So I have a 2004 545i and I didn't drive it in the winter, although I started the car regularly every now and then. I had to recently jump start it and when I did a control message appeared regarding Active Steering initialization. So I looked up how to do that in the manual and it said to turn the steering as far left as possible then return to the straight ahead position and then restart the car and it should work.........but in my case it didn't.
Wondering if anyone has had experience with this before and can shed some light on it.

Thanks!

when it happens to me, i have to turn the wheel full left, then full right, then straight ahead. then turn the car off and back on. that should take care of it. otherwise, it's time for a dealer visit.

I?ve had to "calibrate" the active steering twice (due to battery replacement) on my MY2004 E61 530D. Both times it worked like a charm. However my manual states that you you first need to turn the steering to the far right, then back to center, then all the way to the left and center again. After all that that a restart and it?s ok. Hope this helps.

The solution for me has been to use a battery tender, same as you would use on a motorcycle, for when your car is not being driven on a daily basis. Even though the battery is in the trunk, there is a small black plastic cover under the hood, above the engine cover, that moves aside to reveal a positive battery terminal. Place the positive charger clamp on the terminal and the negative charger clamp on a nut on the shock tower. By using a battery tender whenever the car is going to sit for more than a few days, I've had no further problems caused by low voltage battery condition.