[donR]

My wife went to drive the car this morning and steering wheel lock came up. Says to shake steering wheel from side to side but does nothing.

She was really pi&&@#ed as missed her beauty appt.. and still has a bit of PTSD from our last car which was also a bit unreliable.
Of course it is my fault too

Lucky it happened in our carport.

Anyway drove perfectly last night but have noticed the lock clicking on occasionally over the past couple of weeks or so. So wondering if it is needing a clean. This morning did not even make a noise or click or anything. Tried numerous times, even charging the battery but no good.

I have done a bit of a search on it and seems to suggest steering column may need replacing or lock DIY cleaned.

A few different problems going around, some cars just get the yellow/orange light and can still drive until it turns red. Other cars like mine yellow light comes on and that is that.

I've also read about these emulators:

http://www.ecuvonix.com/steering-loc...ml?language=en

Also read that it can be a software fault and error code just needs to be cleared but I assume that is wishful thinking and the fault may come back.

My preference may be to remove the lock all together and get the emulator to tell the computer all is good. Damn lock

Anyway, I will need to get it toed somewhere next week. I am thinking probably somewhere closest which would be:

Peter Maybe BMW Care (3kms away) or BM Wise which is a bit further. Anyone have any experience with these guys?

I'd be willing to go further if anyone has any good suggestions or experiences with other indis who have fixed this problem?

[sjf430]

http://www.e90post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1029629

maybe that????

edit:
or this:
http://www.e90post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=483387

[fo55il]

Question. Have u had a dead battery by any chance?

[donR]

I considered the DIY but my wife is not too keen on me pulling apart the steering column on Sunday & given mine is currently stuck could be difficult anyway.

By the way this is the error I'm getting if anyone has seen it before: Of course moving the steering wheel does nothing

[fo55il]

Asking again... have u had a dead battery?

[donR]

Originally Posted by fo55il

Question. Have u had a dead battery by any chance?

No the battery has never been dead although it is not new it starts the car every time despite constant short trips.

Just in case I did charge the battery for a few hours today but it did not help

[DR-JEKL]

Mate I know advan performance can help you, they have unlocked jeffs car (an old member) by doing a software repair with their autologic.

There is also this rather intensive DIY to grease the steering lock mechanism:

http://www.e90post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=483387

There is an old wives tale to always park the car with the steering wheel centred to prevent it from jamming, no idea if its true or not

Also I bought a slightly used column as a spare, that i posted up years ago that may help someone out like yourself who gets stuck in a pickle and doesnt have to pay $1500+ for a new 1 from bmw:

http://www.e90post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=817438

My advice is take it to advan if you can, as while peter mabey may be great he tends to charge top dollar from what I've heard.

[fo55il]

Someone on here have the tool?

[donR]

Originally Posted by DR-JEKL

...
Also I bought a slightly used column as a spare...

Thanks for the offer. I am now wondering if it is worth replacing as I read somewhere that the new steering columns do not have the steering lock? Otherwise I might hit you up for the spare.

I'm also considering the DIY as it's going to be difficult even getting the car out of our carport to be toed without the steering wheel working as there is a pole and a dog leg. I went hunting for a torx socket and torx spanner this morning but local Repco store is pretty useless for that stuff. Anyone tried using a standard ring spanner?

Just to update for what it's worth I jacked the front of the car up so the front wheels were free & to remove the strain from the lock but makes no difference at all. Still jammed tight. Started pulling off the covers for the steering column and had a look at the pinch bolt... definitely needs a torx spanner.

[Scotty89]

Originally Posted by liteonled

Thanks for the offer. I am now wondering if it is worth replacing as I read somewhere that the new steering columns do not have the steering lock? Otherwise I might hit you up for the spare.

I'm also considering the DIY as it's going to be difficult even getting the car out of our carport to be toed without the steering wheel working as there is a pole and a dog leg. I went hunting for a torx socket and torx spanner this morning but local Repco store is pretty useless for that stuff. Anyone tried using a standard ring spanner?

Just to update for what it's worth I jacked the front of the car up so the front wheels were free & to remove the strain from the lock but makes no difference at all. Still jammed tight. Started pulling off the covers for the steering column and had a look at the pinch bolt... definitely needs a torx spanner.

A torx spanner? I think you mean an e-torx socket (female torx bit). You can get them from Autobarn for about $20 a set.

[donR]

Just to update. Finally picked up a few tools and pulled the steering column out. Bit of a nightmare as the DIY guide could include a few minor pointers. Definitely need a ratchet for the pinch bolt. Tried to do it without first and almost killed me.

Anyway, I wound the lock back so the steering wheel is free and plugged everything back in but the computer still thinks it is locked so wont start

At least I can move it around now and I can give the lock a clean & lube before I put it back in.

Does anyone know if there is anyway of manually resetting it so I can start the engine??

[donR]

Is anyone in BMW road side assist? Does anyone know if they will come out and read and clear fault codes?

Could be handy!

Otherwise it will be up to the flat bed truck

[Scotty89]

Have you researched how to reset it? Is is something that can be reset with INPA?

[donR]

Yes, but it all requires software and hardware which I don't have. I thought there might be a manual way?

[sjf430]

I think if you leave the battery disconnected for 30 mins the errors "reset"? Can someone confirm before trying

[DR-JEKL]

Roadside assistance in my area was equipped with an X1 with a screwdriver/spanner set and a machine to jump start vehicles and no diagnostic equipment. All the techs and work done at that level is performed at the dealership AFAIK.

Call a few towies and get it taken to advan, they will sort it out with their autologic.

[donR]

Yeah, I've been on the phone to Advan but they are quite far for me & I am under a bit of pressure to take it to the closets place.

[DR-JEKL]

Ahh fair enough. What about BMS autohaus or Hills eurohaus?

[donR]

Ok good news.

left the battery disconnected overnight after servicing/greasing the steering lock mechanism last night.

Connected and bolted everything back in this morning. Connected the jumper leads from my other car for added boost ~13.5V instead of 12V.

Amber Steering lock error is now gone and car starts and lock is sliding ok

Though I toggled the steering lock about a dozen times and it still did get stuck once but was able to free itself up again with a re-start. Still a bit of a worry.

Anyway now that it will drive I will head down to Advan tomorrow morning so they can check the ELV counter and see if the column needs replacing.

[fo55il]

Mate, can u try something out. Do you know how to jump start the car from under the bonnet?

If you have another vehicle (pref a BIG car) - Connect it up and start the other car. Then check if you are getting the same error.


I was getting this when my battery was low.

[donR]

It's interesting you say that as I did have it jump started with the Audi when I got it to work this morning. However, I also charged it for half a day when the problem first cropped up which didn't help. I figure maybe having the battery disconnected over night also helped.

So could be a combination of factors - Low battery, sticky locking mechanism, computer reset and ELV counter.

[fo55il]

I think low battery.

Mine threw the errors - then once battery charged enough it doesnt.

also test this out - put in fob, press start button once (without actually turning engine over)

then turn on radio and leave it for 5 mins - does the low battery sign come up?