Went to the super and turned off the engine. Returned and no power
assist to the steering. After two days of a really great upper body work
out, I am frustrated. ( approx 200 miles)

Checked the fuses..OK. Can't take it to the dealer ( 27K miles on the clock) until
I return from a biz trip.

Anybody out there had the same failure ?

 

>>
>>Went to the super and turned off the engine. Returned and no power
>>assist to the steering. After two days of a really great upper body work
>>out, I am frustrated. ( approx 200 miles)
>>
>>Checked the fuses..OK. Can't take it to the dealer ( 27K miles on the clock) until
>>I return from a biz trip.
>>
>>Anybody out there had the same failure ?


No problems here. Could be a failure of the electric power steering motor. You could also have a leaky steering rack assembly. Have you checked the power steering fluid level?

 

Fuse, fluid etc. all fine. What a ***** this is !! Glad it is covered
under warrantee.

 

Could be that the fan has picked up some trash and is jammed.

 

Do not understand your connection of a clogged fan to
no power assist ? Do I have something wrong ?

 

>>
>>Do not understand your connection of a clogged fan to
>>no power assist ? Do I have something wrong ?

There isn't really a connection. I'm sure Nick was referring to the power steering cooling fan, not the main engine cooling fan.

But even if the p/s cooling fan was jammed up/inoperative, I would expect the power steering to work just fine except perhaps for some dropouts when the pump got really hot (like lots of low-speed high-effort turning movements on a really really hot day) but I would also expect pump function to return once the pump cooled down.

From your indication that the fluid is full it sounds like you might just have a dead p/s pump. I suppose you don't hear its normal happy whining sound when you turn the wheel?

If you *do* still hear the pump whining, then I'd suspect blown seals or another problem with the steering rack. Should be safe to drive as you've found out, just takes some extra effort. In the meantime, enjoy your improved upper-body workout :smile:

Now you know why cars from the '40s before power steering had such huge steering wheels :smile:

 

There have been many posts on power steering pump failures. *Seems* to be more common on the S.

 

Just lost ps as well. Fortunately there was no car in the on coming lane when I took the turn where the ps conked out. Quite a dramatic increase in resistance. Drove directly to the dealer and left it with them. I'll see what service has to say on Monday. :evil:

 

If this is really happening so frequently, it could be caused by a design or manufacturing problem as opposed to random component failures.

Since it clearly affects safety, I hope some of you who are having this problem will take the time to report your incidents to NHTSA. They'll investigate the matter if enough people contact them about this. Don't just leave it to BMW!

 

I had mine fail about two months ago. Dealer replaced it under warranty, also had mini roadside pick it up cause dealer is 1.5 hours away and I didn't feel like driving it there. They said that they replaced the power steering pump, it was falty.