This data is from the NHTSA — the US gov't agency tasked with vehicle safety. Complaints are spread across multiple & redundant categories, & are not organized by problem.
So how do you find out what problems are occurring? For this NHTSA complaint data, the only way is to read through the comments below. Any duplicates or errors? It's not us.
The contact owns a 2005 BMW Z4. The contact was driving 35 mph when the steering tightened and seized, causing the contact difficulty in controlling the vehicle. The manufacturer was notified but offered no assistance. The vehicle had not been repaired. The VIN was unavailable. The failure and current mileages were 18,500.
Steering very hard to control and stcks to one side or other. Problem occurs after car has been sitting in sun for several hours and 95+ degree heat. I just bought this car in June 2012. Steering has a notched feel and will not center. Pulls to one side and requires significant pressure to turn, but over corrects and pulls to other side. Very dangerous. Will not let any of the women in my household drive it because it is so hard to turn in that condition. This is very dangerous! steering returns to normal after a night in my garage, but returns to dangerous condition for drive home after sitting in the sun all day.
2005 BMW Z4. Consumer states with vehicle steering the consumer stated it required extra effort to return the steering wheel to its normal position. It was extremely difficult to drive and sometimes he found himself applying too much effort and the result would be over steering. He also stated the steering problem was much worse during warmer weather.
When you drive the car for a distance in hot weather the steering gets hard and sticks. I am afraid to drive it on the highway because of that in hot weather. The dealer said there was nothing wrong with it.
Steering sticks when hot, has become much worse than when first identified and reported to BMW. My first reports were during the free year 3 and year 4 services and in the warranty period. Now when driving down a straight road, the car will not go straight and swerves from side to side in its lane. My fear is that the steering will get so hard that it may side swipe an vehicle in the next lane. My BMW dealer has verified the problem but BMW refuses to fix it.
- Pleasanton, CA, USA
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This car has a problem with sticky steering during warm weather. It takes great effort to recenter the steering wheel especially at speeds 40 to 60 mph. This is not a problem isolated to just my car but a wide spread problem that is extremely dangerous. Every BMW blog is full of complaints from owners about this issue. There needs to be a recall or at the very least a tsb released so owners can have this safety issue corrected before someone gets hurt.
I just purchased this car on 5/26/12.driving home, I noticed the steering wheel felt as if it was sticking. Upon arriving at home, my husband who had been in front of me on the way home, said I had been weaving. I explained the problem to him and he looked it up online. I have found this week that when the car is cool, the steering is great. It's only after the car has been sitting in the sun and been heated. On cool mornings or evening, the steering is fine...fluid, responsive, just as it should be. But when it has been sitting in the sun, it feels as if the steering wheel sticks randomly. Sometimes very hard, sometimes lighter, but it makes steering the car very difficult. As I pulled out of my business yesterday I veered over almost out of control due to it sticking. It is really disturbing and worrisome since there's no way to predict what it will do.
I don't know if there's been any deaths in this faulty steering problem but I'm not going to let my 16 year old daughter take my BMW Z4 out because the steering can be so sticky I'm afraid for her life, BMW should have a recall on the 2003-2005 Z4's before somebody gets hurt. Come on BMW suck it up!! thanks
The steering started sticking on my Z4 BMW last July and is getting worse. The car was bought last March with 62000 miles now has about 66,000 miles and the problem is getting worse. BMW needs to fix this.
Drove from Alabama to pa. To buy my Z4. Test drive was fine but as car warmed up and I got to highway speed I immediately noticed a problem with the steering. I have since found out by going online that 03 to 05 Z4's commonly have a problem called sticky steering. You have to force the car to turn. I have written BMW corporate and they instructed me to go to tom williams BMW in birmingham where they confirmed that it needs a new steering column at a cost of $3180. This car has 55,000 miles and obviously is the result of a defect that needs to be recalled. I have all the correspondence with corporate that I would like to forward to you. This problem almost caused me to wreck my car three weeks ago and its just a matter of time until someone gets killed. I know that you have heard of this problem and it is time that something is done. For a $40,000 car to have such a serious problem is just ridiculous. Please help us force BMW to resolve this deadly problem! thanks.
