F15 steering issues - no feedback on center

[firstbimmer]

Originally Posted by OCRentAPopo

I'll echo what others have said here. The steering on my 2015 X5 35d is terribly vague and lacks any sort of feel. I also find myself constantly making tiny corrections to remain in the center of a highway lane. I wonder if increasing toe-in in the front would make the steering wheel auto-center a bit better and make the car feel more stable at speed. Maybe I'll try that once the car is out-of-warranty.

I have not felt the steering wheel "stick" as described by the OP.

I'll join in the exact comments made above. I love everything about my X5 except the lack of any on center feel. I was just talking to my wife about this last night before I saw this thread. I have never had a car require so much work to stay in the center of the lane at straight highway speeds. I had just chalked it up to electric steering since this is our only electric steering car.

[wakethetown]

This such a glaring weakness for a vehicle at this level of performance/price. My wife’s X1 doesn’t have electronic steering and it’s far superior to my X5. Hopefully, their engineers will address this major flaw in future iterations. Newer, unfortunately, is not always better.

[geye1970]

I have experienced this as well, most noticeable when on a highway ramp with a curve.

Let go of the wheel and it continues to hold the track, very unusual and haven't experienced this before.

Our x3 has EPS and returns to center. We also previously had a 3 series and that did as well.

[MiLo]

Has anyone found a resolution to this annoying problem? My car does the same.. It wanders in the lane and holds track in the curves...

[timmiii]

I guess I'm late to the party but I do have some insight on what could be a probable cause to this issue.

It wasn't mentioned before in this thread but there is a recall regarding manufacturing specs not being met by the EPS supplier. NHTSA has a recall number: 16V-704. BMW speculates that a low number of vehicles (103units potentially involved only 64units are X5's from 2015 to 2016) were effected by this manufacturing issue from their supplier ThyssenKrupp Presta AG. You can read the document yourself for more information.

What everyone here is experiencing though may be an EPS unit that is mechanically out of spec OR more than likely the tuning is, for lack of a better term, pure shit. If the system has an active return function which I suspect it will, it doesn't appear to be doing anything or a running change could have been made either by BMW or ThyssenKrupp that may have effected the initial tuning of the EPS. In the video from the OP the steering wheel appears to "hang" and not return. This may be caused by the active return torque being too too low or the rack forces produced by the road at a specific speed may be too great for the active return torque to be effective. There is also a chance that BMW is limited by the EPS software in terms of tuning parameters to keep the system stable and robust through a wide range of vehicle variants.

No one can prove that unless they connect through the car's CAN and go into the EPS, then proceed to record/log the live data from the EPS's Individual function torque output to determine if the gear is doing what it should.

For a test to see if the gear is working properly perform in a closed course area with a flat surface... Check each speed range starting from 10kph to 120kph in 10kph incriments. Make sure to steer the same amount every time in the same direction and the same amount of steering wheel torque applied to the steering wheel. Assuming that the EPS controller isn't pure shit and BMW spec'd it correctly, then you should notice a difference of active return speed in each speed range.

[hobo0933]

Did anyone of you ever get this issue sorted out? I am having the exact same issue with my 2019 230i. With a dealer saying very similar things.

[anon1000]

Just crossed 55k miles on a 2014 x5 50i msport.

Driving back from colorado, especially on long winding downhills, the steering just pulled and stuck several times, wont hold a line at all in the crosswinds, Inwas convinced I had a wheel coming loose or something, really scary, havemtnt noticed this before this road trip.

[lam1358]

Hey, I think I found what issue this is. Are you guys all having the 20 inch OEM wheels? I was using the 19 OEM 467 m wheels before and had no issues with the auto recenter steering wheel. I bought a new set of 20 inch OEM 451 wheels (tires not new but have 9 32nd depth) and had them installed yesterday. Then I started having the exact same issue as what you mentioned here. The steering wheels feels so different with 19 vs 20 inch wheels. I will swap them back to 19 inch wheels to avoid this annoying steering. Hope this helps!

[SC335]

Originally Posted by lam1358

Hey, I think I found what issue this is. Are you guys all having the 20 inch OEM wheels? I was using the 19 OEM 467 m wheels before and had no issues with the auto recenter steering wheel. I bought a new set of 20 inch OEM 451 wheels (tires not new but have 9 32nd depth) and had them installed yesterday. Then I started having the exact same issue as what you mentioned here. The steering wheels feels so different with 19 vs 20 inch wheels. I will swap them back to 19 inch wheels to avoid this annoying steering. Hope this helps!

