motopokep

04 e60, active steering malfunction message, wheel goes crooked. i've had this couple times before, i was able to reset according to manual, start engine, turn wheel all the way left, return to center, switch off, start again. i've done this like 10 times today and it won't reset. anyone had this before and what did you do?

thanx

motopokep

I've charged my battery and added CHF-11 hydraulic steering oil (is this same as steering fluid?). I've got an old battery, from 2008 that often displayes the "low" message. i've tried resetting the active steering many times, turning all the way left, then to mid-position, also tried turning all the way left and then all the way right, nothing...steering wheel way off to the left.

how do I test the battery, i've never had a no-start with this battery, just a low level message if I play the stereo for 20 minutes with engine not running, and then it shuts off the radio....thinking to replace the battery, if replacing the battery won't work, i'll start taking apart active steering components, cleaning them, replacing the sensor...as the last option, i'll take it to a bmw mechanic...haven't been to the dealer for a single fix ever since my warranty ran out...those guys always look for ways to do a major overhaul where a quick fix is due.

DavidF

Yes, I had the same problem. No amount of turning wheel to left and right would solve the problem. I finally found the culprit to be a broken wire at the active steering "locking device" which is mounted on the steering gear. Patched the wire and problem gone.

motopokep

hm...where exactly is this, around the active steering electrical box, under the hood, or are you refeferring to the assembly right behind the steering wheel? I'll check it out, it may be that the steering wheel moving up and down (the comfort exit/enter setting) over the years broke a wire...i've had that with my trunk couple years ago, all the opening and shutting severed a couple of wires.

thanx for the tip. will start looking

motopokep

SOLVED!

For everyone who's going to have an active steering malfunction error that won't reset when you turn the wheel all the way left and then right, before you take your car to the mechanic, try this:

disconnect your battery (I think negative first, positive second). try charging your battery either overnight at 2 amps, or quicker at 10 amps, until the charger says "full". reconnect the battery, negative first, positive second. start the ignition, you'll see active steering initializing message, it will still give you an error message, turn the wheel all the way to the left, hard, give it a jerk. then all the way to the right, then center, then turn off the car. lock the doors via fob. wait 5-10 seconds. restart the car....should solve the problem. the main idea is to disconnect the battery to get active steering to re-initialize, if the usual left-right wheel turn won't reset active steering.

also, there is a 40amp fuse, #4 in the glove compartment fuse box, that controls active steering, check that the fuse is not blown. i was just about ready to give up and let go of some $$$ to the mechanic when I decided to try this thing. i remember when my car was under warranty and same thing happened, my car was at the dealer for quite a while and they did all sorts of tests and ended up replacing components, roll bar or something. when any electronics give out, try disconnecting the battery (and give it a charge), it resets some components.

Joe550i

An old or not registered battery (or a wrong amp battery) will cause these problems too. Also a bad IBS sensor will cause this.

Here is the best way to get ride of all charging and active steering gremlins. This is what worked for me after a year of trying this, or trying that.

1. Purchase and install a original BMW battery from the dealer

2. Purchase and install a new IBS sensor (AKA negative battey cable)

3. Take your car to the dealer and have them properly register the battery making sure to tell them to check to see if the battery type and size matches what is registered into the computer, if not, they will need to not only register the new battery, but also code the new battery size and type into the car so the car sends the proper charge to it. If this is not done right, your new battery wont last much longer than a year, because it will either be undercharged or overcharged by the cars smart charging system. Take it from someone who has been there and done that!

4. have them reinitialize active steering angles. They do this on their diagnostics machine.

I never said its going to be cheap, but you knew what you were getting yourself into when you bought a BMW!

motopokep

Actually, I didn't. This is my first luxury car, I drove a 2003 Toyota Celica before, for 3 years, not a single malfunction, just oil and gas. This is my 1st luxury car (04 530i, 125k miles), I been driving it for over 5 years, I've had multiple issues with it from day one, active steering, hydraulic malfunctions, leaking coolant, deteriorated bushing, control arm, air bag sensor, trunk not opening (cut wires with all the opneing and shutting over the years), navigation not working, audio cd continuing to play when the car would be off, dead battery, dead motor starter, door not opening...at all....

turns out the more you pay for a car, the more problems you have with it. should be the other way around.

on the other hand, love this car, looks great, handles great, it can take a beating with all the hard driving i'm doing, plus this car taught me to be an amateur mechanic.

Shlooky

I too have the active steering problem appear right after I took the car for emissions test. The car freaked out, gave me all sorts of codes, they said that is normal since the car was put on a dyno.

The errors did clear, drove it for three days and now the active steering warning came back, so I am going to try to reset it and see what happens. I think my battery is still good, but I can recharge it tonight and see. (I have a battery charger and will leave it at the lowest setting)

Thanks guys for the tips.

Shlooky

Just did the active steering reset and it works fine now, error gone. Thanks

SilberGrauE60

Actually, I just changed my battery DIY, and I did not have to crank the steering wheel to the stops in both directions. Just backed out of the drive using a little steering in each direction. Shut it down and restarted. System reset fine. No issues. All the iDrive warning said was, "Shut down and restart when safe to reset Active Steering."