I had to disconnect my steering rack when I dropped the subframe to pull the engine on my 2009 Clubman S. I'm reassembling the car now and am having some electrical gremlins. I'm getting a bunch of Steering Angle Sensor error codes, so thought I'd pull the lower steering column cover to make sure all the wires are intact. I also had a long-time Footwell Module error codes so I sent the module off to be repaired.

While removing the airbag to pull the wheel I noticed that now the steering lock does not engage. Is the steering wheel lock controlled by the footwell module, or do I have a second problem to find?

 

You didn't need to drop the frame to remove the engine.....the angle sensor need to reset

 

Would the angle sensor being out of calibration disable the steering lock?

How do I reset the angle sensor? I have software that I think can do the reset (Autoenginuity with the Mini package and the Elite LAUNCH BMW/Mini tool).

Thanks in advance for any suggestions!

 

If the steering wheel was rotated while being disconnected, the steering angle sensor will be off. Either disconnect the rack, turn the steering wheel, and reconnect, or get the sensor reset. The sensor reset will require access to INPA(?) or a trip to the dealer.

The angle sensor will cause all sorts of wonky things to happen. The car uses the steering angle sensor to drive the rack motor.

 

When connecting the scanner it will tell you to rotate the wheel until it's ------0------ centered and connect the lower shaft back to the rack.......
Hope this helps you...... went through situation when I replace a different subframe and rack......

 

Thanks for the helpful comments. I've been wrenching on cars for about 30 years, but most of my experience is with less computer-controlled varieties.

In the case of the steering angle sensor, do I always need to disconnect the steering rack to reset? Can some software reset the current value to "0" without adjustment to the steering wheel, as opposed to less-advanced software that only reads the angle and tells you when you are back to "0"?

In my case I did move the steering when it was disconnected, primarily to make sure it was centered on the rack and had not been knocked a full turn during all the work.