OK...who knows what this is??

[seewinnerslist]

This sign come on in yellow a few times and wouldnt let me start the car. I messed with the steering wheel, opened the door a few times, took the key in and out, finally it let me go. Now the symbol is Red but I dont have a problem starting the car. Any ideas??
Its a 2006 325I. Sory the pic is a bit blurry. In the middle of the lock is the number 1.

[seewinnerslist]

Yes... it stays on while Im driving.

[Jhunter]

Steering wheel lock? Obviously if you are driving the whell is not locked. Dunno.

[sor]

not only is that photo blurry... it's friggin huge!

[astro43]

I've had the same problem a few times on my 2006 330i. It has always gone away and let me start the car though. Never stays on while driving.

[Zimmy1993]

I was told that is a key-reading issue. It allows you to unlock and drive the car, but there is a malfunction someplace in either the key or the steering lock. Get it checked out soon before it no longer lets you drive.

[White94RX]

issue with the CAS module and/or the ELV steering column.

the column is locked with an electric solenoid. the CAS module controls it. it's about a 50/50 shot between a bad CAS module, and a bad steering column. I've done about 4 steering columns, and about 3 CAS modules, so it can be either or. the car's under warranty, right? take it to the dealer. We've worked on several cars that the thing totally failed, and the car would not start. that's usually the CAS module.

[GIJF430]

Oh crap that happened to me once, and it was some electro-lock thing and wouldn't allow me to start the car. I was pissing mad but I just follwed the directions on the iDrive screen which said to turn the steering wheel and after some hard turning, it started...

[dski69]

It's the steering column lock. It's happened to me a couple of times, all I do is move the steering wheel a little bit and it disappears. It usually happens when I park with the wheels cranked to the left or right. Now I always make sure the wheels are pointing straight ahead when I turn off the ignition.

[subvet1]

It happened to me back in Dec06. The first couple of times it was yellow and it went away after a few seconds. The few time after that it was red and took a few minutes to clear, all the while keeping my car from starting. I took it to the dealership and they had to replace the CAS module. The worst part of that whole experience is that it took almost five days. Good luck and let us know how it goes.

[gfunk]

This problem happened to me a lot..maybe 3 out of every 5 times I tried turning my car on. I finally got the red symbol instead of the usual yellow and my car refused to turn on and held on to my key, so that I couldn't even take my key out of the ignition. It was so bad I had to get my car towed to my dealership in the middle of the night. I took it into the dealer for service and they said it was some sort of computer electrical issue. I got my car back earlier today and they told me that they reprogrammed the computer in my car, and the problem seems to have gone away. And as an added bonus, now my iDrive has become more responsive and has more features and upgraded icons. Btw I have an 06 325i. Hope that helps. My advice is to take it into the dealer and let them deal with it, because for me the problem became more frequent and worse as time went on.

[killcrap]

new software update 27.1.1 should take care of this, previosly we were replacing steering columns.

[UFOGUY]

it would be helpful in all posts if the thread starter would build a signature that showed his/her year/model info.

just my $.02 worth.

my mother always said i was a jerk...

[UFOGUY]

saw your specs later. my fault for always looking at the sig.

good luck.

[bigxjae2687]

its a pokeball!

[callahan1]

The flux capacitor needs serviced.

[Cliffschum58]

issue with the CAS module and/or the ELV steering column.

the column is locked with an electric solenoid. the CAS module controls it. it's about a 50/50 shot between a bad CAS module, and a bad steering column. I've done about 4 steering columns, and about 3 CAS modules, so it can be either or. the car's under warranty, right? take it to the dealer. We've worked on several cars that the thing totally failed, and the car would not start. that's usually the CAS module.

This reply makes good sense to me, as I have both error codes A116 (ELV ECU abruption error) and A112 (ELV ECY HW Steering Lock error). Its only happened a few times, and I can eventually get it started by turning the wheel.. Already had the column replaced under warranty at 30K, but I now have 106K. How difficult is it to replace the CAS module ? Anybody know the cost ? I'm about 2 hours from Atlanta, and looking for a good BMW dealership -- the one in Greenville, SC only fair.

Thanks,

Cliff
2006 330i
106K

[ahmadarifai]

issue with the CAS module and/or the ELV steering column.

the column is locked with an electric solenoid. the CAS module controls it. it's about a 50/50 shot between a bad CAS module, and a bad steering column. I've done about 4 steering columns, and about 3 CAS modules, so it can be either or. the car's under warranty, right? take it to the dealer. We've worked on several cars that the thing totally failed, and the car would not start. that's usually the CAS module.

Hello,

most people say it is the ELV lock but mine seem to be different, i get the Red ELV error right away and rarely the amber one. tried CAS Update, new battery with ELV emulator and counter reset nothing seems to work. the error comes after driving a few minutes and sometimes after half an hour.

seems weird but the error only comes after parking in the sun long time on a hot day. at night when cold the error rarely comes.

my question sir, could this be a faulty CAS Unit or anything else can cause this?


Error Codes: A0AF CAS: Processor (first error that comes out)
A0AA CAS: control Unit fault

the below two come out after few days or hours

A11A CAS: ELV Fault
A11E CAS: ELV Fault

Your kind help is much appreciated

[Thaniel]

Perhaps attached PDF is helpful. Error 24 is the red and Error 25 is the yellow.

Red
Electric steering lock (ELV) faulty. ELV is no longer released after turning off engine. Engine cannot be started. Do not turn off if engine is running.

Yellow
The "electric steering lock" ELV blocks the engine start function. Move steering wheel so that engine can be started.

Thaniel