Tl* the contact owns a 2003 bmw z4. The contact stated that while turning at 5 MPH, the steering wheel seized. The steering wheel became stuck in the centered position and made it very difficult to change lanes on the highway. The failure occurred frequently at all speeds. The vehicle was taken to a private mechanic that specialized on bmw manufactured vehicles. The mechanic diagnosed the failure and stated that the repairs would be very expensive. The vehicle was not repaired. The dealer was not notified. The manufacturer was not notified. The failure mileage was 87,000 and the current mileage was 87,300.
2003 BMW Z4 steering complaints
Page 7 of 13: complaints 161 to 190 of 342, newest first, as owners wrote them.
Driving 35 MPH straight. Lost power steering. Pulled over shut off engine. Restarted engine power steering returned. Lost power steering again within one mile. Returned home.
The steering seems to lock up making it hard to steer. Seems rather dangerous since you have to move the wheel hard either to the left or right. Wondering why there isn't a recall on this.
The vehicle was parked in the sun with temperatures over 88 degrees. At 2 pm, I drove the vehicle on the highway at 60mph while rounding a slight bend to the left. The steering wheel would not turn under a slight effort so I made an additional effort. Suddenly, the resistance is completely absent resulting in a sharp veer to the left changing lanes. Fortunately, there was not another car in the left lane. I immediately corrected and returned to my original lane. Within 15 to 20 seconds, the situation repeats. I tried turning on the sport feature which is suppose to provide more resistance but the same event occurs. It only happens in hot weather when the vehicle is sitting in the sun for 4 or more hours and it is above 88 degrees. In order to compensate, I drive in one gear lower, say 4th, and constantly shimmy the wheel to avoid loss of control. It's similar to snow skiing with the vehicle catching an edge or groove it does not want to get out of. It continues to drive in the same previous direction as you apply additional effort. Suddenly, the wheel gives and it's as if the power steering assist is suddenly amplified, what you would normally need at 5mph, not 60mph. As you finish the bend, it continues to stay locked in the turning position. So, additional effort must be made to straighten out the vehicle and again the steering wheel fights your efforts only to suddenly give when you least expect it. You struggle to keep the car in your lane the entire time and from the rear, the vehicle appears erratic and swerving from side to side. That was my first summer with the car and it is currently at the dealer where hopefully my extended warranty will apply.
While driving the steering gets very hard to steer.
Tl* the contact owns a 2003 bmw z4. The contact stated while driving 45 MPH she could feel the steering wheel jerking and it became hard to control. She also stated it felt like the steering wheel exhibit excessive resistance. The vehicle was not taken to the dealer for diagnostic testing. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 9,800 the current mileage is 12,200 updated 07/13/12*lj bmw agreed to replace the steering column free of charge. Updated 07/18/12
Over the course of the last year, the steering in my bmw z-4 has felt like I have to fight to stay on the road. It is jerking & pulling the car off center making it very difficult to drive and feel safe. The steering wheel also "sticks" rather than rotating smoothly when I turn to the left or right. This condition is progressively getting worse, I was driving on the interstate last week at approx. 55 miles/hour and several times the car swerved hard pulling me into the next lane of traffic coming very close to causing an accident.
The steering sticks and is hard to control. The steering seems to have lobes/sticking points in the steering and sticks at certain points and then lets go making it hard to control. The vehicle is very hard to steer and has jerky catching points as you move the wheel while going down the road.
I have noticed that when the outside temperature is over 90 degrees my steering sticks and you have to jerk the wheel to get it to unstick. It especially noticeable when you are taking a gradual curve and you try to straighten out the car. I have been told it is likely the electronic power steering but have not had it checked. It is so dangerous that I will not drive in hot weather until I get it fixed... I just can't afford several thousand in repair bills. Btw, there are only 23,000 miles on the car and I have had it since it was new.
Tl* the contact owns a 2003 bmw z4. While driving approximately 55 MPH, the contact noticed that the steering wheel began to stick and jerk to the sides on its own. The vehicle was not taken to the dealer for a diagnostic test. There was an investigation under the federal safety agency action number: pe10020 (steering:column steering:electric power assist system) that may be related to the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The approximate failure mileage was 33,000.
On this particular occasion, the electric steering binds or gets stuck while in center position and makes it difficult or impairs the ability to change lanes on the highway. On this occasion, I was travling at a relatively low speed and was changing lanes and because of the steering problem I jerked the vehicle and hit a car in the other lane causing minor damage to my vehicle. This problem comes and goes and gets worst in the warm to hot weather. I have contacted bmw in both massachusetts and florida with no help from dealers. My vehicle has 79,000 on it now which isnt a lot of miles for a 2003.
