[rorypuds]

Hello All

A month or so ago I was parking (admittedly dry steering) in a multistory when suddenly as I was winding the steering, it got very heavy and a yellow steering wheel with an exclamation mark came up on the dash.

Just to note - there had been no sounds or signs the power steering was failing, these BMWs have electric motor power steering, it is not variable steering, just power assisted (PAS).

I immediately did a code read which came back with:

STEERING

63F5 - EPS: Reduction, servo power, due to supply voltage
63EC - EPS: Hardware fault, control module

ENGINE

2B07 - DME: Nitrogen-oxide sensor, electric
2B06 - DME: Nitrogen-oxide sensor, lambda linear
2AFB - DME: Nitrogen-oxide sensor, lambda binary

OTHER

A6CF - JBE:AUC Sensor

I've tested the battery and it seems healthy, sits at 12.4v with the car off, and doesn't dip below 11v on start-up and then hovers at 14.85v when running.

I also spoke to a German car specialist and they said it's rare for the electric motor to go at my mileage (72k).

I did some research and there seem to be three options:

Replace with none-OEM steering rack with motor (https://www.eurocarparts.com/p/starl...rack-603111079) = ~£1000.00

Buy a second-hand steering rack with a motor and get it fitted = ~£600.

Ask the garage to send the motor off for refurb (£500 with lifetime warranty), but then the rack has to go in and out of the car twice so they can move the car whilst it's being fixed = ~£1200

And just to complicate things slightly: I was driving over the bank holiday, and after about 250 miles and stopping at some shops, the power steering came back on! Light as a feather! For about 5 minutes, as I was parking up, it went heavy again, and the warning light returned and stayed on.

So I was wondering BMW experts, is there anything I'm missing here? I thought the motor had completely packed up but now I'm unsure as it started working again briefly.

What could cause intermittent power steering issues, and if I need the rack replaced which option would you choose?

[baldgam3r]

I have a similar problem (still not fixed) with 2009 E91 320D auto tourer that still exists. Beginning of last year during heavy rain. Warning came on intermittently and either had no, little or high effect on the steering. Eventually took it to BMW for diagnostics. Couldn't find a problem except a chaffed wire in the wiring loom which they taped up. It still has the problem. But what I have noticed recently, is when parking, if I hard lock the wheel the car either goes heavy or problem is reset for a while. Hard lock sounds noisy. I'm a driver not a mechanic joined Bimmerpost to hopefully find a solution because BMW are clueless. Perhaps it is the steering rack just don't know.

[R3JOY]

Any updates? Did you manage to get it fixed ?

[rorypuds]

Originally Posted by R3JOY

Any updates? Did you manage to get it fixed ?

So after shopping around and getting quotes of £3000+ to get a new BMW rack and motor installed, I went to a local garage and they said they had a trusted company that refurbished (Steering Rack), and they could fit it etc for £1300. It needed to be done for the MOT so I paid up, haven't had any issues since.