BMW530

Had an Active Steering Fault message come up on my I-Drive last Thursday for the first time ever (see attached photo from camera phone). Never happened before until warranty expried 2 weeks ago....typical. Luckily bought seperate warranty with WarrantyDirect.
Anyway normal power steering was still available as expected. Tried getting it checked by dealer but unfortunately due to Christmas holidays earliest date is in the New Year. They mentioned it could be the steering sensor on the steering column.

However after work after several hours with car switched off the fault message disappeared and has not occurred since. Active Steering was available as normal. Has anyone experienced this before? Is it the typical I-drive software glitch which happens now and again?

Question is shall I continue to have the car checked with dealer or cancel the appointment??? Dealer might charge for the check as its not out of manufacturer's warranty and may find nothing as fault message is now gone.

Feedback and opinions appreciated and what I should do.

Cheers

Laurencs

I had the same problem with my 645. All the Bmw mechanic did was turn the steering wheel full lock to the left, then full lock to the right. Then he centered the steeing wheel and switched the car off and on again. Problem solved and the Active steering works perfectly again.

Hopefully your problem is no more serious than mine was.

regards

doug_999

While yours is an older model and should not be affected, that certainly sounds like the steering angle sensor (SZL)

It will come back. Unfortunately.

colejl

I don't think so. I had exactly the same problem on mine (similar age) and my dealer replaced the whole active steering control module and reprogrammed. (Lost my eyebrow lights with CIP23 - awaiting CIP24!)

I would get it checked because replacing this module and reprogramming probably isn't a 'cheap job'! Luckily mine failed 1 month before my warranty expired but I'm now out of cover... (fingers crossed - time to trade in!)

It might be worth pushing with your dealer because mine intimated that this is a common (read known) fault. Mine has been rock-solid so far and I think the latest update has sharpened the responses slightly. (I had CIP18 before which had known issues with AS)

Alex.br

Software bugs.

cobradav

Have had three occasions in 22 months and 37,000 miles with that symptom. Each reset immediately after engine switched off and restarted.

#1 Was first time car encounder less than 35 degree (F) weather.
#2 Was DSC off, sharp turn of wheels from dead stop and rapid acceleration to merge with fast moving traffic.
#3 Combination of 1 & 2 (although no longer 1st encounter wih cold wx, just below 34 degrees)

Probably spaced 4-6 months apart - no occurance in past 6 months

I showed pics of idrive display to dealer, they found no faults, took no action other than to also check fluid levels.

Some have had bad parts/software some are like me, no fault found.

ALways get checked out but might be nothing.

BMW530

Thanks for the feedback.

I'll probably contact the dealer in a few days and see how it goes. Hopefully they won't charge for the initial checks/investigation.

As this is the first time its happened, hoping its just a s/w glitch caused by the cold damp/foggy weather we had last week in the UK.

Cheers

colejl

Maybe. My errors had occurred when it was slightly colder/damper than normal... It's not nice to lose active steering as you never feel like you can make a corner! (You really miss it when its gone!)

ivan545

It happened to me, i took it to the dealer, first of the all the power steering fluid was low, but they also replace the who active steering and reprogrammed that's how i got the latest update and i lost my eye brows after that, there was no leak in the power steering but it was almost empty.

doug_999

Maybe, maybe not.... I also had the exact same problem and it was the SZL.