Are you looking to sell your 20” wheels? Please let me know. Very interested. Thanks.

[lam1358]

Originally Posted by SC335

Are you looking to sell your 20” wheels? Please let me know. Very interested. Thanks.

Yes, after I swap them back to 19 inches. I live in Philadelphia and can only do local pickup. Don't know how to ship wheels.
For those who also want to see m sport package with 451 wheels, I attached the pictures I took last evening.

[SC335]

Originally Posted by lam1358

Yes, after I swap them back to 19 inches. I live in Philadelphia and can only do local pickup. Don't know how to ship wheels.
For those who also want to see m sport package with 451 wheels, I attached the pictures I took last evening.

When you have a moment, please shoot me a PM on what your asking price is. Thanks.

[kpers]

I have a 2016 X5 35i with 55k and have the same steering issue mentioned here, I didn't really notice it until I took a 1500 mile road trip and it is quite bothersome. I really hope this gets figured out. I will take it in for a alignment and maybe see how it feels with the front wheels towed in a few degrees, I used to have good results doing this on other cars that tended to drift around in the lane. It does not return to center either.

[kpers]

Originally Posted by kpers

I have a 2016 X5 35i with 55k and have the same steering issue mentioned here, I didn't really notice it until I took a 1500 mile road trip and it is quite bothersome. I really hope this gets figured out. I will take it in for a alignment and maybe see how it feels with the front wheels towed in a few degrees, I used to have good results doing this on other cars that tended to drift around in the lane. It does not return to center either.

Oops! I missed the info above about the recall, I will get it in to the dealer, it is getting worse and is not correcting at all anymore and hold in a turn, spooky feeling.

[kpers]

My 2016 X5 does not fall under the recall, year was right but not my car. I guess I have to live with it, the unattached steering feeling that fails to center.

[andrewmr]

Our car did this from the day we got it. We bought it used.

I can only expect the prior owner couldn't get it fixed, but I guess it's possible they didn't notice it.

Anyway, the dealer couldn't find anything wrong and reached out to BMW. They said to replace the rack.

That didn't fix it. They end up replacing the lower steering column and now the car drives perfect.

[AGarde34]

Originally Posted by 35d_Erik

Other details:
Car is now at 55k and out of warranty. We’ve owned the car since new and haven’t noticed it till about 40k. Wheels are straight, car can track straight, no vibrations. Everything else functions as normal. Car does not have active steering.

https://youtu.be/hRgYWGWtSV8

Erik, were you able to figure out this issue? I have a 2016 F16 X6 with same issue. Car was perfectly fine from new to 45000 miles. It just started doing that about 2 months ago. Dealer replaced steering rack and performed alignment. Stick and play at the center at highway speeds got reduced but it is still there and car doesn't drive like before. Now at 48k miles and want to get this straightened before running out of warranty. I am thinking if that could be the steering column?

[///MCollection]

Originally Posted by andrewmr

Our car did this from the day we got it. We bought it used.

I can only expect the prior owner couldn't get it fixed, but I guess it's possible they didn't notice it.

Anyway, the dealer couldn't find anything wrong and reached out to BMW. They said to replace the rack.

That didn't fix it. They end up replacing the lower steering column and now the car drives perfect.

This reminds me of the I think e46 problem of seized UJ's at the bottom of the column where it goes along to the rack. Squirting with spray grease from up above whilst being worked by a second person helped it. Maybe worth a shot for a no cost attempt

[AGarde34]

Originally Posted by ///MCollection

This reminds me of the I think e46 problem of seized UJ's at the bottom of the column where it goes along to the rack. Squirting with spray grease from up above whilst being worked by a second person helped it. Maybe worth a shot for a no cost attempt

They changed steering gear twice on mine along with a ball joint. It feels better than before but wandering is still there. Asked them to check lower column and they say its fine. All I know is that this vehicle didn't rode like this since brand new to almost 50k miles, and now it's like this. I don't know if anything else like suspension etc is effecting it.

[silvertoy]

Has anyone found a fix for the sticky steering problem?

[andrewmr]

Originally Posted by silvertoy

Has anyone found a fix for the sticky steering problem?

Yes

[silvertoy]

Originally Posted by andrewmr

Yes

Thanks, saw your fix with the lower steering shaft. Just wondering if anyone else found a resolution or performed the same fix. There are many people complaining of this issue.

[weareweird69]

I removed the lower steering column from the rack, and then turned the wheel left and right. I still have the sticky steering. I haven't gotten farther than that yet. Haven't had time to pop the tie-rod ends off. I believe mine is a tie-rod end, or the rack.