Hi all,

Had a wonderful time flying around in my e60 this weekend. Heck, yesterday spent the whole day driving here and there. Anything you need from the store Honey??? :D

Besides the car just drinking gas :blink: , I noticed yesterday the position of the steering wheel. It looks off center to right, not much but maybe a fingers width or 1 inch tilted to the right. Now, most roads have slope and likely slope from left to right (to push water to the shoulder).

Anyone notice this and should I go in for a wheel alignment or some other adjustment? I can't drive a bimmer with the steering wheel off center, just messes with all the pleasure. Maybe its okay with Kia but not a bimmer.

Any help or advice appreciated. I'm going for a drive in my Audi right now a quick comparison.


CVT Benhogan :help:

Do a search, there have been others here with this problem and the dealer was able to resolve it....
At least you GET to drive your 550 ;)

Wow! That sounds serious. You should definitely go and have it checked out because I think other E60 owners have had similar complaints recently. Was it like that when you picked it up 2 weeks ago and you didn't notice, or did it suddenly become that way? Keep us updated.

It is a software issue that requires a mechanical adjustment (I believe it is related to Assisted steering). Bottom line is you aren't nutz; and it's fixable. I just wonder how it got out of adjustment?

Keep enjoying it.

Ray Hull

That's a good point. We ordered 10 days ago, and it seems like it has been forever already. I don't think I can make it until mid-June.

Hi Ray,


Noticed it yesterday. When it comes to cars, I see issues instantly. I'll take it in this week and report on the status. I've had several high speed moments, but haven't hit any big bumps nor median strips. I easily see it being a software issue with active steering.

Regards,

CVT Benhogan :whistle:


I'll post a pic of the wheel later.

Do you mean its turned to the right a little or the whole steering wheel is shifted to the right?

If your intended line is straight while driving, the steering wheel is turned alittle to the right. Imagine the BMW logo as a reference mark. The top of the M (in the logo) points veritically between the 12 and 1 clock positions. Its not quite that bad, so lets say 12 1/2. :whistle:

The whole steering column is fine and not shifted. Now that would be bad. Heck, I'd call BMW assist on Easter Sunday for the one. :P :think: :wow:

Correct me if I'm wrong that some thread on this forum suggested that Active Steering needs to be reset.

Ah ok. Cuz I remember some have reported that the steering wheel column actually not being in the center if you used the two blinker signals as a reference point.

When I took delivery of my 545i with Active Steering, the steering wheel was turned way off center.

The dealer did an alignment and it was better. It is still not perfect, but getting it perfect is impossible.

:geek:

How far off was it? And, about where is it now?

Thanks.


CVT Benhogan

Dealers have tools to align this perfectly, believe me, been there, done that.

Boy! That sucks! :nono:

If I remember correctly, BMW quarantees the front end alignment for the first 1,000 miles then any adjustments you pay for.

I just had the front/rear adjustment done last week to the toon of $229! :o LF, RF & LR were all out -- I have no idea how. :think: I don't ever recall hitting anything and going, "oh s**t"...anyway, if aligned properly the wheel shoud point straight ahead.

Good luck and keep us posted!

Cheers,

p.s. - one week left till the NHL playoffs :wow: :wow:

Why accept anything less? :think: Mine is dead-on...

Any updates on this issue?

Dealer has to fix it or call BMWNA. Steering wheel for car under 100K miles with no curb or pot hole hit should be centered.

Hey joseyu,

Taking it in next Tuesday. Service guy thinks it needs a software fix. Glad I'm not hearing any BS to date on this. Its sucks driving the car with the steering wheel off. Spoils the otherwise great driving experience.

CVT Benhogan

Thanks for the update. I hope that Motorwerk's service department is as good as Irv. :)

My car had and issue with the steering being off centre to the left, took it in for an alignment which was done free of charge (8000miles from you 6 months old). The car was quite a bit out and has not been kerbed. The steering seems to be to the right now but only a little, although I think the road camber has something to do with this as in England most roads fall to the left so you end up steering slightly right to maintain a straight line, still not 100% happy to be honest, could do with driving another E60. I have a print out of the KDS report but am not sure how to read it.

