[Passionata]

Steering spindle,grip the wheel tight and turn left to right slowly if u feel the click it must be the steering spindle ,part no.was referenced by the OP at the beginning of this thread.

[henry418]

Originally Posted by Passionata

You mean the steering column or the spindle?the did changed the spindle on mine,click gone,steering is okay.

Ok exact part they replaced: Intermediate Steering Shaft

After driving more, at high speeds it feels freaking amazing now but low speeds steering still doesn't seem to be right. I will probably be going back next month or so

[nikola]

I see that nobody posted here for a while but i just wanted to provide some information to this matter because I've had the same issue until recently. Popping noises when turning the steering wheel left or right. I took it to the dealer and they fixed the problem. They found the STEERING RACK to be defective and they replaced it along with the power steering gear. No more noise from turning the wheel at all. And all of this was covered under the CPO warranty.

[spacemonkey1112]

Originally Posted by MrDummy

Here is UPDATE Back from Dealers with PAPERWORK...

The Culprit is 32-10-6-777-473 Hydro Steering Gear, tech had to get Puma case # to get it authorized.

Here is comments:
excessive play in input shaft is causing steering wheel play and noise, removed lower steering spindle-no play or binding is detected in steering column or steering spindle. Disconnected tie rod ends and checked steering gear. No play is detected while turning input shaft in or out but found play when moving it up and down. Puma stated to replace hydro steering gear. Replaced added one liter of fluid, performed a 4 wheel alignment and test drove and steering noise/play is now Gone. Note* Drives better than 2011 loaner used for comparison vehicle.

So there ya go guys, I hope this helps out some...

So I've read this thread through and My CPOed 06 325i is now getting the squeeking and clicking issue (this 'ish is ANNOYING!) I would like to ignore it but damn sometimes I enjoy just listening to my I6 instead of the radio for a pleasant drive and this sound is just so bad... I'll put up a recording of it tonight (even my iphone 4's video camera picks up the sounds... that's how loud it is.)

I would like to use this thread as reference but I personally don't know how to go about it; more specifically how to bring up the PUMA# the source of which i found most of this information to get this fix. I don't want them to flame me cause i found my information through this forum (though I know you all are very knowledge about our cars, Im just worried that wont fly with the dealer).

Mr. Dummy, you've contributed a lot to this thread and I gotta say thank you very much. Do you have any tips as to what I should say in order to bring up this issue with my dealership's service manager? Also, if they aren't complying, how can I bring up this PUMA# for my steering issue?

Also, do you recommend that I take off my spacers before bring my car in to the dealership? I know they are not the source of the problem because i've driven at least 5k before this issue came up.

[Passionata]

Originally Posted by spacemonkey1112

So I've read this thread through and My CPOed 06 325i is now getting the squeeking and clicking issue (this 'ish is ANNOYING!) I would like to ignore it but damn sometimes I enjoy just listening to my I6 instead of the radio for a pleasant drive and this sound is just so bad... I'll put up a recording of it tonight (even my iphone 4's video camera picks up the sounds... that's how loud it is.)

I would like to use this thread as reference but I personally don't know how to go about it; more specifically how to bring up the PUMA# the source of which i found most of this information to get this fix. I don't want them to flame me cause i found my information through this forum (though I know you all are very knowledge about our cars, Im just worried that wont fly with the dealer).

Mr. Dummy, you've contributed a lot to this thread and I gotta say thank you very much. Do you have any tips as to what I should say in order to bring up this issue with my dealership's service manager? Also, if they aren't complying, how can I bring up this PUMA# for my steering issue?

Also, do you recommend that I take off my spacers before bring my car in to the dealership? I know they are not the source of the problem because i've driven at least 5k before this issue came up.

I d switch back to factory settings specially if you want to settle under warranty
justmy2cents


George

[spacemonkey1112]

Originally Posted by spacemonkey1112

So I've read this thread through and My CPOed 06 325i is now getting the squeeking and clicking issue (this 'ish is ANNOYING!) I would like to ignore it but damn sometimes I enjoy just listening to my I6 instead of the radio for a pleasant drive and this sound is just so bad... I'll put up a recording of it tonight (even my iphone 4's video camera picks up the sounds... that's how loud it is.)

I would like to use this thread as reference but I personally don't know how to go about it; more specifically how to bring up the PUMA# the source of which i found most of this information to get this fix. I don't want them to flame me cause i found my information through this forum (though I know you all are very knowledge about our cars, Im just worried that wont fly with the dealer).

Mr. Dummy, you've contributed a lot to this thread and I gotta say thank you very much. Do you have any tips as to what I should say in order to bring up this issue with my dealership's service manager? Also, if they aren't complying, how can I bring up this PUMA# for my steering issue?

quick bump for anyone that can help me out with word of advice when dealing with the dealership about this issue?

[mccannable]

Reviving old thread.. Just had my intermediate shaft replaced and the clicking/clunk at low speeds is still present. Also the steering wheel was off 10 degrees to the right. I took it back to dealer for further investigation.

[MrDummy]

Yeah I would have taken it back as well.. good luck

[Fro826]

Ugh. I think I might have this problem. When car is stopped (sitting in garage in park, or at red-light, etc.), if I just jiggle the wheel, tiny movement of about 1" left and right, I hear 1 click/tick when I move wheel to left, and 1 click/tick when I move wheel back to right. I can jiggle wheel back and forth with just super small movement and hear the click each time. I also sometimes get a slight 'shudder' when first starting to turn the wheel while I'm stopped, before I take my foot off brake.

