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Active Steering Malfunction

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Old 07-18-2007, 11:27 PM
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I was driving to New York last week when I had an active steering malfunction and the steering just went dead on me. I could barely turn the wheel and it was really hard and heavy to turn. It almost felt like I was going to break the steering wheel off. I managed to exit the highway and with a lot of force got the car into a parking lot. Had to reignite my car about 4 times before the active steering activated, which took about a couple of minutes. Has this happened to anyone? This sh*t is dangerous....
Old 07-19-2007, 04:03 AM
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Originally Posted by bosg' post='449635' date='Jul 19 2007, 03:27 AM
I was driving to New York last week when I had an active steering malfunction and the steering just went dead on me. I could barely turn the wheel and it was really hard and heavy to turn. It almost felt like I was going to break the steering wheel off. I managed to exit the highway and with a lot of force got the car into a parking lot. Had to reignite my car about 4 times before the active steering activated, which took about a couple of minutes. Has this happened to anyone? This sh*t is dangerous....
Happen to me awhile ago, light coming on,after I shut the car off and waited awhile the light went off when I restarted the car and I haven't had the problen since. I didn't experience the hard steering like you did,just the same light coming on. I would let the dealer check it out. Good luck
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Old 07-19-2007, 06:32 AM
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Originally Posted by bosg' post='449635' date='Jul 19 2007, 02:27 AM
I was driving to New York last week when I had an active steering malfunction and the steering just went dead on me. I could barely turn the wheel and it was really hard and heavy to turn. It almost felt like I was going to break the steering wheel off. I managed to exit the highway and with a lot of force got the car into a parking lot. Had to reignite my car about 4 times before the active steering activated, which took about a couple of minutes. Has this happened to anyone? This sh*t is dangerous....
Sounds like your power steering went out as well.
Old 07-19-2007, 07:20 AM
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Originally Posted by Veight' post='449707' date='Jul 19 2007, 10:32 AM
Sounds like your power steering went out as well.
I agree. I asked the question about what happens if the Active Steering fails while driving before I ordered my car. The answer I got (accurate or not) was that it would revert to the normal power steering and the car should still be driveable. Based on what was described by Veight it wasn't driveable. It sounds like the power steering failed as well which, if typical when losing Active Steering, would really concern me.
Old 07-19-2007, 07:54 PM
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Well BackonBlackonBlack last saturday had a dead battery and when the car was jump started he lost Active Steering but he still had normal power steering... so its possible that if AS fails it'll revert to Normal Power Steering... which I beleive is true... what sounds like happened was POWER steering failed so it affected AS...
Old 07-20-2007, 12:38 PM
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Originally Posted by bosg' post='449635' date='Jul 19 2007, 12:27 AM
I was driving to New York last week when I had an active steering malfunction and the steering just went dead on me. I could barely turn the wheel and it was really hard and heavy to turn. It almost felt like I was going to break the steering wheel off. I managed to exit the highway and with a lot of force got the car into a parking lot. Had to reignite my car about 4 times before the active steering activated, which took about a couple of minutes. Has this happened to anyone? This sh*t is dangerous....
I just took my car in to dealer yesterdat when I got the "active steering malfunction" message 2 days ago. I was able still drive my car with no problem, feel little heavy on the steering wheel. Also the steering wheel now is tilted toward left. I will find out what happen when I get my car today. hopefully.
Old 07-20-2007, 04:33 PM
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I had an active steering light come on but steering was still power and a Ctrl-Alt-Delete fixed it.
Are you sure there wasn't a cat snuggled up in your steering rack when you last parked the car?
Old 07-20-2007, 05:23 PM
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Originally Posted by EBMCS03' post='450015' date='Jul 19 2007, 10:54 PM
Well BackonBlackonBlack last saturday had a dead battery and when the car was jump started he lost Active Steering but he still had normal power steering... so its possible that if AS fails it'll revert to Normal Power Steering... which I beleive is true... what sounds like happened was POWER steering failed so it affected AS...
I do agree with you, probably the power steering affected the the Active steering. As far as I know, Active steering mostly concerns itself with the steering angle sensor which must be calibrated for it to work. No real harm will happen if the Active steering fails.
Old 07-21-2007, 01:22 AM
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This happened to me once in my "old" 545i.
It was at work in the parking lot leaving work. The car started normally, I drove for ~ 10-20s, and then the AS malfunction light came on, and the steering was extremely heavy, just like when the power steering goes out. Power steering was definitely out, not just the AS. I turned off the car, restarted, and it worked again.
The dealer told me its not possible and I was dreaming....
Old 07-24-2007, 08:05 AM
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Originally Posted by bosg' post='449635' date='Jul 19 2007, 03:27 AM
I was driving to New York last week when I had an active steering malfunction and the steering just went dead on me. I could barely turn the wheel and it was really hard and heavy to turn. It almost felt like I was going to break the steering wheel off. I managed to exit the highway and with a lot of force got the car into a parking lot. Had to reignite my car about 4 times before the active steering activated, which took about a couple of minutes. Has this happened to anyone? This sh*t is dangerous....

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