Power steering issues help needed please

M

Mike2405

Member
 London
Hi all new here hope you can help I have recently purchased a BMW z4 e85 2.0i 2005 I am having issues the car is very hard to start if you keep it turning over I can here a electrical clock like a relay and then it starts but will only rev to 3k had it plugged in too many faults to mention but was told it was vvt motor which I have replaced with genuine one still the same issue
Also have no power steering at all have just replaced the power steering motor and still no steering I have included the screen shots for the error codes any help with be greatly appreciated I am completely lost thanks in advance Michael
 

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Hello Michael, welcome to the forum, sorry to hear of your problems. I can't help but someone who can will be along soon that can :thumbsup:
 
Check that the carpets under the seats are not wet. Give them a good push down as there is thick insulation underneath which hold loads of water.
I have a feeling you've got a water damaged module somewhere.
 
Hi thanks for your advice inside cabin feels dry no condensation either the boot has been a little wet but all connections on battery seem fine
 
Mike2405 said:
Hi thanks for your advice inside cabin feels dry no condensation either the boot has been a little wet but all connections on battery seem fine
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You actually need to lift the carpet and check. It can be dry on top but soaking underneath. That would explain all your airbag module issues.
No codes for power steering? They would suggest to me that the ECU is not communicating. Are you sure all three plugs are fully connected and no blown fuses?
Was it a known working motor you fitted?

With all those other errors too, I’m wondering if you have a module corrupting the kbus. Favourite for that is the SIM85 centre airbag module. Pop out the coin holder behind the handbrake, reach through and unplug the black plug in the SIM85, then see if other stuff starts working again.
 
Hi yes was a known working motor all plugs are back in double checked will check the carpets tomorrow when I did replace and go to start the car there was no steering light on dash when cranking to start when it did eventually start there was a click the steering light came on and car started
 
Mike2405 said:
Hi yes was a known working motor all plugs are back in double checked will check the carpets tomorrow when I did replace and go to start the car there was no steering light on dash when cranking to start when it did eventually start there was a click the steering light came on and car started
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Well that's a weird set of events.
So if you turn it off and back on, is the steering now dead or does it do the same again?
 
Now if I turn it off and crank to start the power steering on dash is illuminated all the time and the car will turn over for around 15 seconds before there a click in the cabin and then the car starts hope this helps really appreciated your time
 
Steering is always dead was just the light wasn't illuminated on first start up after fitting steering motor until the click happend and car started
 
Could possibly be something to do with an error from the DME?
You need to get the code reader back on it and actually see if you can connect with the EPS ECU. If so, you should be able to see error codes. If not, then the ECU is not communicating. Usually this is due to a failed EPS ECU, but the only way to tell that is to send it off to ECU Testing.
Inlikely you have two motors doing the same thing (though not impossible), so need to work out if there's another module telling it to fail.
 
This could be relevant too. Until the engine gets over 300rpm the power steering is inactive. So, if you say that immediately the engine fires up it fails, then it suggests it is getting the engine speed signal from the DME, at which point it looks for the other inputs it should get over the k-bus (Canbus), finds that it can't see them, and shuts down.

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Ok thanks for all your advice will unplug the black cable tomorrow just gave it a try and couldn't get the plug off but to dark couldn't really see what I was doing and get it plugged in read again tomorrow and report back
 
Hi everyone little bit of progress 1st unplugged black wire under coin holder still the same all faults remain checked carpets yes they are both wet under the seats got car scanned again loads of faults showed up when I cleared them everything passed including power steering and vvt motor
Still no power steering even though it shows no faults and passed light on dash is off power steering still heavy
Scanner only showing faults for sim module 13 of them and gm5 module shows 3
When car is turned off and restarted all faults come back
Any help would be greatly appreciated thanks in advance Michael
 
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Well it shows your EPS is communicating. What is the one fault it shows against that?

Before you get too deep into the steering, I am well aware that fixing the airbag issues could be very costly. It seems your scanner only reads the central SIM85, not the satellites: SBSL and SBSR seperately. However it does seem you have a lot of issues with those.
If it were me I would say, seats out, carpets lifted as far as possible and everything dried out.
Find out where the water is getting in. First check is pour water along the base of the side windows and see if it runs through the inside bottom of the door card. This would show the door membrane is leaking.
Once dried out and the leaks fixed, check out the airbag modules. The codes you have suggest both left and right are knackered, and possibly the centre one as well. These modules are going secondhand for £120-£200 each, with no guarantees they will work. So they are a huge outlay which I think you need to consider before looking into the steering any further.
 
Ok thanks for your advice so I take it all my issues could be due to the SIM/airbag modules
I have someone who is breaking a z4 will try to get his modules
I am just learning this scanner don't know exactly what I'm doing if I click on the 13 issues on the SIM there is option that says satellites will have another look and post findings
 
I'm not saying they are causing the issue, I'm saying they are more expensive to fix.
Don't just buy the three modules randomly. they need to be compatible part numbers, and then you need to get them coded to the car.
If you can find the part numbers on yours (7 digits in the top right of the label, starting 69nnnnn) and let me know then I can advise which ones you need to look for.
I may even have some here, and have the knowledge to code them in for you.
No point fitting them to a wet car though or they'll just die again.

What was that code on the EPS?
 
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