Stinson108

I've owned a 2004 545 for a couple of months and in that time I've had the Active Steering module replaced (last month) and just got the car back today following replacement of the "eco-valve" associated with the steering system. The active steering modual was replaced following the trouble light coming and not being able to reset. While the car was in for other issues, I told the sevice manager that there was pronounced dead spot with on center steering of about 1/4 inch at all speeds. After looking into it, the dealer indicated there was another stored trouble code for the "eco-valve" malfunction. They replaced the valve and indicated that the steering system was 100%.

I picked the car up today and the low speed (0-40) steering is excellent, however at highway speeds, there is still the 1/4 of "slop" in the steering wheel off center where you can move the wheel back and forth with little to no resulting steering input...is this typical for active steering?

Isay5

I'm having active steering issues of my own, but different from yours. My response/feel is very good.

I have a pronounced vibration, though, when coming to idle and at idle- very noticeable and to the point of being irritating to hold the wheel. Did your wheel ever exhibit this behavior?

Stinson108

No issues with vibration...the wheel is very smooth at all times.

1esquire

I have a similar "dead spot" on mine. On the highway, I feel almost like there is a notch at the top/center of the wheel, and I can move the wheel a little bit to the left or right of this "notch" without affecting the direction of the car. It isn't a 1/4 inch on mine, however, and it is still tighter than most other cars I have driven (almost all of which have some "slop" in the steering).

MRV99

This is the purpose of Active Steering. When at speed the wheel will not be as responsive compared to going slow. Would you rather have a 1/4 inch turn of the wheel cause you to change lane?

andy535xi

Agreed, 1/4" turn is normal at highway speeds, otherwise your car would be twitchy - like you're alignment is off. There is a thourough article written by a journalist, I can't find it right now, but you will be able to google it. Active Steering is designed to keep the car on a straight path at high speeds taking into account that there are no driver inputs and calculating for wind gusts (from trucks and weather) and road groves.

IMO the system has its drawback and advantages. When I test drove a car with Active Steering, it felt razor sharp at low speeds (upto 40mph) however I think in the snow it would suck very very much. And as they say ... more thing to break - which is unfortunate that BMW can't make smomething so expensive at least descently reliable.

GL

JStraw

Just wondering, why do you think it would suck in snow?

camerri

I have had mine for a couple of months also and love the Active Steering. I would say mine has about a 1/4" of play on the freeway. It doesn't seem like a lot to me at all.

Stinson108

Thanks for the info...sounds like a bit of play is the nature of the beast. I had a E46 M3 prior to the 545 and the M's steering was razor sharp so I guess it's what you get used to.

My impression of Active Steering was that it was variable ratio based on vehicle speed (faster at low speeds and slower at high speeds) so I wasn't sure why there would be a dedadspot on center. Glad to hear it seems to be functioning normally.

calpalmer

Play... I have no detectable play in my steering