The steering gets jerky in warmer weather making the car extremely difficult to handle. The steering almost appears to have gotten stuck in a notch on the column and forces the driver to put extra force into turning the wheel to correct it. The problem seems to occur when driving at highway speeds and when the temps are above 80. When driving at slower speeds this doesn't appear to happen. In doing some research online this issue appears to happen with most 2003-2005 z4s without any resolution. The cars should be recalled and fixed.
2004 BMW Z4 steering complaints
Page 4 of 14: complaints 71 to 100 of 378, newest first, as owners wrote them.
The steering sticks left then to the right. Car is very hard to drive safely. The car sits in the garage most of time because of this. Help!!
The steering wheel sticks while driving. Takes a lot of force to align the car with the road. This is very dangerous. The dealer quoted 4000 to fix
While driving at highway speeds the steering becomes stiff and sticky causing decreased responsiveness on control of the vehicle. As a result it takes extra effort on traveling in a straight line. Once the sticking is released could cause the driver to overcompensate the steering in one direction or another. I feel this is a major safety concern that needs immediate attention.
In hot weather, the car steering gets "sticky" or hard to make smooth little adjustments when travelling on highways going straight. It's mostly noticeable when travelling on 55mph or higher roads, but somewhat in town too. It makes travelling in the middle of your own lane harder, more likely to wander before you increase your effort on the steering wheel. When in cold weather, the electric power steering is excellent and very easy to keep the car exactly on track with ease. When I read the reports on the bmw club sites and forums, I find that this a very common problem with bmw z4's of the 2003 to later versions. Please institute a recall before people get hurt of killed, thanks.
In hot temperatures or after driving continuous for awhile, the steering becomes hard to steer like their is a hitch when turning the wheel or a force working against you. Car only has 40000 miles and was serviced every 5000 miles. Took to local bmw dealer and was told it was the rack with repair being $1500. Was not told this was under investigation for a recall. In motion when happens and appears to be dangerous. Has happened numerous times
Tl* the contact owns a 2004 bmw z4. While driving 25 MPH, the steering wheel seized. The failure recurred numerous times. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic where it was diagnosed, but not repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was 111,000.
The steering wheel seems to have a catch in it when driving and you turn the steering wheel either right or left. When you driving and are going from lane to lane or around a curve it will stick. This could cause the driver to jerk the steering wheel and cause the car to go off the road or into the path of another vehicle .looked the problem up on the bmw form and there were over 120 other steering complaints on this same year and model of car. There should be a recall to repair this problem before there is a bad accident.
Steering sticks and requires force to alter steering path. This problem is most noticeable in warmer conditions. I purchased my z4 with only 64,000 miles from a private seller. Issue with steering was not disclosed and was not noticed during test drive. However, I have since researched this problem on line and have learned that this problem is well known and an issued for many bmw z4 owners prior to 2006. This a huge safety concern for me, and should be for bmw as well. I am fairly certain that I am not the first person to report this issue but to my knowledge, not much has been done to address the issue. Please advise as to what has been done to date to correct this issue, and what are my options to get this resolved for me personally. Sincerely, [xxx] information redacted pursuant to the freedom of information act (foia), 5 u.s.c. 552(b)(6).
The steering is very sticky and binds up frequently, especially in warm weather. It can be difficult to control in low and high speeds and could put you in another lane and could cause an accident. This is a known manufacturing defect and the only resolution is to change the whole steering column in which bmw does not want to pay for. This is a highway safely issue and should be fixed by doing a recall. Most z4s have this problem. I have contacted bmw about this issue. They want me to pay for the replacement when this should have been recalled.
Tl* the contact owns a 2004 bmw z4. While attempting to reverse the vehicle, the steering wheel seized without warning. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic where it was diagnosed that the electrical steering column failed and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The failure mileage was unknown.
