2003 BMW Z4: pulls to one side

Filed Apr 18, 2023 · Steering · NC

The steering in this BMW Z4 gets "sticky" in warm or hot weather. It drives fine in cold weather. The steering has to be constantly corrected as it pulls to the left. It will not track in a straight line and needs constant corrections from side to side to compensate for the problem. If you do not pay close attention and correct the steering input, you will go off the road. On a warmer day after driving for a while I suddenly experienced a unexpected binding of the steering and almost ended up steering into oncoming traffic. This car is not safe to drive. The 2003 model has electric power steering. There are no codes or warning lights. I took the car to the local mechanic and he was easily able to reproduce the issue when he drove it less than 1 mile. This issue not only puts me at risk but others because of the constant correction of the steering to keep a straight. If you drive this car in warm or hot weather distances more than 20 miles then shut if off, then attempt to restart there is no steering at all. Please view the 2 websites listed below from BMW owners. https://automotivesblog.com/e85-e86-bmw-z4-steering-problems-how-to-fix/ https://www.carproblemzoo.com/bmw/z4/steering-problems.php One website had almost 700 complaints with the steering. I dare not let my kids behind the wheel of this car. It is not a question of "if" someone gets killed, but "when." BMW North America would only say there are no recalls. When I asked if there have been issues reported, they declined to give me that information. Please help. It would be interesting to know how many accidents were listed with the steering being the cause of the MVA. I would gladly allow someone with the federal safety agency drive this car in warm weather. Then you would see how dangerous the steering is in these vehicles.

Filed May 25, 2021 · Steering · SC

On hot days the steering becomes sticky like there is a catch. It will also pull to one side or the other making it very dangerous to drive especially on the interstate.

Filed Nov 17, 2016 · Steering · 97,000 miles · CA

Steering is too unstable on straight driving. A sudden pull to the right/left and steering is not centering. Steering is stiff and hard to control.

Filed Oct 26, 2015 · Steering · 78,000 miles · TN

While driving on the interstate and in the city, my bmw z4's steering wheel gets stuck, pulls to the left & right and needs hard force to release it. I've almost wrecked several times because of this! I'm afraid to drive the car because it's too dangerous. After much research on this issue, I've found out that thousands of bmw z4 owners have the exact same problem.

Filed Aug 4, 2014 · Steering · 95,000 miles · FL

Steering will go from very tight to very loose while driving. Will pull to the left and then to the right for no apparent reason. Will initially resist and then give way to either direction. Seems to happen in warmer weather conditions. Feels like there is no control in the steering of the car.

Filed Jan 2, 2014 · Steering · 68,000 miles · CA

My 2003 bmw z4 is extremely dangerous to drive, while I am on flat surfaces traveling on the freeway the steering wheel all of a sudden will pull to the left and then to the right constantly and I have to correct it every 2 seconds and sometimes it just locks into a left turn position when I am on the freeway and all I am trying to do is keep the car straight going down the freeway. At this point I am afraid an accident will happen sometime in the future and I have been reading thousands of posts on the web with people with this same car. At what point are you guys going to activate a vehicle recall to fix the steering column design, perhaps after I either get into an accident or I or a family member gets killed, enough is enough, I am begging you please issue a recall to fix the flawed design of the steering of this car .....!!!! [xxx] information redacted pursuant to the freedom of information act (foia), 5 u.s.c. 552(b)(6).

Filed Feb 10, 2012 · Steering · 12,441 miles · CA

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.

Filed Jul 22, 2011 · Steering · 22,000 miles · AL

During warmer weather the steering is jerky and the car does not track straight causing the car to wander back and forth on the road. If the road has a crown it causes the car to pull to one side or the other sending it toward the oncomming traffic occasionally. The steering also feels 'center locked' so that an amount of force greater than normal is required to change course of the vehicle, then once it starts turning (should be gradual as for course corrections), the car lunges in the direction that you are trying to gradually take. As mentioned earlier, this occurs in warmer weather and is not as noticible in cooler weather.

Filed Jun 20, 2011 · Steering · 19,000 miles · WI

My 2003 bmw z4 automobile has the same problem as numerous other owners of this vehicle have. The steering mechanism "sticks or partially locks when driving. On occasion it tends to pull to the left at most speeds causing concern regarding highway driving. There are numerous examples of the exact same problem from other 2003 z4 owners. In some case there were close calls in averting head on crashes when driving on two lane highways due to the steering pull to the left side. This seems to be a problem unique to the 2003 z4 series which has electronic steering. It apparently gets worse with time. My z4 has less than 21,000 miles.

Filed Jun 19, 2011 · Steering · 58,300 miles · PA

My son and I purchased a used 2003 bmw z4 with only 57,000 miles on it . It had a slight pull to the right so we decided to have an alignment done . The bmw dealership that we took it to said that the alignment was ok and that the electric steering motor was probably going bad. They wanted $ 3,500.00 to repair it. Since the pulling to the right was very slight I asked if the car was safe to drive since it my son that will driving the car. They said that the car was safe to drive. After arriving home we did some research and found that this was a common problem with these cars. I called the dealership and spoke with our service adviser and he acted like he was totally unaware of it being a problem and again assured us that the car was safe. On the way home form work my son was driving at highway speeds and had a loss of power steering. The steering had a dead spot at the center position. I then did more research and found that there is an investigation on these cars for the same problem my son is having with his car. I talked to other independent repair shops and they won't even get involved in repairing this because the cars still have problems after being repaired. I then called the bmw dealership and asked him if the problem has been solved or are they just installing a new part that is the same as the old part and will fail again. He said he would get back to me. And surprise he has not. We would not mind so much as to spend $3500.00 to have a potentially deadly problem fixed, but to just have the same problem again it truly unfair. Something needs to be done about this. I have found out that they no longer use this type of steering system. I assume that they just want this problem to go away as the cars get older and sold to people like us with no warranty. Original owners probably know of the problem and won't mention the problem so not to hurt resale value.

Filed Dec 9, 2010 · Steering · 30,000 miles · VA

Tl*the contact owns a 2003 bmw z4. The contact stated that while driving approximately 55 MPH, the vehicle would pull to the left and the vehicle was difficult to turn. The failure was intermittent. The vehicle had not been inspected by the dealer. The vehicle had not been repaired. The failure mileage was approximately 30,000. Updated 02/03/11*lj updated 03/17/11

Filed Jul 15, 2010 · Steering · 61,200 miles · VA

On a hot day, the steering seems to stick when you turn the wheel. The steering wheel does not return to center after a turn. It makes the car want to wander all over the road, particularly on curving roads.