I have this problem too, the wheel slightly off to the right. I appreciate the conversation and info. If anyone has an update, please let us know. Thanks,

Am off to a different dealer this week for the service manager to have a look. After a conversation over the phone it seems that the 5 series is very sensitive to camber so maybe its normal. Does your car pull (follow the road camber) if so you will have to steer a little to the high point of the road to keep the vehicle straight. Anyway will report back what the dealer says.

Is it possible to get the steering wheel to be dead on even with the road camber changes??

I checked my tire pressure and found the left rear low by 1.5 pounds and the other tires off by between 1 and .5 pounds. Once I set the tires to the correct pressure, it did not cure the problem but it helped a lot and makes the problem too insignificant to go to the dealer (at least currently). Maybe it is physcological...who knows. I live in a state with poorly maintained roads.
The FTM monitor I believe is set at a 4 pound threshold and it checks only relative pressure only so it is not advisable to rely on it for best tire pressure compliance.
My guess is that between the active steering (quicker than normal below 75 mph) and the sport package (wide tires), the car is more sensitive to road camber, tire pressure and anything else affecting wheel alignment.

Ohhh, here we go again folks. I have had otons of problems with BMW Alligments and the steering wheels being off center. When these are assembled in Germany, the wheel allignments are not performed on any of the cars. They all come pre set dort off. Most of these cars that you will drive out of the store, will have either a wheel allignment or centered steering wheel problems. I have had 8 BMW's over the past 7 years and almost every one of them had one of these problems.
I have also found that the dealer will NOT do a proper alligment on these cars, only because they don't properly measure, weigh and don't have the right equipment for your car. Hunter Machine is NOT a proper machine for your BMW. The proper equipment is the Beissbarth Machine, which is a German machine and a german software which will make your BMW 110% Perfect. Believe me when i say that. I have experienced that before. I currently have problems with both, (allignment and an off center steering wheel).
The shop that i was using before is no longer in business and they used to charge about $250/allignment, but the car was comming out of an allignment a totaly different vehicle. If anyone knows a shop with a Beissbarth machine in the West Palm Beach Area, please let me know A.S.A.P
Sorry to dissapoint you folks, but this BMW might just be my last one. It really does take all of the pleasure away when driving these cars woth an off centered wheel or a bad allignment. The worst of all, is that the dealers actually make it worse then better by performing allignments on these cars.
Post your thoughts or replies. :cool:

Mine was slightly off centre after having steering column replaced to fix a noise problem ( scraping sound when turning ). I took it back as the noise was still there & I told them about the off centre issue.
It came back with the steering wheel out of alignment, but the other way !. And the noise is still there.
Its booked in again next week. Third time lucky I hope.

When I told a friend that I have active steer he mentioned that another friend took an active steer beemer for a test drive. With the car stationary with the wheels turned he switched off the engine and with it off turned the steering wheel to the straight ahead position. When he switched the engine on again the steering wheel was straight but the wheels were still turned.

This could be total bullshit, urban myth, etc. I am definitely not going to be the one who will be verifying it on my car :nono:

Its not good business on BMW's part.

CVT Benhogan

What is so specific about a BMW alignment (active steering cars aside)?

In the Miata playing with suspension geometry does wonders for the handling and there is a lot of data on the web how to set it up to have oversteer, understeer, sharp turn in, etc. and for real fine tuning of the handling it was always recommended to weigh the car with weights to mimic the driver or driver and passengers being in the car depending on how one usually drives. In my and others' experience any problems were 99% down to operator laziness or ineptitude rather than the machines being used. This was in situations where castor, camber and toe were being adjusted simultaneously and one impacted the other and not a simple steering wheel alignment. I can't believe that if it was such a challenge that BMW would leave it down to the apprentice at the service department rather than set it up at the factory.

--
Przemek Vonau