I lifted up right front and removed the wheel and had my wife repeat the steering wheel movement while I looked and listened in the wheel well. I did not see any play in the linkage that goes into the hydro box (it's like a U-joint). I saw no signs of any play at all in that u-joint, but it sure sounded like the sound was coming from the 'box' that the spindle goes in to. That 'box' is the "hydro steering box", which is part of the steering rack, per realoem

I think I'm gonna be sick.

After buying the car a month ago, I just spent $1k and God knows how many hours on DIY preventative fluid changes and maintenance of the cooling system, tranny, diffs and t-case. 1 week later I've got the signs of an actual problem with something I didn't touch and naturally it's a $1k+ part, not something cheap.

[Volasko]

Ok It seems like everyone has the same issue, yet reading this thread there is no definitive answer to what actually fixes it. Is the OP saying it is the input shaft (http://realoem.com/bmw/showparts.do?...16&hg=32&fg=30) or the hydro steering gear (http://realoem.com/bmw/showparts.do?...09&hg=32&fg=10), or both?!?

[Terryk]

I have the same strange tick noise with Fro826
when sitting at garage or red light etc, if I suddenly move the steering wheel left-right for just 1" , I can hear this noise. This strange tick noise does not appear every time I make a slight turn left-right but lets say, if I am waiting at a red light and try to play with my steering wheel 4 times in a row then I will hear this noise only 2 times of 4 tries.
note that in order to hear this noise I have to turn just an inch the steering wheel left & immediately right at one try.

I don't think is something to worry about

[krazysk8er]

definitely annoy , i have visited 2 dealers and wanted them fix this, but seems like they don't think they are so willing to. I will try again as i wasn't able to make the click noise very noticeable on the tile floor inside the bmw building.

dealer did offer to replace intermediate shaft when i take the car back next week, they are giving back it to me for the weekend. but i dont think that will fix the problem like others have said.

any tips of how to talk to the dealers into this?

[damenbrazen]

I just went through the same problem with my 2009 sport wagon. One day coming out of the driveway i heard a loud "pop" and felt a jerk in the steering wheel, as if i had driven over a glass bottle. I even checked the street to see what I ran over, but there was nothing there.

Driving down the freeway later I noticed the car was wandering, and that slight corrections to the steering wheel had no effect on the car's trajectory. There was a looseness to the steering on center as well.

When the car was parked and the ignition off, rocking the steering wheel side to side made a clicking noise coming from the underside of the steering column in the cockpit.

So under the hood I went, pulled the power steering fluid reservoir off and set it aside to get to the lower steering column and the hydro steering gear/rack. I could move the input shaft to the steering gear side to side and get a clunking noise, it felt like more than a few thousandths play. The lower steering column felt okay, but without someone to move the wheel while I was underhood, it was really hard to tell.

Took the car in with the printout of this thread in hand, my service advisor (who I am unfortunately getting to know really well) immediately said "I know what it is, don't worry, we'll fix it." We were both under the impression that it was a bad steering rack because of the play in the input shaft, in fact, he even said it normally took two days for the rack to come in from the factory warehouse.

Forward two days later when I get a call that it was not the steering gear/stering rack after all, but the lower steering column was the culprit. Now the really bad news, the dealership considered the steering column a "wear item" and I would have to pay to replace it, $350 for the part and $90 for labor.


Anger. Disbelief. Cold spasms from the gut, slight sweating. I've had this CPO car for less than a year and it's been in the shop over a month total for many other problems. 52,500 miles. I told him I'd fix the goddamn thing myself, coming down to pick it up right now. I can get the BMW part from my local parts guy for about $220. Looks like an hour job.

I say that a steering column is not a wear item, a wear item is something like a tie rod end, a bushing, brake pads, wipers, and so forth. I say, many many cars owned and worked on myself over many years, steering column parts might go bad at 100k, even then usually only the rag joint (which CAN be considered a wear item but guess what, my car doesn't have one), common sense dictates this is b.s., you know the drill... He advised that I take it up with BMW North America, complain loudly, then check back with him in a few days.

Called BMWNA, spoke to two different idiot kids who had no idea what a steering rack was. "We are not technically trained, sir." Laid on them the whole thing about paying $30,000 for a CPO car that has spent a month total in the shop. Idiot kid replies that he does not have access to service records and that my chances of getting the car fixed are very low because the dealerships are BMWNA's agents and have sole discretion in determining what a wear item is.

i managed not to swear at the idiot.

My service advisor called on Monday to say that BMWNA had investigated my problem and decided to fix it. Got my car back from the shop Thursday. Wandering gone, steering nice and sharp again, but clicking/clunking noise still there. It's quiet enough, the sport exhaust covers the sound up well.

So my car has been in the shop for a month and a week now.

I was warned by many people when I bought this car that it would break down all the time and drive me crazy. Every other time i am at the dealership's service area, there is someone yelling and throwing a fit, threatening lawsuits and spitting mad.

The ultimate driving machine? Ultimate means "last," doesn't it? This is definitely my LAST german driving machine.

So call up BMW NA and complain loudly, and ask to speak to the service manager. For some reason, my service advisor gets all panicky when I want to talk to his boss.