2003 BMW Z4 Complaints

THIS IS FOR A 2003 BMW Z4 WITH JUST OVER 25,000 MILES. AS SOON AS I BEGAN DRIVING ON AN ACCESS ROAD AND THEN A COUNTY ROAD, I NOTICED THE VEHICLE WAS NOT GOING IN A STRAIGHT LINE EVEN THOUGH I WAS NOT TURNING THE WHEEL. THERE WAS SOME PLAY IN THE STEERING AND THE WHEEL FELT STIFFER THAN NORMAL WITH A STICKY FEELING A FEW DEGREES LEFT OR RIGHT. AS I DROVE DOWN THIS STRAIGHT ROAD, THE CAR CONTINUED TO PULL TOWARDS ONE SIDE OR THE OTHER AND CONTROLLING IT BECAME VERY DIFFICULT. FROM BEHIND, IT WOULD APPEAR AS THOUGH I WAS SWERVING WHILE TRYING TO CONTROL THE VEHICLE. I FELT LIKE I COULD LOSE CONTROL OF THE VEHICLE SO I DROVE AS SLOWLY AS POSSIBLE TO THE DEALERSHIP. I EXPLAIN THE SITUATION TO THE ADMINISTRATIVE STAFF AND THEY TOOK THE CAR IN FOR INSPECTION THE NEXT DAY. THE FOLLOWING DAY I RECEIVED A CALL FROM THE HEAD MECHANIC TO ASK MORE QUESTIONS. AGAIN I PROVIDED MORE DETAILS ABOUT HOW THE VEHICLE FELT WHILE DRIVING AND THEY REQUESTED PERMISSION TO ROAD TEST IT. AT FIRST THEY THOUGHT THE ISSUE WAS RELATED TO WHEEL ALIGNMENT, BUT UPON FURTHER TESTING THEY REALIZED IT WAS MORE THAN THAT. THE STICKY STEERING COLUMN APPEARS TO HAVE BEEN DAMAGED, THE MOTOR DRIVE FOR THE POWER STEERING. I WAS QUOTED $3,176 TO REPLACE. I SPOKE WITH THE HEAD MECHANIC, AND EXPRESSED MY DISPLEASURE WITH WHAT APPEARS TO BE A QA OR DESIGN ISSUE WITH THIS CAR AND THE FACT I FOUND HUNDREDS OF OTHER REPORTS AND INVESTIGATIONS LAUNCHED INTO THIS EXACT PROBLEM WITH THE Z4. IN MY OPINION THIS MANUFACTURING DEFECT SHOULD BE REASON ENOUGH FOR A RECALL GIVEN THE HAZARDOUS CONDITIONS CREATED BY THE MALFUNCTION OF A RELATIVELY NEW/UNUSED PART. BMW'S INSISTENCE THAT I COVER THE COST OF THIS PART IS ALSO UNREASONABLE, AS I DOUBT THEY CAN ATTRIBUTE THIS MALFUNCTION TO TYPICAL WEAR AND TEAR GIVEN THE LIGHT USE OF THIS VEHICLE. *TR

TWO YEARS AGO IN THE SUMMER, I DROVE MY CAR BACK ON THE HIGHWAY AND THE STEERING WHEEL WAS VERY HARD TO MOVE. IT WAS A STICKY STEERING SITUATION. THE WEATHER WAS ALSO VERY HOT. THIS PROBLEM HAS CONTINUED EVEN WHEN I AM DRIVING SLOWLY. THE WEATHER TEMPERATURE SEEMS TO BE THE CRITICAL FACTOR. YESTERDAY, I DROVE THE CAR AND IT STEERED PERFECTLY. THE TEMPERATURE WAS IN THE 70S. TODAY, IT DROVE FINE IN THE A.M. BUT IN THE PM WHEN THE TEMPERATURE REACHED ABOVE 80, THE STEERING WAS "STICKY" AGAIN. I HAVE FOUND MANY POSTS ON LINE DESCRIBING THIS IDENTICAL PROBLEM. THE CAR IS A 2004 BMW Z4. THIS PROBLEM HAS HAPPENED WITHIN THE LAST 2 YEARS BUT THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE DRIVE HANDLING YESTERDAY AND TODAY WAS VERY OBVIOUS. *TR

STEERING BECAME DIFFICULT. WHEN TRYING TO TURN THE STEERING WHEEL IT WOULD STICK OR BECOME HARD TO MOVE THE WHEEL. THEN THE STEERING WHEEL WOULD STICK IN ANOTHER POSITION AND BECOME HARD TO TURN AGAIN. THIS DID NOT OCCUR ALL THE TIME BUT ENOUGH TO BE ANNOYING. THIS PROBLEM MAY CAUSE AN ACCIDENT. *TR

WHILE DRIVING DOWN THE HIGHWAY AROUND TOWN, I NOTICED THE STEERING BECOMING"STICKY". IT WAS HARD TO KEEP THE CAR IN MY LANE. THIS CONTINUED FOR A COUPLE OF WEEKS AND I TOOK THE CAR TO A BMW REPAIR SHOP AND WAS GIVEN THE NEWS THAT I NEED A NEW STEERING COLUMN WITH POWER ASSIST AND THAT IT WAS GOING TO COST ABOUT $3800. NEEDLESS TO SAY, IT IS NOT SOMETHING THAT YOU CAN IGNORE. AFTER SEEING ALL THE PROBLEMS WITH POWER STEERING ASSIST I AM DUMBFOUNDED AS TO WHY BMW HAS NOT BROUGHT THIS TO OWNERS ATTENTION. THE REPAIR COSTS ARE ASTRONOMICAL!!! THIS IS RIDICULOUS. BMW SHOULD MAKE OWNERS AWARE OF THE POTENTIAL PROBLEM AND FIX IT. THIS WILL DEFINITELY BE MY FIRST AND LAST BMW.!!!!!!! *TR

