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Sticky steering problem. Time to sort it! Help and advice.

Discuss problems you have had or are having with your Z4
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Paulr
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Sticky steering problem. Time to sort it! Help and advice.

Post by Paulr » Fri Nov 11, 2016 2:46 pm

Right, I am new to Z4's (picking mine up tomorrow) so please excuse the question, but am I right in thinking that the pre facelift have hydraulic steering and post is electric, and it is the electric steering that has this issue?
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Sticky steering problem. Time to sort it! Help and advice.

Post by maxman » Fri Nov 11, 2016 2:57 pm

Both have electric motor assistance ,the facelift had a modified steering column which cured the sticky steering when we have high ambient temps.

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Sticky steering problem. Time to sort it! Help and advice.

Post by GuidoK » Fri Nov 11, 2016 5:32 pm

Afaik the facelift also isnt free from sticky steering problems (although far less common).
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Sticky steering problem. Time to sort it! Help and advice.

Post by jamesbond » Tue Nov 15, 2016 11:13 pm

sorry to give bad news ... but normally the only 100% fix is a new steering column
unless you can find someone to strip change the bearings and lubricate the worm gear .. for me I had to change the whole rack that cost £3k . this was BMW main dealer though but at least got a 2 year warranty
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Sticky steering problem. Time to sort it! Help and advice.

Post by john-e89 » Tue Nov 15, 2016 11:21 pm

maxman wrote:Both have electric motor assistance ,the facelift had a modified steering column which cured the sticky steering when we have high ambient temps.
My 2007 3.0si had the sticky steering as well maxman, suffered dreadfully from it with the heater blowing into the footwell. :(
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MACK
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Sticky steering problem. Time to sort it! Help and advice.

Post by MACK » Wed Nov 16, 2016 10:33 am

jamesbond wrote:sorry to give bad news ... but normally the only 100% fix is a new steering column
unless you can find someone to strip change the bearings and lubricate the worm gear .. for me I had to change the whole rack that cost £3k . this was BMW main dealer though but at least got a 2 year warranty
I'm Sorry but this simply isn't true, I have spoke to a few members privately on this and those that have done the german gear adjustment fix haven't had any further reoccurring issues.
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Sticky steering problem. Time to sort it! Help and advice.

Post by raymond.harper » Wed Nov 16, 2016 10:58 am

Paulr wrote:Right, I am new to Z4's (picking mine up tomorrow) so please excuse the question, but am I right in thinking that the pre facelift have hydraulic steering and post is electric, and it is the electric steering that has this issue?
Yes it is quite a problem on the pre facelift if it goes wrong. Mine went wrong after 2 months of ownership. The upper electric steering column is £2500 from BMW if it fails. I am having it converted to hydraulic power for a fraction of the price

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Sticky steering problem. Time to sort it! Help and advice.

Post by Chris_D » Wed Nov 16, 2016 11:36 am

raymond.harper wrote:
Paulr wrote:Right, I am new to Z4's (picking mine up tomorrow) so please excuse the question, but am I right in thinking that the pre facelift have hydraulic steering and post is electric, and it is the electric steering that has this issue?
Yes it is quite a problem on the pre facelift if it goes wrong. Mine went wrong after 2 months of ownership. The upper electric steering column is £2500 from BMW if it fails. I am having it converted to hydraulic power for a fraction of the price
Howru getting on with that Raymond?
Any progress? MM helping u?
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Sticky steering problem. Time to sort it! Help and advice.

Post by raymond.harper » Wed Nov 16, 2016 12:32 pm

Chris_D wrote:
raymond.harper wrote:
Paulr wrote:Right, I am new to Z4's (picking mine up tomorrow) so please excuse the question, but am I right in thinking that the pre facelift have hydraulic steering and post is electric, and it is the electric steering that has this issue?
Yes it is quite a problem on the pre facelift if it goes wrong. Mine went wrong after 2 months of ownership. The upper electric steering column is £2500 from BMW if it fails. I am having it converted to hydraulic power for a fraction of the price
Howru getting on with that Raymond?
Any progress? MM helping u?
Slowly getting there ! Just need a banjo bolt for the steering rack hose and I will have everything. Hope to have it done by Matt before Christmas. Still using the car but not much fun below 15 mph.

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Sticky steering problem. Time to sort it! Help and advice.

Post by Roundozo » Wed Nov 16, 2016 12:39 pm

raymond.harper wrote:
Chris_D wrote:
raymond.harper wrote: Yes it is quite a problem on the pre facelift if it goes wrong. Mine went wrong after 2 months of ownership. The upper electric steering column is £2500 from BMW if it fails. I am having it converted to hydraulic power for a fraction of the price
Howru getting on with that Raymond?
Any progress? MM helping u?
Slowly getting there ! Just need a banjo bolt for the steering rack hose and I will have everything. Hope to have it done by Matt before Christmas. Still using the car but not much fun below 15 mph.
I'd be really interested in this. Not got any issues but just don't like the feeling. Would much rather have hydraulic steering. What sort of costs have you incurred so far, how much has your parts bin come too?
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Sticky steering problem. Time to sort it! Help and advice.

Post by Chris_D » Wed Nov 16, 2016 12:42 pm

raymond.harper wrote:
Chris_D wrote:
raymond.harper wrote: Yes it is quite a problem on the pre facelift if it goes wrong. Mine went wrong after 2 months of ownership. The upper electric steering column is £2500 from BMW if it fails. I am having it converted to hydraulic power for a fraction of the price
Howru getting on with that Raymond?
Any progress? MM helping u?
Slowly getting there ! Just need a banjo bolt for the steering rack hose and I will have everything. Hope to have it done by Matt before Christmas. Still using the car but not much fun below 15 mph.
Nice one. Could I suggest, if you havent both decided this already, that you document the conversion as clearly and concisely as possible for the benefit of others who may be thinking about doing the same?

