Sticky steering problem. Time to sort it! Help and advice.

[Paulr]

Right, I am new to Z4's (picking mine up tomorrow) so please excuse the question, but am I right in thinking that the pre facelift have hydraulic steering and post is electric, and it is the electric steering that has this issue?

 

[maxman]

Both have electric motor assistance ,the facelift had a modified steering column which cured the sticky steering when we have high ambient temps.

 

[GuidoK]

Afaik the facelift also isnt free from sticky steering problems (although far less common).

 

[jamesbond]

sorry to give bad news ... but normally the only 100% fix is a new steering column
unless you can find someone to strip change the bearings and lubricate the worm gear .. for me I had to change the whole rack that cost £3k . this was BMW main dealer though but at least got a 2 year warranty

 

[john-e89]

Both have electric motor assistance ,the facelift had a modified steering column which cured the sticky steering when we have high ambient temps.

My 2007 3.0si had the sticky steering as well maxman, suffered dreadfully from it with the heater blowing into the footwell.

 

[MACK]

sorry to give bad news ... but normally the only 100% fix is a new steering column
unless you can find someone to strip change the bearings and lubricate the worm gear .. for me I had to change the whole rack that cost £3k . this was BMW main dealer though but at least got a 2 year warranty

I'm Sorry but this simply isn't true, I have spoke to a few members privately on this and those that have done the german gear adjustment fix haven't had any further reoccurring issues.

 

[raymond.harper]

Right, I am new to Z4's (picking mine up tomorrow) so please excuse the question, but am I right in thinking that the pre facelift have hydraulic steering and post is electric, and it is the electric steering that has this issue?

Yes it is quite a problem on the pre facelift if it goes wrong. Mine went wrong after 2 months of ownership. The upper electric steering column is £2500 from BMW if it fails. I am having it converted to hydraulic power for a fraction of the price

 

[Chris_D]

Right, I am new to Z4's (picking mine up tomorrow) so please excuse the question, but am I right in thinking that the pre facelift have hydraulic steering and post is electric, and it is the electric steering that has this issue?

Yes it is quite a problem on the pre facelift if it goes wrong. Mine went wrong after 2 months of ownership. The upper electric steering column is £2500 from BMW if it fails. I am having it converted to hydraulic power for a fraction of the price

Howru getting on with that Raymond?
Any progress? MM helping u?

 

[raymond.harper]

Right, I am new to Z4's (picking mine up tomorrow) so please excuse the question, but am I right in thinking that the pre facelift have hydraulic steering and post is electric, and it is the electric steering that has this issue?

Yes it is quite a problem on the pre facelift if it goes wrong. Mine went wrong after 2 months of ownership. The upper electric steering column is £2500 from BMW if it fails. I am having it converted to hydraulic power for a fraction of the price

Howru getting on with that Raymond?
Any progress? MM helping u?

Slowly getting there ! Just need a banjo bolt for the steering rack hose and I will have everything. Hope to have it done by Matt before Christmas. Still using the car but not much fun below 15 mph.

 

[Roundozo]

Yes it is quite a problem on the pre facelift if it goes wrong. Mine went wrong after 2 months of ownership. The upper electric steering column is £2500 from BMW if it fails. I am having it converted to hydraulic power for a fraction of the price

Howru getting on with that Raymond?
Any progress? MM helping u?

Slowly getting there ! Just need a banjo bolt for the steering rack hose and I will have everything. Hope to have it done by Matt before Christmas. Still using the car but not much fun below 15 mph.

I'd be really interested in this. Not got any issues but just don't like the feeling. Would much rather have hydraulic steering. What sort of costs have you incurred so far, how much has your parts bin come too?

 

[Chris_D]

Yes it is quite a problem on the pre facelift if it goes wrong. Mine went wrong after 2 months of ownership. The upper electric steering column is £2500 from BMW if it fails. I am having it converted to hydraulic power for a fraction of the price

Howru getting on with that Raymond?
Any progress? MM helping u?

Slowly getting there ! Just need a banjo bolt for the steering rack hose and I will have everything. Hope to have it done by Matt before Christmas. Still using the car but not much fun below 15 mph.

Nice one. Could I suggest, if you havent both decided this already, that you document the conversion as clearly and concisely as possible for the benefit of others who may be thinking about doing the same?

I think this will make one of the most interesting and significant E85 topics yet!
I'm also keen to explore the possibilities of the conversion for mine even though I don't have a problem....yet. However, I just can't bond with the zed's steering. It's too artificial-feeling for me and I suppose this is as a result of being used to the hydraulic steering in my other cars, particularly the E46 M3. The steering in that thing was amazing!

Good luck chaps!

 

[raymond.harper]

Howru getting on with that Raymond?
Any progress? MM helping u?

Slowly getting there ! Just need a banjo bolt for the steering rack hose and I will have everything. Hope to have it done by Matt before Christmas. Still using the car but not much fun below 15 mph.

Nice one. Could I suggest, if you havent both decided this already, that you document the conversion as clearly and concisely as possible for the benefit of others who may be thinking about doing the same?

