Electric Steering Wheel Lock Fault

Originally Posted by joh9ash

Just had the steering column replaced on my 3 series touring as steering lock warning on red. Car started and dealer replaced under warranty but said cost was £450

I had my replaced a year ago too

common issues for Bimmer with Smart Key

I had the same problem last month on my 2007 130 LE.
Was told by the bmw dealer that a new streering colum was needed.
Luckly was covered by warranty.
Fingers crossed it wont happen again.

This has also happened to my 56-plate (UK) E90 320d. I have a red light that is always on and never goes away. However I can lock the steering when parked and it's always released when I stick the smart key in.

So my car has an AA 5-star warranty but it turns out that it covers pretty much every part of the steering apart from the steering column. Brilliant. Therefore the UK dealership (Sytner Solihull) I took it to diagnose the fault (It came back with A116), wants £693 to replace it and re-program the car.

I'm shopping around for someone who'll do that a bit cheaper as Sytner seem incredibly overpriced (and not very helpful either). I was very tempted to just put up with it as it doesn't appear to have any undesirable effect so far - but it's potentially a safety issue so need to get it sorted really.

Just an update that I managed to get hold of a business in Wolverhampton who suggested, as others have, that to try a software/CAS upgrade first before replacing the column.

Will update after next Friday!

Hello all. Got in my car the other night to start it and had the same POS red light come up on the dash indicating the electronic steering column lock engaged, to not turn off engine or risk the possibility of not being able to restart... This is crap.. was wondering if the software upgrade to the CAS has permanently fixed any of the models experiencing this issue or if it is only a bandaid on the real problem. I'm taking mine in Monday and told the repair shop about all the common make/model years having the same issue. Does anyone actually have the upgrade software/firmware for this CAS/ELV module or only BMW licensed dealers? I would like to apply the upgrade myself using CarSoft or INPA/similar if possible and save the $300 the dealer wants to charge for the upgrade.

Happened to my 2007 525xi after 66500 miles.

My 325Xi had the same problem twice in the past month. They re-programmed it the first time, but it resurfaced again a week later. Still in the repair shop. I hope it does not require the whole steering column to be replaced!

So I had my CAS upgraded and the faults cleared, and the problem has gone away (For now!!)

I now have a new issue - my air conditioning refuses to turn on! The light/LED doesn't come on either. Any ideas anyone?

Actually cancel that - the behaviour of the aircon seems to have changed post upgrade.

Beforehand I could run the tempature at 22C and then hit the snowflake button and it would just come on. Post upgrade I now start the car (Temp left at 22C) and I find that the snowflake button flashes, but the aircon doesn't run. If I then drop the temp down to 16C the aircon comes on by itself - so I gather that the upgrade has changed how the automatic settings work.

I'm not sure if this is normal behaviour, but I'll have a bit more of a play on the way home to see what happens.

My 2006 330i is at the dealer (BMW of Alexandria) for this issue now. Out of warranty the cost is $1200 to replace the column and reprogram. I went to pick it up today and noticed right away that I had lost functionality of the voice command. They took the car back in and are running diagnostics now. I think there are some glitches when upgrading an older model vehicle with the new software. I have a 2012 loaner and I noticed that they dropped the route list function from the Nav system. It's now called arrow view and you can only see the directions one at a time rather than a list. Hope this isn't how mine is now. I feel a little snookered by this whole thing. I feel like BMW should have addressed this issue under warranty. A quick google search shows it is very common.

James G - is BMW of fairfax also asking 1200$ ? Can u please PM me your # ?

Originally Posted by mjgerrard

This has also happened to my 56-plate (UK) E90 320d. I have a red light that is always on and never goes away. However I can lock the steering when parked and it's always released when I stick the smart key in.

So my car has an AA 5-star warranty but it turns out that it covers pretty much every part of the steering apart from the steering column. Brilliant. Therefore the UK dealership (Sytner Solihull) I took it to diagnose the fault (It came back with A116), wants £693 to replace it and re-program the car.

I'm shopping around for someone who'll do that a bit cheaper as Sytner seem incredibly overpriced (and not very helpful either). I was very tempted to just put up with it as it doesn't appear to have any undesirable effect so far - but it's potentially a safety issue so need to get it sorted really.

I don't think there's any safety issue with a red lock on steering wheel error - as your BMW steering wheel can never lock when you are driving it - this will be against the logics of safety driving & any system shouldn't be able to override such a setting.

But I agree to have a peace of Mind - customers are taking a minimum of 1200$ slap here in US and BMW is just sleeping about it - what d heck - m way beyond frustrated with this crappy known and widely present issue that nobody seems to care and deal about (the corporate - good will way)
Worst case scenario: car cannot start and you have to get it towed off.

Originally Posted by evievie

I reside in Los Angeles, CA, and I just had my steering wheel column replaced 2 days ago and my warranty expired a month ago. I took it to the dealership where I purchased my car and they were kind enough to give me a discount for the replacement + labor.

