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nicklindwall View Drop Down
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Points: 3 		Direct Link To This Post Topic: 7 series steering problem
    Posted: 09-October-2003 at 21:50

Hi

I've just purchased a 1995 730i (it's E38 I think), my first BMW.

I've just started experiencing a problem with the power steering, which i'll explain as well as possible:

Basically, when you start the car up (say at the start of the day) the steering is fine and the car drives exremely well.  After about 30 minutes of driving in town at slow speeds the steering gets progressively heavier, and there's a clunking noise that seems to be coming from the front suspension.  There's also a creaking noise when you turn the wheel more than half a revolution whislt driving.

After an hour of city driving, there's lots of heat coming from the front suspension columns.

When the speed increases the problem seems to dissapear.

has anyone experienced anything like this before and if so do you have any idea of what it could be?

i'm having the car looked at tomorrow so i'd appreciate any comments as soon as possible as i'd like to go in with a second opinion.

many thanks in advance.

Nick.

 

 

 

 
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Del64 View Drop Down
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Joined: 16-December-2002
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Points: 420 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: 10-October-2003 at 13:23
If you are looking for information on the 7 series you can also try the following. www.thee32register.co.uk it specialises in 7 series cars of all ages
Regards
Del
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nicklindwall View Drop Down
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Points: 3 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: 10-October-2003 at 13:38

thanks very much Del. i'll see what i can find there.
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Deborah Bowes View Drop Down
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Points: 2 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: 30-December-2003 at 15:12
Originally posted by nicklindwall nicklindwall wrote:

Hi


I've just purchased a 1995 730i (it's E38 I think), my first BMW.


I've just started experiencing a problem with the power steering, which i'll explain as well as possible:


Basically, when you start the car up (say at the start of the day) the steering is fine and the car drives exremely well.  After about 30 minutes of driving in town at slow speeds the steering gets progressively heavier, and there's a clunking noise that seems to be coming from the front suspension.  There's also a creaking noise when you turn the wheel more than half a revolution whislt driving.


After an hour of city driving, there's lots of heat coming from the front suspension columns.


When the speed increases the problem seems to dissapear.


has anyone experienced anything like this before and if so do you have any idea of what it could be?


i'm having the car looked at tomorrow so i'd appreciate any comments as soon as possible as i'd like to go in with a second opinion.


many thanks in advance.


Nick.


 


 


 


 
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Deborah Bowes View Drop Down
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Points: 2 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: 30-December-2003 at 15:16
Dear Nick

        Did any one manage to resolve your problem with your steering? As i have a 730i of the same age which is doing exactly the same!
                 Many thanks
                     Deb
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BOYBIMMERM3 View Drop Down
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Points: 265 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: 30-December-2003 at 18:08
hello, sounds to me like the centre track arm is causing the problem when the steering starts creaking, it is something i have seen on a few 7 series-replacing the centre track arm cured the problem.
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SKEXIS View Drop Down
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Points: 6 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: 01-January-2004 at 11:24
Hello!

Yes, this is almost certainly a front centre strut / drag arm / ball joint issue.

This is a known E38 weak point - essentially the centre strut is ordinarily the first port of call as it consists of so many ball joints; once these dry out / get contaminated they wear quickly, resulting in knocks / noises / creaks from the front end.

This is why the noises get progressively worse as the car warms up (it's a commonly reported problem in stop/start traffic).

The later E38s ddn't have the problem to quite the same extent; the front suspension was reviewed by BMW soon after the first cars started suffering.

The front centre link itself is not too expensive (about £100) and if you have a ball joint splitter then it's a fairly quick job to do yourself; people normally change the two track rod ends at the same time (as they screw into the end of the centre strut).

Hope that's of use,

Andy
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