Sticky steering during warm weather. Can either stick where you have to force it to turn and follow highway road or becomes sloppy and weaves from side to side within lane. Neither should be happening with this expensive car. This is a known problem with many complaints, bmw needs to step up and take responsibility before deaths and damage occur. This problem started in 2011,intermittent problem, granted there are more miles on this car and five years, the problem has not gone anywhere, it's still here.recall these cars
When driving in warm weather, the steering becomes stiff. When driving down the highway the wheel sticks in the center. You have to force the wheel to turn. Then after you turn the wheel you have to force the wheel back to center, having to be careful not to over correct and entering the lane next you. I am understanding that many other bmw consumers are having the same issue. It is very dangerous.
When the weather gets warm around at least 80's, the steering becomes very sticky. It can be difficult to control in low and high speeds and can definitely cause an accident. This is a known manufacturing defect and the only fix is to change the whole steering column in which bmw does not want to pay for. This is a highway safely issue and should be fixed by doing a recall. A lot of z4 has these problem it just in different severity. I have contacted bmw several times about this issue. They want me to pay for the replacement when this should have been recalled.
When the weather gets warm say around 80 degrees driving down the road say 45 MPH the steering sticks very bad to the point you can kill yourself.
Steering wheel binds and is difficult to turn while driving at any speed. It happens mostly when the car is warm from the sun or after it warms up from driving. The steering wheel has to be forced to turn to overcome the notchy lockup condition. The car then veers off track. The steering never returns to center so the car continuously wanders back and forth. Internet searches produce many vehicles with this issue, but no recall has been performed. This is a gross safety issue and should be corrected by the manufacturer prior to deaths caused by this safety issue.
With less than 75000 miles the power steering is completely gone and the dealer says over 5000 dollars to repair.
I have a 2004 bmw z4 2.51 VIN number [xxx] - the electronic steering eps has completely failed, and is inoperable. This is a known issue, on many many cars, and after contacting bmw north america, they said the only solution is to have a bmw dealer replace the entire steering column (their engineering problem) at a cost of $4000. I told them this was unacceptable. I have been to many mechanics and they have no answers for this problem other then going to bmw it is failed 90% of the time, and impossible to steer at times my odb2 reader reads the system information as sw-v5.2 ss200381 part number 6763764 coding index 03 diagnosis index 04e1 variant index 474a hardware number 01 date dd.mm.yyyy 10.12.2003 error 610feeprom, no risk information redacted pursuant to the freedom of information act (foia), 5 u.s.c. 552(b)(6).
Steering wheel binds and is difficult to turn while driving at any speed. It happens mostly when the car is warm from the sun or after it warms up from driving. The steering wheel has to be forced to turn to overcome the notchy lockup condition. The car then veers off track. The steering never returns to center so the car continuously wanders back and forth. Internet searches produce many vehicles with this issue, but no recall has been performed. This is a gross safety issue and should be corrected by the manufacturer prior to deaths caused by this safety issue.
Steering sticks normally in a straight line driving situation. One has to apply force to unstick steering.
Tl* the contact owns a 2004 bmw z4. While driving 10 MPH, the eps light illuminated and the steering wheel became difficult to turn. The vehicle was not taken to a dealer or repaired. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was 88,000. Updated 02/26/16*lj updated 02/29/16.
The car has a dangerous sticky steering problem. Very notchy steering, difficult to keep on the road. Many complaints have been filed.
For about the last five thousand miles, my steering has developed the dangerous steering condition( described by literally hundreds of owners in blogs and various postings-just do a search for "z4 steering problem") that exists in 2003-2005 bmw z4 roadsters. At first, the problem occurred only on very hot days (as described my many others). Now, it affects all aspects of driving, making the vehicle very difficult to control. Steering requires constant correction from left to right and does not return to center. I have replaced tires twice and had several alignments with no effect. If ever there was a safety issue that would warrant a recall this is it. The dead steering described is most evident at highway speeds (50-70mph)
Reported this problem to you in 2006--odi 10496814- sticky steering-which can cause the driver to jerk the wheel hard and lose control of the vehicle- I have read there are well over 100 complaints on this problem- bmw has, some at my cost, replaced the steering column twice and now what to do the 3rd time, at my cost. This would make four columns, counting the original one, and this car only has 14,000 miles. There a big problem with there engineering on this problem. My understanding, there is a unsealed bearing inside the column that fails. You cannot replace the bearing-bmw does not list this as a part. It is about time that the federal safety agency find a fix for this problem before somebody is hurt or killed. In 2010 the USA reported over 107 complaints and one crash.
