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      08-19-2016, 07:11 AM   #1
Rbozzell
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Exclamation Steering Assistance Malfunction

My 2010 E89 sDrive35i has recently indicated a "steering assistance malfunction" warning and the EPS has been acting erratic (sometimes very heavy, sometimes the wheel vibrates and generally the steering has an inconsistent feel).

The service advisor says the WHOLE steering rack needs to be replaced and that will be $3625 (part is 2800 and labor, including diagnosis is the rest). Apparently the EPS control is integral to the steering rack. The part number is 32 10 6 868 226. The diagnosis says "no communication with the EPS" so this appears to be strictly an electrical issue.

I only have 20,800 miles and this is just out of CPO warranty a few months. I opened a case with BWMNA and they have "declined to assist" as I'm out of warranty (but wouldn't specify any other reason).

Has anyone had this or similar EPS issues? What causes this? I am very mechanically inclined (I have repaired most of my 2002 X5 issues myself), but am reluctant to deal with this as I've seen no write-ups and the part doesn't seem to be readily available online. (I found some pages with a price of $667, but not anyplace I would order from).

Any assistance would be greatly appreciated!
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      08-19-2016, 08:41 AM   #2
airmarc
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Same thing happened to me on my 2010. It only had 15,000 miles on it and it gave the same message, car was unsteerable, had it towed to BMW and they had to replace the entire rack (luckily under warranty). Not sure what caused it, it was not mechanical, was electronic. Good example how our cars are over-engineered......
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      08-19-2016, 09:58 AM   #3
Rbozzell
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Did you have any other electrical issues? I know there was a recall on the battery cable that was addressed, but don't know if there are other related issues. I am hoping like hell this isn't the beginning of a long string of problems.
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      08-19-2016, 06:12 PM   #4
robertd33
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i'd make some noise about it being only 20k... they should still make good on that.
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      08-19-2016, 09:43 PM   #5
Rbozzell
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Yeah - I have complained about both the mileage and the fact that the fail seems to be electronic (so nothing I could have maintained to prevent it) - it doesn't appear to be a "wear and tear" thing, but so far I have gotten a pretty hard "NO". I'm contemplating opening a case with NHTSA.

Last edited by Rbozzell; 08-20-2016 at 07:10 AM..
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      08-21-2016, 10:05 AM   #6
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Having owned multiple BMWs, it has been my experience they always address all issues without question during the warranty period and have made repairs under goodwill after the warranty period if records on the vehicle shows a history of the problem. Having a good dealership and service records helps significantly.

Case in point, my sister's 2009 X3 had repeat visits to the dealer for xDrive malfunction during warranty. She had it again past her warranty (almost into her 6th year). The dealership worked with BMWNA and the repair was completed with her only paying a small portion of the cost with BMWNA absorbing the rest.

While I sympathize with your situation, it's my personal opinion that it is somewhat unreasonable to expect BMW to honor this repair under warranty unless you can demonstrate the issues manafested itself sometime during warranty and the dealership never repaired it appropriately. Though the miles are low, it is beyond the warranty period.
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Last edited by t612; 08-27-2016 at 09:32 PM..
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      08-24-2016, 08:50 AM   #7
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Quote:
Originally Posted by airmarc View Post
... Good example how our cars are over-engineered......
well i would disagree with the over engineering part here. If they were then the sensor or electrical mechanical parts would have been built separately and thus could be replaced individually instead of buying a steering rack for 3000.

I experienced a similar issue recently when my gear shifter lost the ability to change the vehicle to S or up shift in manual mode. the sensors likely would cost pennies to make and a few bucks to purchase but oh no. I had to buy the whole gear shifter and cable at the tune of 500.00
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      08-28-2016, 01:03 PM   #8
Rbozzell
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Quote:
Originally Posted by rking117 View Post
well i would disagree with the over engineering part here.
More like "engineered to cost the customer as much money as possible"!

Quote:
Originally Posted by t612 View Post
While I sympathize with your situation, it's my personal opinion that it is somewhat unreasonable to expect BMW to honor this repair under warranty unless you can demonstrate the issues manafested itself sometime during warranty and the dealership never repaired it appropriately.
"Unreasonable"!?!?! Spoken like someone who works for BMW NA.

I have now spoken to the manager and they are still declining to assist. I will never buy a BMW again and will recommend that my children and friends avoid them due to this issue and a trend that makes me question the value of the BMW brand.

The true cost of a vehicle includes its repairs and maintenance over the reasonable life of it. I have addressed 2 issues my BMW X5 beyond the warranty that I did not request assistance, nor did I consider them BMW's problem to address (even though, again the design was such that ultimately it cost me more money and time than it should have). I was able to repair those issues myself for the cost of parts and a day of work each and never complained most because while they were "known" issues, they were more than 20% beyond both mileage AND year coverage (not that I would have expected assistance with less).

BUT, here is my case:
- BMW has had prior issues with this part (recall on 2012's EPS),
- the issue is not related to improper or lack of maintenance (as agreed by BMW)
- the car is only 4 months out of warranty on a 6 year CPO for which I've only had the car 2 years,
- others have had this issue within warranty
- there are only 21,000 miles on the car,
- they've designed the part such that to fix the issue requires a replacement of a mechanically perfectly good steering rack (cost 2800 for the part at the stealer and best price I can find online is 1700 + core)
- the install requires programing that only a dealer can do,
- I have been a good customer. I have two BMW's, one since 2002 and both are still in my possession.

I believe ultimately this is the reason they declined: that I am not a "good enough" customer because I buy to own for the life of the car rather than cycling through a new lease every 3 years and do a lot of my own maintenance and repairs.

If BMW is designing cars that will fail or cost so much to repair after 6 years with so few miles that they become waste, then quite frankly I want nothing to do with the brand.

Last edited by Rbozzell; 08-28-2016 at 03:19 PM..
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      08-29-2016, 03:44 PM   #9
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Man that sucks. Which dealer did you go to and did you try to reach out to another?

On a different note, once upon a time I was looking into swapping the eps for the hydraulic version from the 1M. It may sound a little/ very crazy but it seems like it can be done. The downside is it'll cost you. The upside is that you should get better steering feel and quicker rack.
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