confirm manufacturers

https://ecu.de/bmw/lenkungssteuerger%C3%A4t-%28servolenkung%29/z4-%28e85%29-elektrische-servolenkung/bmw-6765161-bosch-0273010011-zf-7804277111-144703.html

Info for part number, advert for repair unfortunately

Hi thanks for the reply

Was your part number exactly identical on the replacement unit?

It seems on RealOEM that the EPS motor is only available together as a complete unit with the steering column. There is no separate part number for it...

 

[Zforbes]

Anybody here replaced their EPS Motor? And how do you "code" it? Difficult?

I've changed one although e89, no coding necessary

No guarantee on e85 though.

Part number doesn't look quite right to me, try searching for the BMW part number maybe, although you may need to confirm manufacturers

https://ecu.de/bmw/lenkungssteuerger%C3%A4t-%28servolenkung%29/z4-%28e85%29-elektrische-servolenkung/bmw-6765161-bosch-0273010011-zf-7804277111-144703.html

Info for part number, advert for repair unfortunately

Hi thanks for the reply

Was your part number exactly identical on the replacement unit?

It seems on RealOEM that the EPS motor is only available together as a complete unit with the steering column. There is no separate part number for it...

Yes, same part number and same thing on E89, only listed as a complete unit.

The motor part number though wasn't specific to the E89, it's used on quite a few models so easier to get hold of. Don't know if this applies to the E85 or if its model specific.

 

[jamesdi]

Does anyone know if it is ok to drive the car without the EPS motor installed? I have everything marked up for re-installation anyways.

ECU Testing still have my unit and I need to move my car...

If I recall correctly, there is a ribbon cable which can get ripped/snapped, but I believe this only happens when the whole steering column is removed? I think its called the torque/steering angle sensor?

Can someone please confirm?

Many thanks!