The steering system (eps) is making the steering very "notchy" "sticking" and makes the car very dangerous to drive. I've read forums that say the problem years are from 2003 - 2005 but bmw will not admit there is a problem therefore no recalls were made. Now I can't even sell the car because of this problem
Steering sticks and almost cause accident. Car is like new and it a shame I cant enjoy car because steering issue with bmw z4 steering. I cant afford the dealer price to fix a car defect.
The steering has become sticky or notchy and over time has gotten worse. It is extremely dangerous, and as a result I was forced to either sell the car on to an unsuspecting buyer, or fix it. I chose the later as I didn't want to put somebody else's family in danger. The car was not drivable in heat over 80 degree's as the steering was tight, and would stick in position causing excess force to move it, and cause severe oversteer situations. After having to complain to bmw for weeks, they directed me to have it diagnosed (for $180) and then decided they would pay half of the cost to repair their engineering issue. While I found their willingness to admit a mistake and cover half the repair a step in the right direction, I just don't think its enough. A new steering column was quoted at $3750, and I paid almost $1800 plus diagnostics fees. I wasn't going to bother with this complaint, as the federal safety agency has shown it is not interested in holding bmw accountable for this wide spread issue (unlike toyotas sticky gas pedals), but an incident on the freeway this week changed my mind. I was traveling in the left lane crossing a major river, and the car in front of me suddenly swerved toward the guard barrier. I had milliseconds to react to the steel garbage can set in the center of the left lane, with a 18 wheeler to my right. I swerved as the car in front of me did, toward the guard barrier into the breakdown lane and safely negotiated the can. Thank god I had the steering fixed, as it stuck worse turning right, and I am certain my life would have ended on the bridge as I would have oversteered, lost control, and went under the 18 wheeler. Fix this issue before its too late for us citizens who are stuck riding in, and around these vehicles. I certainly hope if you do, people who have been forced to pay for bmw's mistakes have an opportunity to be reimbursed.
Tl* the contact owns a 2004 bmw z4. While driving at various speeds, the steering wheel seized and became very difficult to turn. The failure occurred intermittently. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 85,000.
Car has been having sticky steering problems for awhile now. It has gotten worse this summer . When the weather is above 70 or the longer I drive the worse it gets. Problem has gotten so bad that it is not safe to drive any longer. Steering wheel seems to have a flat spot in the middle and causes you to over steer when this happens. Very dangerous. Was told it would be around 3000 dollars to fix?? It is a great car besides that!! To bad it cannot be driven at this time. Just sitting in garage. Would love to have another one but not at the expense of a new steering column.
The steering column freezes in position and holding the steering it wheel feels like it's being held by a magnet much like a dc motor feels if you try to rotate it. For example after rounding the bend or taking the corner the steering wheel would stay in position and you have to physically turn the steering wheel back to center it's like it's stuck there by magnetic force. I called my bmw dealership and asked the service advisor about this problem. He had no idea what I was talking about then he asked the service forman and was told it's a well known problem and the only fix is to replace the steering column at $3600-4000. If this is a well known problem then why isn't there a recall. And why isn't bmw taking responsibility for a design flaw.
VIN decoder
See the problems and recalls for an exact car
Buying a used 2004 BMW Z4?
Check the exact car before you pay: accidents, salvage or flood titles, odometer readings and previous owners.
Check its history