Sticky Steering- how common
- Thread starter ewan221
- Start date
ewan221 said:
This is exactly why I got one. New job bye bye shitty derv.
To be honest I didn't get the best one. I got a 2.5i for 2.5k. It's needed a rocker gasket, needs pads and oil & filter and it's a bit aged in places with marks. Steering was a little stiff and groaned like a dying whale but it costs barely anything to put right with a bit of grease and takes very little time.
But you may well find given how old they are now they may have had this in the past and it's been sorted and may not present itself for a long time. Rule I've generally gone with is buy from someone who has had it for a good few years. If it's been owned for a short while they may be hiding something that's expensive or they can't be bothered to fix and looking to get shot. Mine came from an old boy who couldn't get in and out anymore.
I asked this very question in the linked thread two and half years ago before buying mine.
http://www.z4-forum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=78250&p=1152263&hilit=eps#p1152263
The advice I got was it really isn't all that common and fast forward two and bit years there's now a simple tweak of the motor's position that seems to cure most occurrences. I didn't let it stop me buying and that would be my advice to you.
In my case I later discovered that my 05 plate had its column and ecu etc all replaced under warranty when the car had been on the road a year or so. However I don't know if that was for sticky steering or a complete failure. The part numbers etc on my replaced stuff means I have post face lift parts now but post face lift cars aren't immune to sticky steering either (sorry Marlon!). There do seem to be much less face lift cars affected, but I don't know if this is down to relative age/mileage or revised parts. Hopefully its the later.
Its worth noting the groaning from the steering described in a previous reply isn't related to the sticky steering issue. That's due to the rack itself (rather than the column with sticky steering) needing regreasing under the rack bellows etc, dead easy job at any garage or even at home.
In addition to these faults some folks have had a complete EPS column failure where the diagnostic equipment won't even communicate with EPS ECU. The likes of BBA Reman and ECU Testing have been able to fix these for circa £700. I've also seen some reports where they claim its just the column electric motor that failed which is an easy replacement and available secondhand on Ebay.
Others have had a wayward steering angle sensor on the column, usually these can be resoldered in place.
1) All in all sticky steering seems to be pretty rare and like has been said a lot will have been fixed one way or the other by now. It not hopefully the cheap and easy motor position tweak is all you need.
2) the groaning is also pretty rare and easily/cheaply fixed.
3) Total failure does seem very rare indeed and some have at this point opted to converted to hydraulic (same setup as an Z4M) instead of fixing the electric system.
4) EPS Motor and Steering Angle Sensor failure are extremely rare as well and both can be cheaply fixed/replaced.
Go on, get out and buy one, you know you want to!
http://www.z4-forum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=78250&p=1152263&hilit=eps#p1152263
The advice I got was it really isn't all that common and fast forward two and bit years there's now a simple tweak of the motor's position that seems to cure most occurrences. I didn't let it stop me buying and that would be my advice to you.
In my case I later discovered that my 05 plate had its column and ecu etc all replaced under warranty when the car had been on the road a year or so. However I don't know if that was for sticky steering or a complete failure. The part numbers etc on my replaced stuff means I have post face lift parts now but post face lift cars aren't immune to sticky steering either (sorry Marlon!). There do seem to be much less face lift cars affected, but I don't know if this is down to relative age/mileage or revised parts. Hopefully its the later.
Its worth noting the groaning from the steering described in a previous reply isn't related to the sticky steering issue. That's due to the rack itself (rather than the column with sticky steering) needing regreasing under the rack bellows etc, dead easy job at any garage or even at home.
In addition to these faults some folks have had a complete EPS column failure where the diagnostic equipment won't even communicate with EPS ECU. The likes of BBA Reman and ECU Testing have been able to fix these for circa £700. I've also seen some reports where they claim its just the column electric motor that failed which is an easy replacement and available secondhand on Ebay.
Others have had a wayward steering angle sensor on the column, usually these can be resoldered in place.
1) All in all sticky steering seems to be pretty rare and like has been said a lot will have been fixed one way or the other by now. It not hopefully the cheap and easy motor position tweak is all you need.
2) the groaning is also pretty rare and easily/cheaply fixed.
3) Total failure does seem very rare indeed and some have at this point opted to converted to hydraulic (same setup as an Z4M) instead of fixing the electric system.
4) EPS Motor and Steering Angle Sensor failure are extremely rare as well and both can be cheaply fixed/replaced.
Go on, get out and buy one, you know you want to!
I think there are varying degrees of it TBH. Never considered my 3.0 to have suffered from it, until I drove the 2.0 I have..
So a little adjustment (10 mins) and the steering on the 3.0 is much better!
Mike
So a little adjustment (10 mins) and the steering on the 3.0 is much better!
Mike
MACK said:
Yup, I was a no2..
Mike
Had this with my 2004 back in 2009 it affects pre 2005 cars its all down to the ECU which is affected by heat only noticed it with the blowers on the ECU sits in front of the vent on the far right of the dash.
Mine was fixed under good will costing me £200 labour not around the 2K it should have I now have a 2008 steering rack fitted
Mine was fixed under good will costing me £200 labour not around the 2K it should have I now have a 2008 steering rack fitted
A
Anonymous
Guest
MACK said:
Quoted for truth.
raymond.harper
Senior member
A new pre facelift upper electric steering column is £2500 from BMW not including VAT.
I've seem prices quoted of anything from £400 to £750 for a recon/repaired column, plus fitting. Its best to contact the likes of ecu testing etc direct to confirm this. All in all you can probably do a manual conversion or electric column repair for similar money. Do bear in mind though that the sticky steering now appears to have a quick cheap fix, it's the full column failure (ecu) that requires a replacement/recon. Even the column motor failure is a simple swap one in/out job.
As I said earlier the issues with the steering column appear to be rare, this is the most common of the three faults, but alot of sticky steering effected cars will have been repaired one way or another by now. The very rare ecu failure and even rarer motor failure are a bit more random and instant but alot of cars with dodgy parts will have been repaired by now. Mines a classic example of this where the car had a new column etc under it's original warranty. There was nothing in the history when I bought it to tell me this but i noticed the part numbers on mine were the later superceeded ones and a bit of digging with BMW etc confirmed it. If i hadnt been snooping with diagnostic equipment and noticed the part numbers and install dates I would still be none the wiser.
As I said earlier the issues with the steering column appear to be rare, this is the most common of the three faults, but alot of sticky steering effected cars will have been repaired one way or another by now. The very rare ecu failure and even rarer motor failure are a bit more random and instant but alot of cars with dodgy parts will have been repaired by now. Mines a classic example of this where the car had a new column etc under it's original warranty. There was nothing in the history when I bought it to tell me this but i noticed the part numbers on mine were the later superceeded ones and a bit of digging with BMW etc confirmed it. If i hadnt been snooping with diagnostic equipment and noticed the part numbers and install dates I would still be none the wiser.
Most of these steering issues can be solved easily. I've sorted 3 z4's in the last few months with the same issue. Mine was wandering and two others had the sticky steering both of which were 2004/2005 z4 and one was an alpina. Mines a 2007 Coupe and still had it.
With some adjustments to the motor ring and some re-greasing all 3 Z4's have been fine since.
With some adjustments to the motor ring and some re-greasing all 3 Z4's have been fine since.
