Sticky Steering

S

seanodwyer

Member
 Wexford
Guys, was driving home last night and just felt that the steering felt stuck at times. For example moving lane on the motorway, I just felt I had to consciously put effort in to move the steering wheel rather than it being an easy turn. Now it was cold last night and I'm on Dunlop RFTs. Could this be down to the tyres?
 
Now that you mention it, I had to switch the climate control to manual as it was making my feet to hot. Does a hot foot well affect the steering?
 
Hi, you will find a number of threads on the topic of a 'sticky steering' with pre facelift Zeds, apparently the electronic steering module is located on the steering column near a heater vent, and can be affected by overheating causing the sticky steering. Some members have replaced the units which unfortunately are indivisible from the column so it's not cheap. Most but not all report improvements.

As you will see from my post I'm not convinced that the module is the whole or only culprit. I had an episode like yours but went through the list of checks and refurbs I mention in the post and never had another problem despite attempts to provoke the symptoms. I later changed from RFTs which cured the tram-lining but that is another issue which should not be confused with sticky steering.

http://www.z4-forum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=13838&p=274502&hilit=+steering#p274502
 
bigshurv said:
Did you have your heating on full blast? That'd set it off.
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I experianced sticky steering 3 weeks ago , it was -7 , I was stuck verry slow moving traffic for some 45 minutes, heat directed to footwells, when I made it to the moterway noticed the sterring was not as it should be. It hasnt happened again , however, Iv lost two toes due to frostbite .
 
Sticky steering will occur with the heating on and not just in the footwells as i found out before i had my new column fitted
 
On my old Z, same problem. Replaced under warranty, never had the problem again after that.
 
'Sticky steering' is one of those dodgy warranty issues , ie intermittant, in fact, think Ill go and have a blether with the service manager this weekend! :evil: , see what happens
 
Gerry said:
'Sticky steering' is one of those dodgy warranty issues , ie intermittant, in fact, think Ill go and have a blether with the service manager this weekend! :evil: , see what happens
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Did you ever have your blether Gerry?
 
Yes I did , initailly, I got blank looks , then he accepted that there may , ( yes may ) be a problem with some early models, but he hasnt saw any. I do believe that there is more information on this forum about the sticky steering issue than BMW are prepared discuss . I have not experianced it again.
 
In the states our car safety oversight organization has a pending investigation into this issue as it has actually resulted in a wreck or two now. BMW is fully aware of it, I read all the docs that they turned over to NHSTA and they are claiming it is 'normal', even say it is supposed to work that way. Maybe if we can force them into a recall over here they will be more apt to fix the known issue everywhere.
 
I'm stunned that anyone could ever describe the phenomenon as 'normal'....but I found out years ago when working for Siemens that if theres one thing the germans are notorious for its not admitting when they are wrong. I can remember sitting with a bunch of german engineers watching an ATM spew out incorrect amounts of money because of what was eventually found to be a fundamental design flaw and they still wouldn't admit there was anything wrong when it was happening in front of them!
 
Here is the info on the investigation NHTSA is doing:

NHTSA Action Number: NHTSA Recall Campaign Number:
PE10020 N/A
Make: BMW Model: Z4
Manufacturer : BMW OF NORTH AMERICA, LLC
Model Year : 2003
Component(s) :
STEERING:ELECTRIC POWER ASSIST SYSTEM
STEERING:COLUMN
Date Investigation Opened : June 28, 2010
Date Investigation Closed : Open

Read the docs, they either don't want to fix it or are in major denial. Love you sig lac! :)
 
Warm weather affects mine, like we have had the last few days, but not experienced it with the heater.
 
Im sure that I have read on this forum that the cause of sticky steering is the electronic thing that makes the steering work heating up ,thus causing sticky steering,

It seems to make more sense to me , that if mechanical steering compoments heat up they expand thus causing sticky steering , ,,,,,,,does anyone have a difinative answer as to what is causing sticky steering ? ( apart from heat)
 
I had the same problem with the steering and had it replaced at no cost, (no questions asked). It was out of warranty, but since I complained about it during warranty...not a problem with dealer or BMWNA. Also while it was in the shop for this fix, I asked them to check the A/C because it was not putting out much cool air. They went ahead and changed two leaking o-rings that were causing the problem. When I went to pick up the car, no charge for anything at all. So my advice is to keep working on the BMW people to fix it. They are well aware of the problem and can't say it's normal because it's not. Good Luck.
 
Gerry said:
Im sure that I have read on this forum that the cause of sticky steering is the electronic thing that makes the steering work heating up ,thus causing sticky steering,

It seems to make more sense to me , that if mechanical steering compoments heat up they expand thus causing sticky steering , ,,,,,,,does anyone have a difinative answer as to what is causing sticky steering ? ( apart from heat)
Click to expand...

Well it makes sense and of course at higher speeds electric power assistance is minimal so any mechanical interference is more obvious.....but I'm not convinced its just down to heat. Mine has started to do it in the last few weeks with no heater on, so my first port of call will be to jack the car and grease the two steering UJs as suggested and see what difference that makes.

Unless you've had it, its impossible to describe how bloody annoying it is :(
 
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