Why does this happen? I have a 2006 325i with less than 35,000 miles on it... What can I do to prevent this from happening again?

Is it worth purchasing extended warranty?

Thanks.

It happened to me when I did a huge mistake (yeah apparently that's how I feel about it now) used "handbrake" after "P" gear to park on a uphill road and this light has been coming on since then - WTF

Originally Posted by EB51

I started having this problem last week. I have a 2006 325i -- out of warranty, of course. At least every 2nd or 3rd time it locks up (today...not amber -- RED. I did get it started after much cursing and somehow getting it back to an amber warning.) I found two TSB references -- #612906 and #613406. Does anyone know where/how to access those?

I need a detailed info on these codes

I took my 2006 330i to BMW of Alexandria for this issue. My car was not starting. I had to do a routine of opening and closing the door, take the key out and put it back in a couple of times, and then it would start. The dealer said it's really common. There is a sensor (CAS?) that goes bad. To replace the sensor they have to take out the steering column. The cost was $1200. ~ $500 parts/ $700 labor. They also have to reprogram the computer's software, which was included in that cost. The newer software looks a little bit different. It has a silverish blue color, where my old software was in brown. They had to do this twice, because after the first reprogram, the voice command wouldn't work. They reinstalled a second time and everything works.

At any rate, the problem has gone away. It would have been covered under warranty, but my warranty ran out last year and I didn't buy extended coverage.

My steering wheel lock warning light came on 3 weeks ago (but car was driving fine), we took it straight to the garage, they booked it to get a new steering column fiited the following morning but after leaving the garage the light went off, so i rang and explained to someone who said if there was no warning light on to leave it, i was called early the next day by someone else to say that i should not leave it and get the car booked in asap (the man a had spoken was from the volvo side of the garage), i was very confused with mixed information so have just left it , but yesterday the red steering lock light came on again , could this be a computer fault as the car is driving fine and does it have a fail safe if anything did happen can anyone advise me please????

please can someone help me does this really need to go into the garage the car is driving fine could it just be a computer error ????????????

Hi

From your description I dont think I had exactly the same fault as, after stopping my car, the computer would not allow me to restart the engine hence I was towed to the garage. I think mine might also have been a computer fault but the BMW franchise licked their lips and hit me for 700 Euros. They changed a simple microswitch on the steering column (80 Euros) and then did diagnostics and reprogrammed the car computer. Total rip off, BMW know all about yet refused to help.

With it being a steering fault I would get it seen to, but complain bitterly to your dealer and to the BMW (lack of) help line, you just may get some discount.

Good Luck

PS Check your voice control is working when you get your car back. Mine isn't. I didn't spot it for week or so and guess what - BMW refused to help! They are a shower.

My 57 plate Alpina D3 red steering lock light has been on for about a year now and about 10,000 miles! Went to BMW dealer 9 months ago and they said that i might need a new steering column. Decided against it as warranty had expired. Steering lock works ok with no problems starting car for the past year. Could be a false alarm that won't reset? Attended a non BMW garage and they couldn't reset it. I take that I've no choice but to go to a BMW dealer if I want rid of the warning light? No doubt they'll say that it requires a new steering column!!

Trouble is mine eventually locked up and I couldn't turn the wheel.

Originally Posted by spx921

I have the same problem as of 2/3/2011 on a 325i 2006. I spoke to BMW and they state they have "NO RECALLS" unless issued by NHTSA. My suggestion is that everyone that has had this problem file a complaint ASAP under "STEERING" with the NHTSA making sure you have your VIN#. Please file your complaint with the NHTSA: https://www-odi.nhtsa.dot.gov/ivoq/ The more complaints, the more likely this issue would be investigated and BMW would be forced to deal with it.

I've been getting this warning as well, on my 2006 325i.

I'll file this weekend, thanks for the info everyone.

Originally Posted by SilverX3

I had my replaced a year ago too

common issues for Bimmer with Smart Key

Have no idea what this means. Care to clarify>

Originally Posted by SilverX3

I had my replaced a year ago too

common issues for Bimmer with Smart Key

Have no idea what this means. Care to clarify>

BTW, have you taken it to somebody who understands BMWs?

Does anyone know if there is a DIY fix yet?

With this fault being so common some garages must have started doing their own fixes without replacing the whole steering column.

Also what programming is actually needed after the faulty sensor is replaced and why? Can the car decifer the difference between a new steering colum / sensor or is it more elaborate than that

Happened to me a few hours ago > 07 e90 320d (uk)

Well the time has now come to sell my 57 plate D3 Alpina on the wife's orders lol, so I'm taking it to the BMW dealer tomorrow to try to get rid of this steering lock alarm I've had showing for nearly 18 months with no problems!! Here's hoping they don't rob me!!

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classifi...ge/1?logcode=p