Z4 - Sticky Steering

[Z4 Skirmish]

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[donoman]

1) Sticky steering can be exacerbated by high temperatures. Any chance you were running the heater when this happened?
2) I think drilling & lubing is the only option other than retrofitting an 06+ steering rack.

I had the sticky steering problem but found that I can avoid it by not running the heater on full blast. The only time I really felt it was with the top down, at 40*F, blasting the heater.. which doesn't really help keep you warm anyway.

Hope you find a fix.

[Z4 Skirmish]

Deleted

[donoman]

I'm sorry to hear that, yes, if you feel it all the time, then for sure you have some damage in your steering rack. You may not even be able to recover the smoothness by lubing as it sounds like there is something in the corkscrew that is binding. I haven't heard of anyone rebuilding the unit.

[johno8888]

I had sticky steering steering in a used 06 Z4( pre revised steering column build date). BMW fixed it for free ($3,000 job from what I am told). There was a quasi recall and a US NHTSA investigation. Google it. See if your vin is in the models affected. Talk to your service advisor.

[psygnosis]

My 2004 is pretty bad. Sport mode helps a little bit but if I plan on keeping the car for a while I'll probably have to replace the steering column.

[CFoote]

It's an issue that has to do with heat buildup in the cabin. A gear in the steering column expands in size due to the heat and causes the sticky steering. My prior 2005 had the issue too.

How about installing a remote-start so you can cool down the cabin in the summer before driving?

[BobR66]

Recent problem here too. Outside temp approx 80 degrees, top down. Must be related to heat buildup in engine compartment and lower end of steering column. Local stealer does not recognize the situation. Is BMW avoiding recognition of this fault???

[WestCDA]

If you haven't seen it, extensive posts on this can be found on another of the BMW forums about the drill and grease method - look for the 'Sticky Steering' post started by username 'bmwha'. Some have used grease, some oil - but introducing lubrication to the steering column does seem to have been successful in the long term for those who have done it.

NHTSA did do an investigation in 2010, but it was closed after determining that there was no safety issue that needed to be addressed. BMW has fixed a few cars for owners (at no cost) as goodwill, shared costs with others, and flat out refused to do anything for many others. There have been no recalls that I'm aware of on the E85 Z4 for this.

Fortunately this has not been an issue for me, but if I did have the problem I'd have no hesitation in drilling the column and installing a lubrication fitting. It's good to know there is a low cost and effective alternative to column replacement.

[DerekSelmanRacing]

and if you do screw up the column, what have you lost if you're keeping the car? It's odd I've never noticed the problem on my car which is often parked in ambient temps of 110F+.