WHEN IT IS HOT OUTSIDE THE STEERING BECOMES ROUGH, AWKWARD, AND POTENTIALLY DANGEROUS. IT HAPPENS AT SPEEDS GREATER THAN 30 MPH. THE STEERING WHEEL WILL BECOME "STUCK" IN A CERTAIN POSITION AND REQUIRES GREATER THAN NORMAL FORCE TO MOVE FROM THAT POSITION. USING GREATER FORCE TO MOVE THE STEERING WHEEL FROM THE "STUCK" POSITION CREATES THE POTENTIAL FOR OVER-STEERING. *TR

POWER STEERING DID NOT MOVE SMOOTHLY. ON HOT DAYS THE STEERING BINDS UP. THE STEERING WHEEL IS HARD TO TURN. A DEFINITE DETENT IS FELT IN THE STEERING, THIS DETENT REQUIRES EXTRA EFFORT TO OVERCOME, COMMONLY CAUSING OVERSTEER AND A BACK AND FORTH TRACK DOWN THE ROAD. AS CAR ROLLS DOWN HIGHWAY THE SMALL MOVEMENTS TO GO STRAIGHT ARE UNATTAINABLE AS THE STEERING IS HARD TO TURN AS AREAS OF HIGHER RESISTANCE REQUIRE EXTRA FORCE UPON THE STEERING WHEEL, AND WHEN THE RESISTANCE IS OVERCOME THE CAR STEERS TO FAR IN THE DESIRED DIRECTION AND WHEN A CORRECTION IS ATTEMPTED THE SAME SITUATION OCCURS. WHEN THE CAR IS HOT AND THIS ISSUE IS PRESENT IT IS NOT POSSIBLE TO DRIVE THE CAR IN A SMOOTH STRAIGHT DIRECTION. IN ATTEMPTING TO MAINTAIN CONTROL I HAVE ON MULTIPLE OCCASIONS BEEN NEARLY OR SLIGHTLY OFF THE ROADWAY AND NARROWLY AVOIDED SEVERAL ACCIDENTS. *TR

STEERING HAS BECOME LOOSE TO THE POINT WHERE IT IS HARD TO KEEP THE CAR ON THE ROAD AND FIND THAT OVER CORRECTIONS ARE HAPPENING. WAS TOLD MUST REPLACE THE STEERING COLUMN AT A COST OF $3200.00. IT IS A WIDELY REPORTED PROBLEM THAT BMW SHOULD FIX. IT IS A SAFETY ISSUE. *TR

I WAS DRIVING ON THE INTERSTATE AT A MODERATE SPEED. WHEN ATTEMPTING TO CHANGE LANES THE STEERING BECAME "STICKY" AND IT WAS DIFFICULT TO TURN THE STEERING WHEEL. THIS HAS HAPPENED MULTIPLE TIMES SINCE THIS INCIDENT. IT APPEARS TO BE WORSE WHEN THE WEATHER IS HOT. IN READING VARIOUS BMW FORUMS I FOUND THAT THIS IS A COMMON PROBLEM WITH THE 2003 Z4'S AND THE NHTSA HAS OR IS CONDUCTING AN INVESTIGATION. I UNDERSTAND BMW HAS CORRECTED THE PROBLEM ON LATER MODELS. THIS REALLY CREATES A DANGEROUS DRIVING SITUATION AND I AM FEARFUL OF DRIVING THIS CAR. IS THERE ANY ACTION BEING TAKEN BY THE NHTSA OR BMW? I HAVE CONTACTED BMW BUT THEY WILL NOT ACKNOWLEDGE THAT THERE IS A PROBLEM. *TR

APPARENTLY THERE IS A BEARING INSIDE OF THE STEERING COLUMN AND IT IS NOT A SEALED BEARING (POOR DESIGN). THE GREASE LEAKS OUT OF IT AND IT BECOMES VERY DIFFICULT TO STEER AND DANGEROUS. THE BEARING IS NOT REPLACEABLE SO YOU HAVE TO REPLACE THE ENTIRE STEERING COLUMN AT A COST OF $3,000 TO $4,000. THE WARMER THE TEMPERATURE THE HARDER THE STEERING. I WON'T EVEN LET MY WIFE DRIVE THE CAR FOR FEAR SHE WILL HAVE AN ACCIDENT. I EVEN HAVE TROUBLE KEEPING IT ON THE ROAD AT TIMES. *TR

I PURCHASED THIS CAR USED AND HAVE HAD PROBLEMS WITH THE STEERING SINCE BUYING IT 5 YEARS AGO. HAD IT AT A BMW REPAIR STORE THEY HAVE INFORMED ME THE STEERING COLUMN WILL NEED TO BE REPLACED FOR $ 3000 PLUS. AFTER DOING SOME RESEARCH THIS IS A COMMON PROBLEM WITH THIS BMW. WHY HAS BMW NOT ISSUED A RECALL? THIS COULD BE A SEVERE PROBLEM THAT COULD CAUSE ACCIDENTS AND DEATH WHILE YOU ARE DRIVING! [XXX] INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6). *TR