The steering wheel will stick to the right and left in warm weather. It causes the handling of the vehicle to be very difficult.
Bought this car in june 2011 with approximately 86000, so it is very possible the problem had shown up prior to this date/mileage. During very hot days, the steering "sticks" and is difficult to start movement, resulting in jerkiness and swerving on the road. Once motion on the steering wheel is initiated, it is possible to continue movement smoothly. But when you stop movement, it will stick again. This makes it very tedious and annoying and possibly even unsafe to make even just the normal constant minor adjustments while driving straight. Often times, jumping from one side of my lane to the other, and back.
Tl* the contact owns a 2003 bmw z4. The contact stated that when driving at various speeds, the steering wheel would seize abnormally. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The current and failure mileages were 74,000.
Dps failure. Light stays on and steering is impossible. Dealer said 3,000.00 to replace steering column.
When driving at speeds above 40 MPH steering has definite sticking spots creating hazardous control. This problem is not predictable sometimes drives fine other times with no warning problem occurs, making the safety issue even more grave. Fear of lane swerve and possible collision. Bmw service could not replicate problem and says they have no knowledge of a problem existing. Upon investigation it seems I am in a large group of bmw z4 owners experiencing this steering problem. I urge you to investigate this issue before someone is hurt, maimed or even killed.
I have been having difficulty with the steering system on my z4. This began several years ago and has been intermittent at first but the degree of difficulty in the steering has been increasing from month to month and where it now is beginning to feel unsafe. The steering sticks while navigating through curves and does not always return to neutral position. Othertimes, it sticks and one needs to pull it back to correct the steering. It is quite unsafe and my wife and I are very concerned, not only for our safety, but also others who may be victimized by head on collisions. After checking out my compliant with my bmw certified mechanic, he tells me there is a real problem with the steering mechanism on this car and checking through the mechanic's web site, there appears to be no one that knows how to repair the system, short of taking out the entire steering column and replacing with a new one. The cost of this would amount to $3,000.00 or more. The mechanics feel this is a poor steering design and should be fixed by bmw. He told me to be very careful when driving this car for it is possible the entire system could break down at any moment.
Steering is sticking badly. Inspected by independent mechanic and told is defective and unsafe. With the vehicle under 20,000 miles the mechanic said is clearly a defect with the electronic steering.
Tl* the contact owns a 2003 bmw z4. The contact stated that while driving 55 MPH, the steering would drift from side to side. The vehicle was taken to the dealer who diagnosed that the steering column needed to be replaced. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure who did not offer any assistance. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was 80,000 and the current mileage was 81,000. Updated 03/21/12 *bf updated 05/11/12
I purchased the vehicle new and 3 years after purchasing the vehicle, the steering became extremely tight with a lot of resistance in the steering wheel while driving. This "sticking" steering wheels makes the vehicle difficult to drive and hard to keep from wandering. I took it to the dealer, it was still under warranty, and the steering mechanism was found to be defective and was replaced. Several years later and now out of warranty, I noticed this same problem started back up. It should be noted that I would rarely drive the vehicle and have only put 4000 miles since 7/06) the past several years. At this point, I do not drive the vehicle due to this problem the problem seems to be worse as the outside temperature increases. This defect makes the vehicle dangerous to drive since the vehicle tends to wander back and force due to the steering wheel sticking. The repair is in the thousands of dollars and I have been hoping for a recall since I have read of many other owners experiencing this same dangerous problem.
When the car stay outdoor for a long time on hot sunny day, the steering wheel become very hard to turn. It is noticeable at any speed. Highway speed is dangerous because the car is hard to keep on a straight line. The problem does not appear when the weather is cold. I bought the car from USA but I live in canada. The addressee that I wrote is where the car was bought new. Sorry for my poor english.
The steering on my 2003 bmw z4 is very erratic. The car feels like it wants to turn itself left or right, and often feels like it is fighting itself to turn. When driving over the slightest uneven road, the steering will pull and swerve on it's own. At slow speeds, it requires constant attention to keep the vehicle driving in a straight line. At highway speeds it has become a white knuckled scary experience. Under breaking, the car will swerve immediately to the left or right.