The steering column is defective as was determined by tom williams BMW of birmingham al. I have been on a BMW forum website and this is a very common problem. It resulted in a near accident 3 weeks ago, and a recall needs to be done on these very pricey cars. The price quoted me today was 3100.00$ BMW should be forced to recall and fix this problem. My car only has 55,000 miles on it so it is obviously a defective part! somebody is going to get killed and it was almost me!
I traveled to Pennsylvania from Alabama to buy my Z4 that I found on autotrader.com. During my test drive I noticed nothing funny, but on the interstate on my way home I encountered what I can only describe as sticky steering. After research on the internet I found out that this is a very common problem in the 03,04, and 05 models. This is too expensive a car to have a problem like this! hundreds of people and probably thousands of people have this problem as it is obviously a defect in the steering. We will not go away over this problem and something needs to be done before there are accidents and deaths and then lawsuits. You could force a recall and you should do this immediately!!!
Steering sticks while driving. I noticed this several times. I purchased the car used on 11/2/11, it has not been in any accidents. On driving home from purchase, noticed that the steering sticks while turning at times. Initially thought this might just be trim parts rubbing on each other, but it takes some significant effort to get the wheel to turn when it is in a stuck position. When the steering sticks at highway speed, it is very dangerous as it requires significant turning effort to move past the sticking point which could result in oversteer at highway speeds.
I bought the Z in July, during the dealer test drive it handled great. The test was about 20 minutes long. After we picked up the car on my first trip home, about 35 miles, on a hot summer afternoon, I noticed the steering seamed to freeze up and would need extra effort to make a steering correction. Once you turned off center it would feel ok until you needed to make another steering adjustment. We took it back to the dealer and they sent it down the street to a very reputable BMW dealer who test drove the Z and reported back "no problem ". there is a steering problem and it is a very serious one. While driving the speed limit one must always anticipate the problem, if you forget, you could have an accident by over steering while using extra pressure on the steering wheel to correct your direction.
Steering sticks and will not return to neutral without over correcting. Appears to happen at any speed after the car is hot or has been sitting in sun for awhile. No accidents but have come close to going into other lane or off the road while correcting.
I have an issue with 'sticky' steering on my 2005 BMW Z4. It seems to be worse in warmer weather but is there at all times while driving. I have noticed that while driving on a straight road where not much turning of the steering wheel is required there is a 'sticking' in the wheel that causes me to have to jerk the wheel slightly to continue a smooth drive. The date list of this incident is the last time it occurred but it happens every time I drive the car.
My 2005 BMW Z4 3.0 roadster has developed a possible issue with the electric steering system. At highway speeds the steering exhibits a notchy feel where there seems to be insufficient power to assist the steering when input is applied to the steering wheel. As yet I have not been able to account for any other mechanical issue for the vehicle which has 43K miles and brand new Michelin tires. The new tires didn't correct the issue and the front end components and alignment are in excellent condition. While researching this issue I found that the NHTSA has been investigating this issue for potential recall. My concern is that will lead to complete failure of the system and loss of control of the vehicle which could cause a crash. The smug dealer said that a new steering column would be $3400! will this be the same defective parts or has the system been upgraded after my 2005 was built? I see the problems are with 03 to 05 Z4's.
I have a problem with the steering on this car, the steering wheel sticks left and right and needs force to compensate to keep the car on the road !! I took the car to BMW service and they said the car was ok! I went home and checked the internet and there loads of complaints ! ! and NHTSA wants to recall these car 300,000 units please recall these cars it is a serious problem my car has 13,000 miles and I can't even sell with this condition and BMW won' do anything about it !!!!!!
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Newport Beach, CA, USA