Steering not self centering

[TedStriker]

Hi,

I know this has been discussed a few times but there doesn't seem to be a solid answer on it as some say their car is the same and other say it centres properly. I have a 2018 Rex with 104k miles on the clock. Only had it a few months and it's my first i3. The steering doesn't self centre all the way, it just feels 'stiff'. It will get to within 10 or 20 degrees of centre then stay there. If I'm driving down a straight road I can turn left or right a bit and the car will just keep turning. Same in both directions. Power steering seems to be working ok as turning the wheel when stationary is certainly assisted, but it gets tiring driving long distances as making small movements to keep in lane seem to take more effort than I've noticed in any other cars. It's like it sticks wherever you leave it.

I can't believe this is by design - with any other car you can pretty much steer with your fingertips but not my i3.

Any ideas/experiences?

Thanks!
Ted

 

[mojo]

I think there may be two factors in play here: one is the normal "feel" of the i3's steering - which is definitely unusual around the centre point of the steering travel. It feels as though there is a highly-assisted central area, and then the steering weights up a little on either side. It feels strange, and for me it took a while to get used to, because it feels like you have to be making constant corrections, when in reality you don't.

The other factor is the stiffness - that sounds like a possible fault with the car. I can vaguely recall that on some cars there could be a failure in the top strut mounts that can cause issues with the steering. If it were mine, I would take it to a garage with i3 experience for investigation, as they should be familiar with what the steering should feel like when working correctly.

 

[TedStriker]

Thanks for the reply.

For me it's almost the opposite of what you are describing - the steering feels heavy at the centre point when it should be at its lightest. I do quite a lot of motorway miles and this is when I really notice it. No road is perfectly straight so in any car you are constantly making tiny adjustments to stay within a lane. In the i3, these tiny movements are harder than I feel they should be. It gets tiring, ony small movements and it's not really hard to move the wheel but noticeably harder than any other car I've driven, including those without power steering.

That's an interesting point about the top mounts. I'm actually doing a suspension refresh soon with all new shocks and top mounts/bearings. I'm pretty advanced in home 'tinkering' so will be doing the suspension myself - I guess it's entirely possible the bearings have seized up and have enough drag to stop the self centering. We shall see...

How does yours feel? Does it fully self centre?

Thanks!

 

[mojo]

I didn't comment on that bit because... I can't remember! I'll be in the car tomorrow, so I'll try to remember to check. I think it must, because every car I've ever driven has - but I have never gone out of my way to check on the i3 specifically.

 

[alohart]

For me it's almost the opposite of what you are describing - the steering feels heavy at the centre point when it should be at its lightest. I do quite a lot of motorway miles and this is when I really notice it. No road is perfectly straight so in any car you are constantly making tiny adjustments to stay within a lane. In the i3, these tiny movements are harder than I feel they should be. It gets tiring, ony small movements and it's not really hard to move the wheel but noticeably harder than any other car I've driven, including those without power steering.

Your description applies perfectly to our former 2014 i3 that we bought new. I described the steering as having stiction at the straight ahead position such that when slight adjustments were needed to keep driving straight ahead, they weren't as easy to make as in other cars. It's almost as if I subconsciously wanted to turn the steering wheel slightly but nothing happened, so I applied more force until suddenly the steering wheel turned … more than necessary. I felt like our i3 was zig-zagging down the highway.

However, our former 2019 and and current 2021 i3's don't behave that way at all. All 3 were BEV's with the 120 Ah i3's weighing maybe 200 pounds more than our 2014 i3, so I doubt that additional weight explains the improvement. I didn't notice any improvement in our 2014 i3 when more than 200 pounds of passengers were on board. The 120 Ah BEV front springs and rear shock absorbers were different from those on the 60 Ah BEV, so that could be part of the explanation. I don't know whether the factory alignment specs changed.

 

[TedStriker]

Yep, stiction is the exact word I'd use. On the face of it it's not 'stiff', just seems to like staying in position more than it should. As you say you had it from new, I'm doubting it's going to be the top mounts in my case, but I'll be swapping them out anyway. At 104k miles they're likely to have significant wear, and I'm replacing the shocks all round anyway.