Tl* the contact owns a 2003 bmw z4. The contact stated that the steering wheel was difficult to maneuver in a straight position when driving at highway speeds of 60 MPH and above. The failure recurred most often when driving in warmer weather. The vehicle was taken to an authorized dealer on numerous occasions and various repairs were performed. The steering box was replaced, but the failure continued. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure and offered no assistance. The failure mileage was 12,000.
The power steering assist has failed on the car making it very difficult to steer. Luckily it failed while on a straight part of an interstate as my daughter was driving the car and this severely frightened her. She did not overreact and we took appropriate measures to get the vehicle home. Online research indicates that this issue was being investigated by the federal safety agency in 2010 but can not find any indication that an actual recall is in place. This is a very dangerous thing to happen, especially in a state with a lot of winding roads (tennessee). I purchased the car used last year and also had a water pump failure that resulted in a blown engine. I wish this issue had been investigated also as I understand that it is a common failure with this particular engine. There is also a problem with the speedometer and fuel gauges reading incorrectly. I read that one owner was contacted by bmw north america after they filed a complaint regarding the power steering with the federal safety agency and bmw voluntarily fixed the problem for the owner. I hope I have the same luck after posting this complaint. Thank you.
Steering becomes intermittently "sticky". First symptom is that when I turn the wheel normally nothing happens. As a result, I turn the steering wheel more and then suddenly the car turns. Immediately, I have to turn the wheel back the other way to avoid going off the road. The problem is repeated when I turn back in the other direction and I essentially end up weaving down the road. When I brought the vehicle in to have it checked after the first occurrence, the symptom couldn't be reproduced by the servicemen who looked at it. In retrospect, I've realized that I was always having the car checked when it was cool out (mornings & I lived near lake superior), but the problem seems to occur only when it is hot outside (over 70 to 80 degrees). Since I couldn't solve the problem, I have dramatically reduced my driving with this vehicle. However, after recently moving to a different part of the country, I mentioned the problem to a new serviceman last month. He said this was a well known problem with the z4 steering bearings. After spending some time searching on the internet, I was shocked to see how many people have reported this same problem (including to this website). I have never heard of a similar problem with any other vehicle; it certainly seems to me this is some sort of design flaw. It is hard to imagine steering bearings wearing out due to normal "wear and tear" with only 34,000 miles on the vehicle. Please recall this vehicle asap and force bmw to fix the problem before someone is killed!
After being parked for a few hours in the sun on a hot day (over 80 degrees) the steering sticks. It is most noticeable at highway speeds where it becomes very difficult to make fine adjustments so it is hard to hold the car in a lane. This has occurred multiple times and is a predictable problem when the temperature is high and the car has been parked in the sun.
The steering mechanism and wheel seem to stick. The steering wheel does not travel smoothly within the normal steering range. When the car is being driven on a straight line... Suddenly, you are not able to keep the car going straight, which causes the driver to attempt to correct and typically causes the car to move erratically from side to side to keep the car center on the driving lane. Driving the car under normal driving conditions has become a battle to keep the car straight on the road. Over corrections are inevitable and this can cause loss of control and accidents/collisions.
In hot weather the power steering gets extremely sticky and when making a turn such as on an exit ramp the steering wheel has to be pulled to return it to the straight position which raises the distinct possibility that the car could go right off the ramp if not caught. This problem also causes swerving when making small steering corrections on the highway, the car can swerve into another lane. Dealers are unwilling to address this issue and the on-line z 4 forum indicates that this is a very common problem apparently due to design flaws.
I had the steering on this vehicle get worse on the interstate after I filed the first complaint. I contacted bmw USA and took it to the bmw dealer. I was told by bmw USA that my problem was the defect that they were aware of. However, they told me that they will not repair any of these vehicles unless there is a recall. Is it going to take a few more fatal crashes for the someone to step up and force this manufacturer to correct this problem? Even though I am the second owner of this car, it was purchased in florida where you are suppose to enjoy a convertible. However, this failure occurs at temperatures above 77 degrees. Now that I know of this problem, how can I pass it on to another who might not be an experienced driver and join bmw in being the instrument of their death.
When traveling on a highway, the car steering is very hard to hold straight, veering from left to right. I only have 32,000 miles on the car and it still happens. Service reps verify that all steering components are within specifications.
VIN decoder
See the problems and recalls for an exact car
Buying a used 2003 BMW Z4?
Check the exact car before you pay: accidents, salvage or flood titles, odometer readings and previous owners.
Check its history