Have I bought a money pit?

[Stigbew]

Bought my first Zed 10 days ago. 2005 E85 2.2L Black Sapphire Red Leather M Sports seats 18" 107's.

I had done my research beforehand looking at upwards of 30 E85's, visiting 5, test driving 3, bidding on 2 and ended up buying 1. 8)

The guy I bought from told me the rear parking sensors weren't working but it was just one sensor that had gone and he had bought replacements just not fitted them. Sounded easy enough until the bumper was off and he had bought the wrong replacements and I'm still not sure if it is the sensors, the loom, or the control unit after a day of tinkering.

While I was underneath the bonnet today I noticed the bonnet alarm sensor unplugged, so plugged that back in. Started it up and now I have a warning light for power steering. I can't see how the two could be connected but I go to drive the car away and sure enough the power steering has packed up!

Going to ring the local specialist in the morning and take it in for a full look over to check I haven't bought a bucket of spanners but as of tonight feeling quite disheartened about my purchase. So the thread title question remains, do you think I've bought a money pit?

 

[paddy wright]

Could have had a flat battery if it’s been sitting- this can throw up some issues.

 

[Stigbew]

Should've mentioned that, went and bought a brand new one from Euro car parts this afternoon, plug in and play but didn't solve any issues.

 

[buzyg]

Well let us hope not. Get it checked over before you start panicing too much. Even on a private sale you can supposedly claim a refund if mis sold. Though I have never had too.

 

[jamie_z4]

PAS issue could be a wheel speed sensor, nothing major, get it plugged in

 

[Steve67]

The bonnet switches often fail and cause false alarms ... Mine was unplugged when I bought my car and I plugged it in thinking that it was left off accidentally when the rocket gasket was changed but it wasn’t - the switch was intermittent and the alarm was going off randomly .. either disconnect or pick up a replacement. I can’t see how this is anything more than coincidental with your steering issue.

I also had loads of fault codes, airbag etc etc and they all went away when I replaced the battery and cleared them ...

Oh, and I have an intermittent parking sensor but that’s on the “round tuit” list at the moment!

It does sound like you need someone with a decent code reader to help find the root cause.

Good luck sorting out the niggles ...

 

[road warrior]

Don't panic, just teething problems and rather normal frankly, your not far from me, bring it round I and I will plug it in and see whats what before you start talking to indi's we here have just about seen it all before.

 

[road warrior]

BTW way.. The bonnet sensor was disconnected for a reason, what's the likely hood the bonnet alarm and the power steering uses the same fuse..

 

[road warrior]

The sensors stop working if even one sensor fails, and usually cheaper to replace all 4 sensors with copies rather than 1 BMW original...

 

[Smartbear]

The bonnet switches often fail and cause false alarms ... Mine was unplugged when I bought my car and I plugged it in thinking that it was left off accidentally when the rocket gasket was changed but it wasn’t - the switch was intermittent and the alarm was going off randomly .. either disconnect or pick up a replacement. I can’t see how this is anything more than coincidental with your steering issue.

I also had loads of fault codes, airbag etc etc and they all went away when I replaced the battery and cleared them ...

Oh, and I have an intermittent parking sensor but that’s on the “round tuit” list at the moment!

It does sound like you need someone with a decent code reader to help find the root cause.

Good luck sorting out the niggles ...

I want to know what performance your zeds got after reading you’ve changed the rocket gasket!
Rob

 

[Huzee4]

I had that problem with my first E85 after changing the battery, threw up a warning light, local Indy plugged her into his code reader and told me car had detected a drop in voltage, he just turned the light off for me with no charge. Good luck

 

[Z4Sparky]

What Huzee said.....if the battery was low and caused fault codes, plugging a new battery in without clearing the faults may not turn off the warning lights.

Take Road Warrior up on his offer and get it plugged in to a code reader to get an idea of what is going on....at least you will have more info if you do have to go to an indy in the end.

When I bought my E89 I was in a similar situation - everything seemed fine on the test drive, but a week after ownership I had to replace one rear light cluster as the indicators gave up and one of the rear tyres kept loosing pressure over a few weeks (turned out to be a bad seal on the inside edge which was only found when I converted to Non RFT).

 

[Stigbew]

Don't panic, just teething problems and rather normal frankly, your not far from me, bring it round I and I will plug it in and see whats what before you start talking to indi's we here have just about seen it all before.

Thanks all for the encouragement. Have sent you a PM road warrior

 

[road warrior]

The bonnet switches often fail and cause false alarms ... Mine was unplugged when I bought my car and I plugged it in thinking that it was left off accidentally when the rocket gasket was changed but it wasn’t - the switch was intermittent and the alarm was going off randomly .. either disconnect or pick up a replacement. I can’t see how this is anything more than coincidental with your steering issue.

I also had loads of fault codes, airbag etc etc and they all went away when I replaced the battery and cleared them ...

Oh, and I have an intermittent parking sensor but that’s on the “round tuit” list at the moment!

It does sound like you need someone with a decent code reader to help find the root cause.

Good luck sorting out the niggles ...

I want to know what performance your zeds got after reading you’ve changed the rocket gasket!
Rob

and i wanna know if he fuels it at asda like me

 

[road warrior]

ok, fuses..
take a look here
https://z4-forum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=38888&hilit=problem+solving

power steering is fuse f22 inside the glove box

 

[Stigbew]

ok, fuses..
take a look here
viewtopic.php?f=3&t=38888&hilit=problem+solving

power steering is fuse f22 inside the glove box

Cheers for the suggestion, just tested the fuse with a multimeter and got a full 12v both sides.

 

[road warrior]

change it anyway - i have seen fuses test fine and still not worked.
any other ideas boys an girls ?

 

[road warrior]

erm.. is thr battery ok ?

 

[Stigbew]

erm.. is thr battery ok ?

Replaced yesterday

 

[road warrior]

was it nackered then ?
i ask because.. i found this elsewhere on the forum by doing a search for power steering



Power steering failure solved and thought I'd share my experiences with the forum - it may save someone some serious bucks!

My mechanic spent several hours looking for codes and trying to diagnose the problem and could find nothing. There were no codes, no warning lights, no burned fuses, no bad wires, nothing, yet the EPS was dead in the water. After consulting with several other mechanics he concluded the EPS unit is likely fried and needs replacement, but said he couldn't do it himself as it's too specialized a job and he doesn't have the right programming tools. So he sent me to another nearby BMW mechanic who he said had done this before and is familiar with the problem and has the tools for the job. Total replacement cost quote: $3,800!! The part alone is $2,300 to $2,700 I looked it up online myself, and he said the other guy will not work with used or rebuild EPS columns because they always cause problems. I almost cried.

As I'm about to pull out of the lot to go to the other mechanic, the car wouldn't start so the guy gives me a jump with a portable charger. And lo and behold the power steering comes back on!! Neither of us could believe it, especially he who just spent a few hours trying to diagnose the issue.

What we concluded is that the EPS unit was not getting enough juice from a weak and dying battery, causing it to malfunction and shut itself off at startup. The battery had been weak for a while and was barely starting the engine and I knew I had to change it, but I hadn't gotten around to it.

So if you get power steering failure, before throwing a bunch of money at the problem, make sure you check the fuses (esp 22), the wires and the battery. A weak battery can apparently cause the EPS to malfunction even if it can start the car. I changed the battery and no problems so far, hopefully this won't come back.

Hope this saves somebody from a nasty expense...