I've heard of software updates that have cured some steering problems for some people but I think that's more an intermittent complete loss of power assistance, not this permanent stickiness. According to ISTA mine is on the factory i-step from when it was built in 11/2018. Probably worth an update just in case.

For me it's an annoyance, but my partner refuses to drive it on the motorway as it's so difficult to keep in a lane. That's a shame as she loves it other than that.

Watch this space...

 

[Dutchi3]

Due to the small and wide wheelbase and narrow tires (for a standard i3) the stability at highway speeds leaves a lot to be desired. Especially when it is windy or lots of semi's around. I used to drive stretches of 56 highway miles for years, but never got used to this behavior and I always found it a bit tiring. The car is not meant for long stretches anyway, but it is nimble and quick in city traffic. The later models are improved in handling as I understand. Tires may have an influence on the behavior, too.

 

[Whereitis]

Hi,

I know this has been discussed a few times but there doesn't seem to be a solid answer on it as some say their car is the same and other say it centres properly. I have a 2018 Rex with 104k miles on the clock. Only had it a few months and it's my first i3. The steering doesn't self centre all the way, it just feels 'stiff'. It will get to within 10 or 20 degrees of centre then stay there. If I'm driving down a straight road I can turn left or right a bit and the car will just keep turning. Same in both directions. Power steering seems to be working ok as turning the wheel when stationary is certainly assisted, but it gets tiring driving long distances as making small movements to keep in lane seem to take more effort than I've noticed in any other cars. It's like it sticks wherever you leave it.

I can't believe this is by design - with any other car you can pretty much steer with your fingertips but not my i3.

Any ideas/experiences?

Thanks!
Ted

I have a '14 Rex with about 55k on it. My first EV, I've only had it a couple months so I'm a newbie too. My steering is OK but it came with all-season 19's on oem pizza pie rims and I noticed it was darty and seemed prone to tramlining on the highway. I found a set of 20" wheels with summer tires on them and the car drives much better now. It also had a bad front left strut bushing that was replaced under warranty (60 days in MA where I bought it) and it's possible that was a factor, but overall the car drives well now. You may want to look at the bushings while they're looking at the steering for you. And consider summer tires for generally better handling.

 

[jfran2]

There was definitely an issue some time back with the steering suddenly turning stiff - not uncontrollable, but definitly not normal. My 2014 had that problem occasionally and like others, when it would happen I could pull over, shut off the car, restart it, and it would be fine. Once enough of us reported that issue, enough pressure was put on BMW to issue a service bulletin and fix it on the affected cars. I don't know if that is your issue or not, but thought I'd mention it!

John Francis
Rolla, MO

 

[TedStriker]

Due to the small and wide wheelbase and narrow tires (for a standard i3) the stability at highway speeds leaves a lot to be desired. Especially when it is windy or lots of semi's around. I used to drive stretches of 56 highway miles for years, but never got used to this behavior and I always found it a bit tiring. The car is not meant for long stretches anyway, but it is nimble and quick in city traffic. The later models are improved in handling as I understand. Tires may have an influence on the behavior, too.

Thanks. I'm aware of the tendency to be a little skittish at speed and I'm ok with that. This is different though - at any speed the steering will stay where you leave it for 10 or 20 degrees either side of centred. Mine is a 2018 LCI model. Part numbers suggest there was no change in suspension components pre and post LCI - maybe some alignment values changes though? I'm running on 20 inch wheels with standard size Bridgestone ecopia tyres.

 

[TedStriker]

I have a '14 Rex with about 55k on it. My first EV, I've only had it a couple months so I'm a newbie too. My steering is OK but it came with all-season 19's on oem pizza pie rims and I noticed it was darty and seemed prone to tramlining on the highway. I found a set of 20" wheels with summer tires on them and the car drives much better now. It also had a bad front left strut bushing that was replaced under warranty (60 days in MA where I bought it) and it's possible that was a factor, but overall the car drives well now. You may want to look at the bushings while they're looking at the steering for you. And consider summer tires for generally better handling.