I think this will make one of the most interesting and significant E85 topics yet!
I'm also keen to explore the possibilities of the conversion for mine even though I don't have a problem....yet. However, I just can't bond with the zed's steering. It's too artificial-feeling for me and I suppose this is as a result of being used to the hydraulic steering in my other cars, particularly the E46 M3. The steering in that thing was amazing!

Good luck chaps!

Do not worry. I am slowly building up the knowledge of what is needed and will soon start a thread and video hopefully of the conversion. So far to answer another question I have spend just under £300 for the parts. This does include new track rod ends and a purple tag recon rack. The new banjo bolts alone were £20. The pump, lines and reservoirs, brackets included , were around £80. You could probably get all the parts secondhand for half the price but I wanted to have mainly new parts. As i said before I hope to have the conversion done before Christmas by a forum member and will take plenty of pictures

 

[Chris_D]

Slowly getting there ! Just need a banjo bolt for the steering rack hose and I will have everything. Hope to have it done by Matt before Christmas. Still using the car but not much fun below 15 mph.

Nice one. Could I suggest, if you havent both decided this already, that you document the conversion as clearly and concisely as possible for the benefit of others who may be thinking about doing the same?

I think this will make one of the most interesting and significant E85 topics yet!
I'm also keen to explore the possibilities of the conversion for mine even though I don't have a problem....yet. However, I just can't bond with the zed's steering. It's too artificial-feeling for me and I suppose this is as a result of being used to the hydraulic steering in my other cars, particularly the E46 M3. The steering in that thing was amazing!

Good luck chaps!

Do not worry. I am slowly building up the knowledge of what is needed and will soon start a thread and video hopefully of the conversion. So far to answer another question I have spend just under £300 for the parts. This does include new track rod ends and a purple tag recon rack. The new banjo bolts alone were £20. The pump, lines and reservoirs, brackets included , were around £80. You could probably get all the parts secondhand for half the price but I wanted to have mainly new parts. As i said before I hope to have the conversion done before Christmas by a forum member and will take plenty of pictures

Top
And I think Mat's ur man for a good job!

 

[Shady Ady]

Evening All

I too am keen to follow the development of the hydraulic install as it's something I have loosely looked into but looking at it I'm not sure it will be too easy to overcome some of the other lines of communication by removing the motor as it would appears to interact with a few other systems? I might be miles wrong on this, and hope so as it would be the perfect solution.

Any thoughts on this?

Cheers
Ady

 

[Grumpyowl]

Slowly getting there ! Just need a banjo bolt for the steering rack hose and I will have everything. Hope to have it done by Matt before Christmas. Still using the car but not much fun below 15 mph.

Nice one. Could I suggest, if you havent both decided this already, that you document the conversion as clearly and concisely as possible for the benefit of others who may be thinking about doing the same?

I think this will make one of the most interesting and significant E85 topics yet!
I'm also keen to explore the possibilities of the conversion for mine even though I don't have a problem....yet. However, I just can't bond with the zed's steering. It's too artificial-feeling for me and I suppose this is as a result of being used to the hydraulic steering in my other cars, particularly the E46 M3. The steering in that thing was amazing!

Good luck chaps!

Do not worry. I am slowly building up the knowledge of what is needed and will soon start a thread and video hopefully of the conversion. So far to answer another question I have spend just under £300 for the parts. This does include new track rod ends and a purple tag recon rack. The new banjo bolts alone were £20. The pump, lines and reservoirs, brackets included , were around £80. You could probably get all the parts secondhand for half the price but I wanted to have mainly new parts. As i said before I hope to have the conversion done before Christmas by a forum member and will take plenty of pictures

Will this conversion affect insurance ?

 

[Geezah]

sorry to give bad news ... but normally the only 100% fix is a new steering column
unless you can find someone to strip change the bearings and lubricate the worm gear .. for me I had to change the whole rack that cost £3k . this was BMW main dealer though but at least got a 2 year warranty

I'm Sorry but this simply isn't true, I have spoke to a few members privately on this and those that have done the german gear adjustment fix haven't had any further reoccurring issues.

German gear adjustment fix? Can you share this with us please?

 

[MACK]

sorry to give bad news ... but normally the only 100% fix is a new steering column
unless you can find someone to strip change the bearings and lubricate the worm gear .. for me I had to change the whole rack that cost £3k . this was BMW main dealer though but at least got a 2 year warranty

I'm Sorry but this simply isn't true, I have spoke to a few members privately on this and those that have done the german gear adjustment fix haven't had any further reoccurring issues.

German gear adjustment fix? Can you share this with us please?

There's a link to it in GuidoK's post on page 16 of this thread

 

[Shady Ady]

Just followed the link but it's all in German, can anyone shed any light?
Cheers
Ady

 

[Ewazix]

Just followed the link but it's all in German, can anyone shed any light?
Cheers
Ady

Depending on your web browser it should translate, on Chrome either automatically or by right clicking and select 'translate'. Other browsers have similar functions but be warned the translation is usually a bit dodgy

 

[Shady Ady]

Many thanks will have a go on the laptop tomorrow