I think this will make one of the most interesting and significant E85 topics yet!
I'm also keen to explore the possibilities of the conversion for mine even though I don't have a problem....yet. However, I just can't bond with the zed's steering. It's too artificial-feeling for me and I suppose this is as a result of being used to the hydraulic steering in my other cars, particularly the E46 M3. The steering in that thing was amazing!

Good luck chaps!
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Sticky steering problem. Time to sort it! Help and advice.

Post by raymond.harper » Wed Nov 16, 2016 2:22 pm

Chris_D wrote:
raymond.harper wrote:
Chris_D wrote: Howru getting on with that Raymond?
Any progress? MM helping u?
Slowly getting there ! Just need a banjo bolt for the steering rack hose and I will have everything. Hope to have it done by Matt before Christmas. Still using the car but not much fun below 15 mph.
Nice one. Could I suggest, if you havent both decided this already, that you document the conversion as clearly and concisely as possible for the benefit of others who may be thinking about doing the same?

I think this will make one of the most interesting and significant E85 topics yet!
I'm also keen to explore the possibilities of the conversion for mine even though I don't have a problem....yet. However, I just can't bond with the zed's steering. It's too artificial-feeling for me and I suppose this is as a result of being used to the hydraulic steering in my other cars, particularly the E46 M3. The steering in that thing was amazing!

Good luck chaps!
Do not worry. I am slowly building up the knowledge of what is needed and will soon start a thread and video hopefully of the conversion. So far to answer another question I have spend just under £300 for the parts. This does include new track rod ends and a purple tag recon rack. The new banjo bolts alone were £20. The pump, lines and reservoirs, brackets included , were around £80. You could probably get all the parts secondhand for half the price but I wanted to have mainly new parts. As i said before I hope to have the conversion done before Christmas by a forum member and will take plenty of pictures

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Sticky steering problem. Time to sort it! Help and advice.

Post by Chris_D » Wed Nov 16, 2016 2:32 pm

raymond.harper wrote:
Chris_D wrote:
raymond.harper wrote: Slowly getting there ! Just need a banjo bolt for the steering rack hose and I will have everything. Hope to have it done by Matt before Christmas. Still using the car but not much fun below 15 mph.
Nice one. Could I suggest, if you havent both decided this already, that you document the conversion as clearly and concisely as possible for the benefit of others who may be thinking about doing the same?

I think this will make one of the most interesting and significant E85 topics yet!
I'm also keen to explore the possibilities of the conversion for mine even though I don't have a problem....yet. However, I just can't bond with the zed's steering. It's too artificial-feeling for me and I suppose this is as a result of being used to the hydraulic steering in my other cars, particularly the E46 M3. The steering in that thing was amazing!

Good luck chaps!
Do not worry. I am slowly building up the knowledge of what is needed and will soon start a thread and video hopefully of the conversion. So far to answer another question I have spend just under £300 for the parts. This does include new track rod ends and a purple tag recon rack. The new banjo bolts alone were £20. The pump, lines and reservoirs, brackets included , were around £80. You could probably get all the parts secondhand for half the price but I wanted to have mainly new parts. As i said before I hope to have the conversion done before Christmas by a forum member and will take plenty of pictures
Top :thumbsup:
And I think Mat's ur man for a good job!
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Shady Ady
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Sticky steering problem. Time to sort it! Help and advice.

Post by Shady Ady » Wed Nov 16, 2016 6:16 pm

Evening All

I too am keen to follow the development of the hydraulic install as it's something I have loosely looked into but looking at it I'm not sure it will be too easy to overcome some of the other lines of communication by removing the motor as it would appears to interact with a few other systems? I might be miles wrong on this, and hope so as it would be the perfect solution.

Any thoughts on this?

Cheers
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Sticky steering problem. Time to sort it! Help and advice.

Post by Grumpyowl » Wed Nov 16, 2016 6:36 pm

raymond.harper wrote:
Chris_D wrote:
raymond.harper wrote: Slowly getting there ! Just need a banjo bolt for the steering rack hose and I will have everything. Hope to have it done by Matt before Christmas. Still using the car but not much fun below 15 mph.
Nice one. Could I suggest, if you havent both decided this already, that you document the conversion as clearly and concisely as possible for the benefit of others who may be thinking about doing the same?

I think this will make one of the most interesting and significant E85 topics yet!
I'm also keen to explore the possibilities of the conversion for mine even though I don't have a problem....yet. However, I just can't bond with the zed's steering. It's too artificial-feeling for me and I suppose this is as a result of being used to the hydraulic steering in my other cars, particularly the E46 M3. The steering in that thing was amazing!

Good luck chaps!
Do not worry. I am slowly building up the knowledge of what is needed and will soon start a thread and video hopefully of the conversion. So far to answer another question I have spend just under £300 for the parts. This does include new track rod ends and a purple tag recon rack. The new banjo bolts alone were £20. The pump, lines and reservoirs, brackets included , were around £80. You could probably get all the parts secondhand for half the price but I wanted to have mainly new parts. As i said before I hope to have the conversion done before Christmas by a forum member and will take plenty of pictures

Will this conversion affect insurance ?

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