11earl

The steering wheel in my '06 530xiT has developed a scratchy sound/feel when turning both left and right.

Has anyone else experienced this, and if so, was there a fix?

Thanks.

MacSid

Mine gives out a barely-audible rasping around the dead-straight position too, but I figure this is normal. My E39 did it too. That said, I am the only person who hears it - it's almost felt rather than heard. I'd say if your passengers can hear the sound, there meay be something in there that you may want to have looked at.

11earl

Rasping - that's a good way to put it. Thx.

11earl

Turns out some bits of plastic had broken off the airbag unit. Dealer replaced unit, raspy noise & feel all gone.

MacSid

Worrisome that bits had broken off the airbag module, but good to hear that it's all fixed now. Did they charge you for the replacement or was it a warranty job?

redondoman

Had the same problem, the whole steering column was replaced under warranty. It took them over a month to get the steering column in. My buddy has a Rolls Phantom and had the same problem. Guess who owns Rolls? I don't think it's a safety hazard just an annoyance.

11earl

Dealer found very small bits of plastic coming off the steering wheel airbag unit. Disassembled, replaced airbag unit, scratchy noise/feeling all gone. Yeeha!

sp100

My 2004 530i with 49000 mls did the same the other night. I took it to dealer and they could not duplicate the noise so nothing was done.I hope it never happens again. I have less than 100 mls to warranty expiration.

DRANGED

I just found a similar raspy/scratching noise in my steering wheel. I can replicate the noise when I turn the wheel 180 degrees right or left. As the steering wheel passes 90 degrees on its way to 180 degrees, it sounds as though something is inside the airbag assembly is sliding from the bottom to the top, then when the wheel is returned to center, from top to bottom inside the assembly. Sounds as though I may have the same issue. Thanks for the heads up.

Merv the Derv

Yes mine is the same! I mentioned it to my dealer a while back and they said they would either fix it or replace the steering column. I still haven't got round to taking it in. I generally have the music on so don't really hear it.