acribb

They did fix the cupholder! Tech said they had a 'roundtable' discussion on the fix. I think they pull out the driver cupholder and whittle the plastic down to let the 'flap' sit more vertical rather than at an angle. So far so good (however archaic the fix was).....

Oh, and the pedal delay response is still there as well. I did not see any improvement in that with v13.2 as others have mentioned.

juan

I have been reading through the forum for a while and I think is time to contribute.

I think I have exactly the same problem that acribb describes: I can feel/hear a click near the front right wheel when doing 0 to 40 km/h and moving the steering wheel slightly away from the straight ahead position.

I took the car to the dealer and they checked the whole front axle with no results.

Finally they sent a question to BMW in Germany and they got the following answer from one of their engineers:

"That click is not only normal but characteristic of E60's equiped with AFS (Active Front Steering). The electric motor inside the AFS has a lock mechanism consisting of a spring and a electromagnet. While the motor is moving, the electromagnet is activated and then the lock is open. When the motor stops (or in the event of electric power failure) the electromagnet is deactivated and then the force of the spring closes the lock. Is this opening/closing of the lock what produces the click."

What do you think about this answer?

acribb

Sounds reasonable if it did it to both sides, turning the wheel to the right too. As far as I can tell, it's not affecting the performance of the vehicle, so if others have the same problem too, then I guess I can live with it. Only time will tell if it REALLY is a problem.

It sounds like they ran up some service charges in my case for fixing something that wasn't broken for no reason as far as I'm concerned. I'm assuming the dealership get's paid for the labor by someone....

As for the shabby dash vibration job concerning the felt around the instrument cluster, does anyone know where I can get some tools to unscrew the dash. It looks like a star hex and I have a bit that fits into a LONG screw driver, but that doesn't give me the clearance to actually be able to unscrew it. The dash looks like crap and cheap to me now, not like it was when I dropped off the car.......

wassy

I would make the dealer fix their work of art! in fact, if you attempt to mess around with the dash, you will probably get penalized and void your warranty!

What dealership in FL do yo go to? I am in S. FL also.

acribb

I would make the dealer fix their work of art! in fact, if you attempt to mess around with the dash, you will probably get penalized and void your warranty!

What dealership in FL do yo go to? I am in S. FL also.
[/quote]

Tom Bush in Jacksonville, FL. The only BMW dealership in Jax.

alohalc

welcome aboard, juan !

Iceman

Welcome aboard, juan !

tomwid

acribb, have they resolved the click issue? Is the explanation from BMWNA a valid one? It just seems strange that they allowed that noise to run into the cabin if they knew it was there in the frist place. Anyone else notice this? I just noticed this and it's driving me crazy.

acribb

I hate to say this, but after three times in for service and having an area rep guy come in and look at, they say it is 'normal'. Something about that it's normal for the steering mechanism to sound that way. They took my whole front end apart twice trying to locate the sound. As mentioned earlier they chalked it up to a right front control arm being faulty on the first visit, replaced one (why I don't know, maybe to charge up a bill), the next visit told me the front end bumper was loose and they had to 'tighten some screws', then, the third time I get the explanation from an area rep in the southeast (Eric Luchsinger) that it's normal. I don't know. I just gave up.

Maybe it's normal, maybe it's not - no way to tell. It's certainly doesn't SOUND normal. However, it's not affecting the car negatively in any way, it's just annoying to hear from a car that costs this much... Let me know how your service visit turns out. Honestly, I feel that a new Lexus GS300 would have been a better car for me. I personally think it's more solid and better built - a car without rattles and creaks and creaky brakes, and clicking steering, right out of the box.....It's funny - I drove a friend's old Lexus GS300 with 75K on it, and the steering felt more solid than my 2004 530 sport (I can feel the engine and the road through my steering wheel) with less than 24K on it! I'd trade it in if I wouldn't be underwater with this car (actually i'd trade it in regardless if my wife wasn't in the way of doing so)....It's just not worth it for a few more years.

tomwid

I feel your pain. But if it wasn't for me "looking" for sounds I probably wouldn't have noticed it. The sound is very slight, but it's there nonetheless. I agree, a 60K+ car shouldn't make these noises. We expect solid, silent, perfect running machines for these premiums.

I'm going to avoid going to the dealer, sounds like the sound is normal for E60s. I'm willing to bet that a lot of forum members have this click and don't even notice it. I can't hear it at all w/ the radio on.

On the other hand, if we don't complain about it BMW won't do squat. So maybe I should report it and see what they say.

About the Lexus... Noooo don't go to the dark side.