drjochen

Finally, after 3 trouble free months in my new car I had the first real problem. I am impressed that I had 3 trouble free months and was almost getting used to a perfectly working car.....I should have known better!!!

OK, so I drove a 90 degree turn and suddenly - going straight again - my steering wheel was tilted about 45 degrees to the RIGHT. The message "Active steering. When possible, please stop and restart the engine to reinitialize active steering" came. I drove straight and the steering wheel slowly became straight again - and all that in rush hour traffic... It was hard to steer staright with thr wheel changing orientation. Totally wierd feeling.

I pulled over, restarted the engine, the message is gone (of course...), but the steering wheel is now tilted ~ 10 degrees to the LEFT!

The IDrive picture is attached.

dlevi67

This sounds like living dangerously!

Have you tried re-setting the active steering? Turn the engine on, then - from a standstill - turn full lock right, then full lock left. This is supposed to re-initialise the AS (at least - so it says in the manual!)

HTH

D

drjochen

It felt really wierd, driving straight with a steering wheel that changes ist angle.
I want through my manual, doesn't say anything about the procedure, but I tried it anyway. Its still off. Maybe it will go away over night...

bmw4life

tow it to the dealership

drjochen

This morning, the warning was "upgraded" to an active steering malfunction.
The steering wheel is still crooked, but its almost comical. Every time I make a 90 degree or so turn, the wheel is crooked in a different way.

doug_999

Your SZL (steering angle sensor) has gone out. Happened to me about three weeks ago. Very cool when the wheel is turned and you are driving straight (even though it fixes itself quickly). Get your car into the shop and have the sensor fixed (they fix them now with a new optical lens rather than replace them). Also note that the error will go away on the trip to the dealer - but keep going cause it will return - trust me, this happened to me too!

kmslo530i

Unfortunately, this is happening to manyl new E60s. I took my car in for this exact issue on July 10th, and just today, I was able to take my car back because the dealer finally got the part in today. I guess the good news in all this is, as mentioned above, the new kit is easier to install.....as it does not require reprogramming. I should get my car back tomorrow.....I'll let everyone know what I think!! I think it's ridiculous that BMWNA was caught with it's pants down on this issue, and those of us that have already parted with our money to buy our cars were forced to wait (almost 2 months for me) for this part. I hope someone from BMWNA is taking notice here......I'm a happy E60 owner, and love my 550.....but the last two months have seen me do a slow boil on this!! drjochen, if you haven't been to your dealer yet, I suggest you get there ASAP so if they have to order the repair part/kit, you can get that started. I hope you don't have to wait as long as I did!

drjochen

I have an appointment next Tuesday. I guess I make sure I get a BMW loaner and not some box from Enterprise then.........

bankerboyz

I see I am not the only one having this problem. I got the Active Steering Malfunction a couple of days ago while driving home from the office, it went away then came back. I have an appointment at the dealer as soon as they return my X5 which has developed a leak somewhere in the moonroof. I cant seem to win

drjochen

Well, it was the steering wheel sensor.
But now the active steering feels less well defined at center.
Its almost like it has 5 degrees or so of freedom where you can turn the wheel and nothing happens.
Feels almost like a Lexus steering now, but only around the center point. The rest is perfectly fine...