[E92_William]

Ohh I see what you mean. When I searched up boot I found something which in retrospect seems to go by the steering column in the dash. I thought it covered the joint indeed. So this is quite common then, interesting. I guess the only realistic way is replacing it or greasing it like you did.

I'm actually going to have a look at it in my car and see what shape it's in, no high hopes. I suppose lithium grease could hold up well there but maybe there's something that would lubricate better for it and keep dirt off?

[mifesto]

Reporting in, assumed 335d has extra heavy steering then petrol e90(had 335xi few years ago). I cleaned steering ujoints w penetrating oil and sprayed some ATF for good measure. Took it for a drive and i was shocked w difference. Im sure atf will dryout/washout but for now it feels fantastic. I will be injecting ujoint connections w silicone grease next.

[nky]

Originally Posted by leif20

2006 330i with 208k km or 130k miles.

I recently encountered this problem and figured it would be worth greasing the shaft before undoing bolts in the steering system. I didnt have any play or dead spots or whining from the pump so i figured it was the stiff and sticky u-joint. The replacement shafts are pretty cheap on ebay ($50) but i didn't want to mess around with that if cleaning/greasing might tune it up for a bit. I lifted and supported the front of the car so I could move the wheels freely. Wheel removal is not required for this job.

To access the U-Joints I removed:
Air intake (2 torx screws, t-20)
Airbox (2 10mm hex bolts, loosen clamp on intake boot, unplug sensor)
Intake Boot to Throttle (loosen clamp)
Power steering reservoir (2 10mm bolts, move out of the way)





With all these removed there is just enough room for a normal sized spray can and straw to be placed right beside the joint to allow for targeted spraying.

I then had a pretty good view of the U-Joints. Wow there was a lot of grime on the lower one, we get some pretty rough winters here in Toronto. I used some WD40 to 'clean' the U-joints first, and then a shop rag to clean off whatever grime I could touch. This loosened it up some, but it wasn't perfect. I then used white lithium grease to liberally coat the joint and turned the wheels to access it from as many angles as I could. This seemed to lubricate it pretty well. I shot a spot of lubricant on the top u-joint as well (behind heater core lines in top right of pic). I cycled the wheel back and forth and it felt great, put the car back on the ground and took it for a drive and it felt normal once again.

I will probably touch this up in the fall with a bit more grease as I'm sure some WD40 that was sprayed is still in there and thinning the grease. I plan to do this once a year, or you can add this to your planned maintenance for replacing the air filter as there pretty much is no downside. If the problem worsens in any way (play/dead spots/etc) i'll be replacing the shaft but this is a zero-cost method as an initial step. Now get back in your car and drive it like it was meant to be driven!

Thanks for the great writeup! I was able to access my u-joint by removing only the airbox. I followed your instructions for cleaning and lubricating the u-joint. Now my steering wheel turns smoothly!