Steering Rack Rattle

[rapter]

Symptom:

1. Noise from Steering rack (see video clip)
2. Car pulls left and right depending on road condition
3. Dead spot on highway from centre
4. Sometimes when driving in a straight line the car will quickly dart to one side of the road proportional to the amount of "steering cluck" as seen in video

Investigation:

1. Removed Passenger and Driver's wheels everything feels solid
2. Confirmed that noise is coming from engine compartment, specifically somewhere from centre of the vehicle.
3. Note that there has been no alignment adjustment made on this vehicle since new.

Dealership appointment booked for this week.

Any comments or ideas on what this may be?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sM4O...ature=youtu.be

[MDORPHN]

May be my computer, but not enough audio for me to hear anything.

Neil

[Artemis]

Get it checked indeed soon by your dealer.

'Thud' sounds as if something's mechanical of the steering equipment is not tight anymore (loosened,unbolted or broken).

Needless to say that for your proper safety, steering must be impeccable at all times.

[IEDEI]

definitely get a good alignment first. all or most of your symptoms, minus the noise which I can't hear in the video, could be due to poor alignment.

[flzrider]

My guess is inner tie rod ball joint.

http://www.ecstuning.com/Search/Site...461/ES2718154/

[Goombeh]

That is surely not something which could come from a poor alignment.

There is definitely something wrong there, hope your warranty is still available as that looks like a dodgy rack to me.

Good luck with it, certainly needs the workshop to look at it, I'd almost not want to drive mine if it was doing that.

Let us know how you go with it.

[Goombeh]

Just watched your video again, couldn't possibly have lost two tie rod ends at the same time. And only one gone wouldn't allow that noise with both wheels fixed.

Bet my left ball it's the rack.

Good luck once again.

[rapter]

Originally Posted by Goombeh

Just watched your video again, couldn't possibly have lost two tie rod ends at the same time. And only one gone wouldn't allow that noise with both wheels fixed.

Bet my left ball it's the rack.

Good luck once again.

With good fortune the problem has come up while the vehicle is still under warrantee. An appointment has been booked Wednesday and I will update the thread following the results.

I would imagine that there are either one of two things happening:

1. Loose/ damage rack (not sure how this is possible mechanically, possibly metal fatigue???)

2. A loose joint in the steering column assembly.

3. Something physically wrong with the pinion itself ?

[Dee Pee]

How many miles are on the car?

[rapter]

Originally Posted by Dee Pee

How many miles are on the car?

Currently 26,000 km - good resale.

[Artemis]

Originally Posted by rapter

Currently 26,000 km - good resale.

Clean records as regards traffic accidents ?

[rapter]

Originally Posted by Artemis

Clean records as regards traffic accidents ?

No accidents for this vehicle. Also not for sale at this time... however this is the list of items already replaced/ modified on the car by BMW:

1. Rear-diff
2. Rear left wheel bearing
3. Specially modified heat shield on driver side right-hand trim due to extreme interior cabin heat
4. Is there more stuff to fix coming????

[Goombeh]

Originally Posted by rapter

No accidents for this vehicle. Also not for sale at this time... however this is the list of items already replaced/ modified on the car by BMW:

1. Rear-diff
2. Rear left wheel bearing
3. Specially modified heat shield on driver side right-hand trim due to extreme interior cabin heat
4. Is there more stuff to fix coming????

WOW, with only 26K!!

Wheel bearing? Something really odd about that car sorry to say.

[rapter]

Originally Posted by Ian///M

WTF? You DD on a rallye circuit?

Reasoning:

1. Rear-diff - Service issues where the dealer (1) did not drain the fluid in the unit, then put the wrong fluid in the unit, then tried to fix the unit with friction modifier. The end result was a diff which was locking up and grinding at both high and low speeds. Small easy problem that snow-balled.

2. Wheel bearing - Took it to the track once... wheel bearing was never the same since (car can pull more g's than the wheel bearing can handle)

3. Excessive heat... I don't know what to tell you... BMW forgot to wrap a pipe feeding the heater box and so the heat going to that unit cooked me. Peal and Stick heat shielding fixed that issue

4. Other issues... don't know what is coming next

Car is driven in the evenings and on the weekends, mostly like an asshole and fast. As a seasoned pilot I avoid all parking lots, bumps and pot holes.

I cannot understand why so many "major" components are failing on the car with such low km's

[rapter]

Confirmed from the dealership this morning that there is premature wear in the steering rack.

A new rack has been order and will be replaced.

[Berra]

What has caused this wear?

[Dackelone]

@Berra

Originally Posted by rapter

Confirmed from the dealership this morning that there is premature wear in the steering rack.

A new rack has been order and will be replaced.

You might want to do a little research, a few early 1M's had bad PS pumps that broke apart internally and threw metal bits into the rack. Only solution was a new rack, PS pump, lines and res. Not a cheap repair COD. Most happened at very low miles/kms and covered under warranty.

Good Luck,
Dackel


See #11...
http://www.1addicts.com/forums/showthread.php?t=760815

http://www.1addicts.com/forums/showthread.php?t=850396

not a 1M but...
http://www.1addicts.com/forums/showthread.php?t=914367

[Artemis]

Originally Posted by Dackelone

You might want to do a little research, a few early 1M's had bad PS pumps that broke apart internally and threw metal bits into the rack. Only solution was a new rack, PS pump, lines and res. Not a cheap repair COD. Most happened at very low miles/kms and covered under warranty.

The "swarf" word (metal shavings inside the power steering pump) sprung to my mind before even checking the link.

@rapter safety first !

[rapter]

Originally Posted by Artemis

The "swarf" word (metal shavings inside the power steering pump) sprung to my mind before even checking the link.

@rapter safety first !

Regarding the power-steering pump. There is a moment of hesitation when the vehicle is first turned on (2-3 seconds max) where the steering is heavier than the normal heavy; following the 2-3 seconds full power-assist is available.

Could this be an indication of "damage or wear" to the pump?

[rapter]

Dealership replaced the rack today and re-aligned the vehicle. The steering is noticeably stiffer that it was a few days ago when I dropped it into the shop.

Good sign there. The alignment also appears to enhance the driving characteristics since i dropped it off. Non of the darting or dead space symptoms noted before are present now. Dealer also checked the PS-res. and found no indication of swarf in the filters.

However,, just like in the video clip above, I still hear the same noisy clucking from side to side when shaking the steering wheel?

Can other 1m owners please replicate the same sound that I am hearing or is it just my car? Can you post some video clips of the same thing I am doing in the video at the beginning of the thread?

Thanks!

[rapter]

Really.... no one has time to check this out for me?

[OrangeCrush]

Originally Posted by rapter

Really.... no one has time to check this out for me?

My car makes that noise so I hope it is normal. My car also goes side to side like you described by I just thought it was tram lining...following the path of sunken road on the crappier roads. Im not sure if is moving to correlate with the "loose spot" in the steering or if the steering wheel moves with the car....I will check on the way home.

An alignment makes a huge difference especially since you havent had one in three years. My bet is that is why your car feels better and not necessarily the new rack.....or, mine is messed up too!