Five problems related to power steering light on have been reported for the 2004 BMW Z4. The most recently reported issues are listed below.
Tl- the contact owns a 2004 BMW Z4 roadstar 2. 5i. The contact confirmed the contact was about to drive the vehicle, when the steering wheel warning light illuminated and seized. The vehicle can restart but can not be driven. The vehicle has not be taken to the dealer to be diagnosed and repaired. The manufacturer was not notified. The approximate failure mileage was 140352. Jo.
While driving the steering light comes on and the steering locks in place. When u try to force it the car stalls out and the steering stays locked . . Extremely dangerous!!!.
The car steering "sticks" at highway speeds. It becomes a pain for keeping the car in the lane. It is as if the power steering for fine adjustment turning quit working. The car may be tracking straight, all is fine until a slight drift right or left. To adjust the car takes considerable effort making fine steering nearly impossible. When alert and no other cars on the road, not a problem. With moderately heavy beltway traffic moving at high speed and must stay in lane, it can get frightening. The problem is worse when it is warm out, but appears intermittent. When severe, it is highly dangerous. It requires a lot of concentration, any lapse in concentration could be disastrous. There is no indication of a problem from the power steering warning indication light. I had a 4 wheel alignment, balancing and tire rotation performed at 105,000 miles. The car seemed to run true then, but it may have first happened as early as 112,000 miles, but barely noticeable. It has become pronounced enough at 115,000 miles to make a complaint. I checked the websites and found many other owners experiencing the same issue and nothing anyone can find anything wrong to fix it. Realignments don't fix the problem. Ultimately, extremely expensive repair suggestions like "replace the entire steering column for $3000" are made. This is totally unacceptable. To be honest, it feels more like an issue with the power steering fine steering ability to me and shouldn't require replacement of all steering linkage components. It is a safety issue and BMW should issue a recall to fix all cars with this problem.
The power steering becomes "sticky" in wam weather. There is no problem with the steering in cool weather. I keep the car in covered parking at most times making the steering only slightly sticky although enough to make freeway driving a contant state of over-correction to keep the car in a lane. On one occaision I left the car parked in full sunshine on a 100 degree day and the power steering did not work at all at highway speed making the car unsafe to drive.
On days over 75 degrees f, during highway driving, if I turn the steering wheel slightly and release it, steering does not return to top dead center. Instead, the Z4 continues to turn on it's own until I steer the car back to a straight line. The steering wheel does not return to the straight-ahead position when I release it. A great deal of strength is required to steer at all when this happens. Power assist does not seem to work over 75f and the steering feel is notchy. On cool days, the steering is fine. This steering failure has been going on for several years, it is getting worse and is no longer safe. The dealer is not helpful. It is a us car and I live in canada. I thought you would want to know because there is a lot of discussion about this in forums. The cars are not safe to drive on hot days. Interim solution don't drive my Z4 roadster on hot days?! so much for the ultimate driving machine.