Let me first describe my scenario. Its a terrible rainy night, I just went to drop my son at his friends house and on the way hit a puddle that I could not avoid. It was not terrible maybe at 35-40mph. I was surprised but didn't think much of it. I came to a traffic light and all seemed ok. Dropped him off and went home. Parked in my driveway and turned car off. 10 min later, got back in the car to move it for my wife to move her car, ACTIVE STEERING FAULT. I had this once before but it cleared itself. If figured I would drive around the block and it would clear up. I pulled out of my driveway and discovered my steering wheel is off center, maybe a good 2"-3" off. I didn't realize this before I got home. Could the force of the water toss off the alignment like that?? Has anyone ever experienced something like this? I certainly need an alignment now. I assume once it is done the fault will clear up. Any thoughts? Thanks.

 

i don't think hitting a puddle will do that, maybe you hit a pothole that was underneath the puddle

check to see if u damaged anything else there and if not get an alignment and hope for the best

 

I'm sure there was not a pothole. No thump or feeling of hitting something. Just a jerk of the wheel to the right which was the side the puddle was on. I have been doing some reading and there is some info out there about active steering and the wheel being off center. I am not clear on how it happened or what the fix is.

 

The last time that happened to me, I panicked and brought it to a friend's shop. I originally assumed it was a dirty sensor in the steering column as this is a common cause for active steering errors. I disconnected my battery and started disassembling the steering column to get access to the parts that needed cleaning when I got a phone call and needed to leave. Upon reconnecting my battery and starting the car the error went away.

This is the downfall of modern BMWs unfortunately. Nothing is simple anymore. Everything needs to be computer controlled and sometimes the computers need a reset.

I wouldn't be surprised if the water from that puddle made its way up to the alternator and shorted to ground, just the tiniest bit needed to tell the battery computer to start shutting off systems as if the battery or alternator was defective. I also wouldn't be surprised if disconnecting your battery for 10-15 minutes completely solves your issue.

Good luck!

 

Is the active steering working ? or does it not initialize ?

 

Update on steering issue. After reviewing various posts and comments, I went ahead and disconnected the battery and left it off for approx. 10 min. Reconnected and started the car. The Active Steering fault was still there but the system was now initializing. After going through the directions to reset: turn left & right & center, start and restart, The system now reset and is back to NORMAL! The steering wheel is now dead center and everything is ok. I guess the water from the puddle messed with some sensors and deactivated the system. It would not reset without disconnecting the battery. Thanks to all the suggestions and I hope in the future someone with a similar problem doesn't get to upset and follows these directions with similar results!

 

I would not suggest disconnecting the battery to reset the computer

Just get a code reader and reset it that way. Takes a second, not 15 min too and actually works