Good afternoon,
New to Mini's & to the Forum.
I had recently purchased a 2004 S and experienced movement in the steering column from side to side (right to left, left to right) This does not have any effect on the tracking of the car, at least from the road feedback. I first noticed it when I was taking a high speed turn and the column moved in the horizontal plane while the tracking/steering was fine. The column can be moved from side to side while the car is stationary (by gripping the steering wheel and moving it)
I have done all kinds of searches here and on the internet and haven't come up with any ideas yet.

Thank you in advance for any input/experience that is shared
BZCooperS04

 

Hi, I am also suffering from this problem. It looks like wear in the alloy mount and can not be fixed? What was your solution?

 

If the column can be moved from side to side, I'd check the bolts that holds the assembly to the framing under the dash. From realoem, it looks like there's 4 bolts holding it.

 

Thanks for the reply. I am surprised that more people are not experiencing this problem. I pulled the lower dash off and had a good look. This is what I found and my fix;

The alloy bracket with the four bolts holding it to the car is fixed and does not move. All bolts are tight and there is no adjustment.

There is and alloy sled which sits inside this alloy track which connects to the column. The image above displays this with a criss cross (XX) pattern above the high adjustment helper spring. The sled has worn in the four side corners creating the side to side movement. I assume as the previous owner hopped in and out of the car, the steering wheel was used as a leaver for entry and exit. This slowly wore the corners of the alloy mount away and now it is left with noticeable slack. You notice it in high speed corners, as you turn it get to a leverage point and the steering wheel moves a half inch. Not a good sensation I can tell you!

The reason as it is not fixed firmly to the car is due to the safety feature of a collapsible steering column. In a crash, it must shear a few parts and the alloy sled and attached steering wheel slide several inches forward in this alloy sled away from the driver. It seems a bit over engineered, but I am used to BMW designs.....

So, the proper fix would be a new column and bracket, as the cast alloy would be irreparable.

My fix was to carefully find two steel strips and fit them in each side of the sled. to fill the gap of the worn alloy.

This solved the problem and the column no longer moves from side to side. The negative is that this may adversely impact the collapsible column in a crash, worst case scenario, the sled jams and does not collapse a few inches.

A risk I am happy to take (it's my car and I am working on it).

Then again, that's probably what Ayrton Senna's mechanics thought too..... And we all know how that ended...

Cheers,

 

First Post. I know this is bumping a pretty old thread but its the only reported issue I could find whilst trawling search results.

I am suffering from the side to side movement on the steering column and was looking for an easy way to fix the issue before I explore the possibilities of a new steering column.

Mr-Mini above describes the issue to the 'T' but I cant see any pictures in the post.

Has anyone else experienced this issue and attempted the above shim fix?

Regards
James

 

BUMP

Still haven't got around to fixing the side play in the steering wheel. High speed corners can be a little interesting with the steering wheel moving!

Can anyone show the fix with a picture highlighting the areas that need to be 'shimmed' before I go and rip the dash apart?

Cheers
James