Looking at a 2500 EUR fix... Steering column went crazy on me...

D

Daaaaan

Member
Hey guys

Looking for a second oppinion here before doing a 2.5k eur purchase...

Z4, E85, 2008, 2.0i

2 weeks ago the yellow steering wheel light came on...no other symptoms, just that. I took the car to a local garage, and after a diagnosis, they found a faulty steering angle sensor. Once replaced light was gone and everything was ok.

After a week, while parking, I turned the steering wheel all the way to the left, and at that point it rebounded back and also the steering became really hard. I had no more assisted steering. I turned the engine off and on again, and everything was normal - problem disappeared. But once i turned the steering wheel all the way to the left again, the symptoms reappeared. This does not happen when I turn it to the right...only to the left...and every time I switch the engine off and on again the assisted steering goes back to normal.

Took the car to the same local garage, and they said it's a problem with the assisted-steering motor, probably a sensor inside it, but the motor is attached to the steering column and cannot be replaced unless I replace the whole steering column (part no. 32306780728).

They also advised to look for a second-hand one from a dismantled car, since a new one costs approx. 2500 eur.

...HELP, please?
 
Sorry to hear about that - but hopefully you don't need a new steering column.

These people may be the answer:- http://www.ecutesting.com/catalogue/bmw_eculist.html?category=4066&model=658

I've read good reports about them on here for EPAS and for ABS pumps.

Hope you get it sorted. :thumbsup:
 
Thanks for the tip!

I'll write them an email describing the situation...maybe they faced this issue before and they can help.

Only problem is...I'm from Romania. Hope they take international orders...
 
I guessed you weren't in the UK when you said EUR 2,500, but didn't realise you were quite that far away!

I'd be surprised if there wasn't someone offering the same service in mainland Europe, it's just finding them.

But hopefully they will take international orders.
 
Maybe the steering angle sensor wasn't installed properly? Seems odd that a problem which relates to the position/angle of steering occurs after having the steering angle sensor replaced. Am I remembering correctly that it needs to be calibrated/reset?
 
The local garage that replaced my sensor said that they did the calibration. Don't know if I should believe them at this point. To be honest this happened about 1 week after changing the sensor, maybe it's related. Can't remember steering all the way to the left in that week until I noticed it for the first time. Maybe I didn't and its that steering angle sensor uncalibrated or something...

Perhaps you're right... I am going to my local BMW shop tomorrow to see a second oppinion.

And I already emailed the guys at ecutesting.com but I haven't received a reply for 3 days now...
 
That sounds like the torque sensor ring on the column has been damaged, not the motor itself. If you plug into diagnostics, does the EPS ECU communicate with the reader or not? It will have to be BMW specific readers mind.

There's a fix somewhere on here, effectively it involves pulling the whole column apart to resolder some wires on a ribbon that split.
 
mjennings23 said:
That sounds like the torque sensor ring on the column has been damaged, not the motor itself. If you plug into diagnostics, does the EPS ECU communicate with the reader or not? It will have to be BMW specific readers mind.
Click to expand...

I will ask the dealer to tell me if he finds a comms error between the EPS ECU and their software.

Any other errors I should be aware of that point out to different problems / solutions?
 
mjennings23 said:
That sounds like the torque sensor ring on the column has been damaged, not the motor itself. If you plug into diagnostics, does the EPS ECU communicate with the reader or not? It will have to be BMW specific readers mind.

There's a fix somewhere on here, effectively it involves pulling the whole column apart to resolder some wires on a ribbon that split.
Click to expand...

Took the car to the dealer for a diagnosis and hopefully a just reprogamming of the sensor will be needed.

I will ask them to print a full error list if reprogramming is not possible or does not have any effect and see where that goes...

Fingers crossed :D :D
 
Well...the guys at ECUtesting.com just emailed me saying there's nothing wrong with the ECU on the steering column.

What should I do next? :headbang:

Below is the full diagnosis report I got from my BMW dealer prior to sending the unit at ECUtesting if anyone is interested...and maybe help with a solution?
 

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mjennings23 said:
There's a fix somewhere on here, effectively it involves pulling the whole column apart to resolder some wires on a ribbon that split.
Click to expand...
It sounds like that issue to me, too.

The fault report seems to list the EPS torque every time they run the test. Is the ribbon repair related to steering angle or torque? The ribbon seems more like an angle sensing arrangement to me, rather than torque sensing.
 
Okay so the ribbon repair IS the torque sensor repair, which could tie in nicely with your test failure reports.

Have a look [ref]Daaaaan[/ref]: https://z4-forum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=82880
 
wonkydonkey said:
Okay so the ribbon repair IS the torque sensor repair, which could tie in nicely with your test failure reports.

Have a look [ref]Daaaaan[/ref]: https://z4-forum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=82880
Click to expand...

That's the one! Same issue for me, but as I say I really didn't fancy ripping the column apart, so instead dropped in a hydraulic system. Might be worth considering, even for the significantly improved steering feel.
 
[ref]mjennings23[/ref] I bet the hydraulic column feels much more connected. In terms of cost, time and hassle, I imagine this repair job probably wins but I appreciate it requires its fair share of tool time and commitment.
 
wonkydonkey said:
Okay so the ribbon repair IS the torque sensor repair, which could tie in nicely with your test failure reports.

Have a look [ref]Daaaaan[/ref]: https://z4-forum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=82880
Click to expand...

Is the torque sensor another sensor I was not aware of?

Besides the ECU I thought there was only the steering angle sensor... Where is the torque sensor located?
 
Salut,
sint Dorin din Bucuresti si am un z4 E85/2007.
Pentru problema ta ,daca nu ai rezolvat o,mergi in comuna Tunari, la Autoroller .
Au niste baieti super calificati si cu siguranta iti vor rezolva problema.
Zi buna
 
Thanks a lot for the tips guys. The ECU just arrived back from ECUtesting.

I'll try the solution in that thread these days...maybe that ribbon got damaged when my local car guy replaced the steering angle sensor 2 weeks before problems started?
 
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