I currently have 20 inch wheels with summer tyres. The strut bushing is interesting though as I'll be chaging thos as soon as the new shocks arrive. I'll post another reply below about testing I did today.

 

[TedStriker]

There was definitely an issue some time back with the steering suddenly turning stiff - not uncontrollable, but definitly not normal. My 2014 had that problem occasionally and like others, when it would happen I could pull over, shut off the car, restart it, and it would be fine. Once enough of us reported that issue, enough pressure was put on BMW to issue a service bulletin and fix it on the affected cars. I don't know if that is your issue or not, but thought I'd mention it!

John Francis
Rolla, MO

Yep I'd heard of that issue and that there was a software fix for it. The problem I have isn't a loss of power steering though, it's permanent stiffness in the steering. Still definitley power assisted but just a bit stiff.

 

[TedStriker]

So... today I jacked the front of the car up and the steering still felt stiff. Both with power steering 'off' and with the car in 'READY' so power assisted. That makes me less inclined to think it's the top mounts as you'd think they'd only go stiff when under load (or maybe not). One thing I did think though is that a dry tie rod end ball joint or hub ball joint could be the culprit. I'll be able to eliminate these when I get the front suspension apart to replace the shocks.

Will post back when I have any more testing result but in the mean time feel free to keep suggesting!

Thanks!

 

[alohart]

Part numbers suggest there was no change in suspension components pre and post LCI - maybe some alignment values changes though?

Attached is a chart prepared by Wisely Automotive, a knowledgeable i3 shop in the U.K. It does show some suspension parts number changes over the years which could be part of the explanation for the more planted handling of LCI i3's compared with pre-LCI i3's.

 

[TedStriker]

Attached is a chart prepared by Wisely Automotive, a knowledgeable i3 shop in the U.K. It does show some suspension parts number changes over the years which could be part of the explanation for the more planted handling of LCI i3's compared with pre-LCI i3's.

View attachment 1362

I saw that video and it's actually the one I used to determine that there were no part number changes pre/post LCI. Mine's a 94Ah Rex and part numbers don't change for that pre/post.

 

[alohart]

I saw that video and it's actually the one I used to determine that there were no part number changes pre/post LCI. Mine's a 94Ah Rex and part numbers don't change for that pre/post.

True. Unfortunately with no 120 Ah REx sold in Europe, there's no suspension part numbers entry to determine whether its suspension parts were updated. These parts were updated in a 120 Ah BEV compared with a 94 Ah BEV. Maybe 2019 rather than the LCI year of 2018 was when highway stability improved.

 

[TedStriker]

Latest update - jacked up the front of the car and popped the tie rod ends out. Steering still feels sticky. By making very small movements on the steering wheel I've eliminated the steering column as the problem as it moves freely until the very slight free play in the rack universal joint is taken up.

Next step - update the EPS software. It's currently on the original firmware from when the car was produced in July 2018. Not going to replace the shocks now as I'll need an alignment after that and also if I have to replace the steering rack so will do both together if it turns out to be a stiff rack. Let's see...

 

[JohnKelly]

Lowering springs and wheel spacers help the i3 feel more stable and steer more normally, from my experience. Many others have said the same. My 2015 Rex has been lowered for three years, which made a difference, but adding the spacers recently made it even better. Just picked up a 2020 BEV with only 17,000 miles on it. The steering is better, but I'm going to lower it and add spacers to it as well.

 

[TedStriker]

All modules (inc EPS) updated to 2024 firmware, no change in steering. Replacement rack time I think. According to BMW you have to drop the front axle, which looks like a huge job. The rack is quite visible below the frunk so I'm hoping it's not as drastic as BMW say!

 

[alohart]

All modules (inc EPS) updated to 2024 firmware, no change in steering. Replacement rack time I think. According to BMW you have to drop the front axle, which looks like a huge job. The rack is quite visible below the frunk so I'm hoping it's not as drastic as BMW say!

Have you driven another LCI i3 to compare its steering feel with your i3? Might be worth doing before spending any more time and money.