Steering wheel tilt stopped working.. only wheel
 

Stupid question, but is there a plug under the dash for the tilt steering wheel?

I only noticed it a week ago only because the wheel is stuck in the down position, and usually went up when I shut off the car. It isn't a big deal as is.. but I'm thinking I might have left a plug disconnected when I was working on it a month or so ago. It's just too cold to take it apart.

I did a search, and a lot seemed like it was other problems that related to complete loss of power seats etc, but everything works fine. Also someone mentioned coding.. which I also did some.. but didn't touch anything not listed. I'm a bit confused, was hoping I didn't connect something. (Another post mentioned pre lci and a plug under the CIC.. but I didn't even go in there).

I would first check the fuses for the steering tilt. If that doesn't work try this DIY (Its for a 7 series but the columns might be similar): Steering column up and down DIY fix. - Bimmerfest - BMW Forums

Very cool... no, I have no sound at all, which is why I thought I forgot to plug something in... from what I recall there was only 2 plugs under the driver's side kick panel, one for the light.. and... another I don't know. I am thinking in the back of my mind I forgot to plug in that one. Although it would be unusual for me when I put things back together. I was looking at the fuse diagram in my trunk.. and it wasn't very apparent to me which might be for the tilt steering. Of the other posts I've read I thought it was one fuse for the power seats and the tilt.. which my power seats do work so I thought it was not a fuse. When it ever gets warm enough I'll pop open the dash again to check, but these temps have finally gone brutal and winter is here a month late.. haha

I found a fuse.. 88 in the trunk that said steering column adjustment.. going to check after work :)

I got a bit depressed... when I popped open the trunk and it didn't have a blown fuse. I also realize the diagram I got was not 100% the same.. so it's probably for the wrong model.

Does anyone have an E60 "translated" fuse diagram? This is what I got... ie instead of the pictures that can be at best vague, it was text for the exact fuse purpose.

Did you do anything behind the center console? I know there's a few cables behind the radio,
DSC etc. One of which has a cable that facilitates communication to your tilt steering.

No, I didn't at all.. I saw the post about the plug there. I figured out I think the diagram I found was pre lci. I'll have to wait until it gets warmer and open under the dash again to check.. And get a multimeter and quickly go through the entire set of fuses..

Pls tell ME u resolve The problem
 

I have the same problem, u resolve them? Tks

Does anyone know which pins you need to jump/short to manually kick on the motor? THere's a 4-pin plug and then the 2 or 3 pin plug.

• I can't seem to get a reading on my voltometer while trying to push the steering tilt switch (naturally) - I've replaced my steering tilt motor with one I know works and it's not the issue.
• My steering column looks good, and the construction is nothing like the E39 where there's some clip you can bang on to free it up (It's a solid and thick end in fact).
• When I push tilt direction on the switch I hear an electronic noise somewhere behind the center console (but its not the motor, it's like the sound you hear whenever you try to use something electronic that you can't use while the cars off, and it like clicks off something...very wierd).
• My seat memory works, both seats adjust. I've pulled the front cover off of my driver's seat and everything looks right - all plugs are intact and plugged in.
• I did a CIC retrofit but I ensured my cables were all secure going to the SZM. I can try checking if the pins inside of the connectors are somehow loose - I'll try this when I make my custom GPS cable.
• My car was missing many fuses - including the second steering wheel controls fuse under the glove box and so I bought a ton of fuses and added them all, putting the proper one in for the fuel pump relay too; that fixed nothing and no fuses were blown anyways.. I'm not seeing a fuse in the trunk for the power steering, only for the SZM - fuse 88 - which is 30amps and its not blown. I'm trying to decipher between the pre-and-post 9/05 fuse diagrams, and naturally even when it says pre 09/2005 I'm seeing some diagrams list fuse 87 as 20 amps, some say its not used, some say 89 is 10, some say 89 is 15, some say 89 is 5.....The fuse diagram is so shady with these cars lmao. I might have increased my fuel pump relay in the glove box from 15 to 20 and it wasn't actually right to do so (but the diagram I used said so, as well as that I was missing fuses.. I'll maybe attach a picture to show what I mean). Anyways, pretty sure I have my fuse situation sorted at this point.

The entire situation is quite frustrating because the damn steering wheel is stuck up high like I'm a grandpa driving a bus, I usually have it all the way down and set slightly in (telescoped back) in any car, with my seat bottom lowered all the way evenly, the seat back up straight and down, and seat entirely positioned as far from the steering wheel as possible; it's very uncomfortable to position it how I like with the steering wheel as it is.

I know it's cheap enough to replace the column these days, but I'd rather not go through the trouble - it was ridiculously tough enough to swap the motor out on my automatic with that brake pedal mounting bracket getting in the way (had to buy special torx keys with a long run on them to the farthest back top bolt). I've seen a few posts where someone has manually kicked on the motor to temporarily adjust the steering wheel permanently but I dont want to damage anything trying to guess what combination of wires to jump - was hoping somebody maybe knew exactly what wires/pins to jump/short.

I was also thinking about trying to default code the SZM, as it might very well be a replacement (my kombi was a replacement that was not coded, has a tamper flag and I"m waiting for my r270+ programmer to virginize it and correct the issue), and the last owner(s) seem to have tried to do some things and went about it entirely wrong. Getting into the world of retrofitting and coding has clued me into the car's situation. I'm trying to restore the car, and this is one of the last few t hings that's not working - would really love to see the steering wheel move up and down automatically when turning off/on the car.

If anyone knows how to go about kicking the motor on manually, I'd certainly be interested to know - thanks!

Are you using ISTA D/P to do the troubleshooting and programming?