Hi,

I've been unable to find a thread with similar problem so decided to post here.
The car is a 2008 LCI e60 535d with standard steering rack(servotronic, no active steering). The steering rack was rebuilt few months ago but the problem remained.
There is a considerable amount(+- 2cm) of steering wheel play while wheels are straight, both while driving and stationary. The weird part is that it happens only when the car's been driven for about 30 minutes, once everything gets to operational temperatures. While the car ia still cold the steering wheel is very solid as it is supposed to be. The whole steering column was removed and the the steering shaft rebuilt as well, revised U-joints etc.

Any thoughts on this will be appreciated. I believe the steering rack hasn't been properly remanufactured but would it happen only when warm then? Thanks! 🤷‍♂️

 

When they rebuilt the rack did they also replace the inner tie rod and outer tie rod?

 

More likely not, they were probably just checked. Would tie rods behave like that only when warm?

 

Let's approach this from a new angle.

Was the steering wheel play a problem before the rack was built or it became a problem after the rack was built?

 

It was there even before the rack was rebuilt. Maybe I didn't notice it so much due to cold weather and short drives, but it was definitely there. The rack was actually rebuilt because of another problem - metal clunking when turning the wheel quickly left and then right. I thought the play would go away but it didn't. Now after alignment it feels even worse.