HELP! steering wheel lock won't disengage

[Chinky420]

hey everyone,
i'm new to the forums and recently bought a 96 m44e36 z3 roadster.
unfortunately, within a month of having the car, i have encountered a rather UNIQUE problem, which hopefully ya'll can help with.

i had inadvertantly locked the steering wheel (bumped it as i was getting out). i figured, no big deal, it'll disengage once i get the key in; give it a jiggle or two and it should unlock (in order for the key to turn).

well, i get in, and i'm able to turn the key, turn on the car, but the steering wheel stays locked throughout the entire process.

so i was wondering if there was anyone out there who knew of a similar problem, with a 96 z3 roadster, or possibly on just any of the m44e36 platforms.

i ended up having it towed back to my house, and am currently trying to figure out if the problem is
a) mechanical - do i need to replace the entire steering column (as i've read many e60 drivers had to do when their steering was all messed up)
b) electrical - is there a solenoid or relay that could have burned out which i can replace? i havent found any 'shift lock solenoid' in my bentley service manual research, and everything i have checked has led me to...
c) Anti-theft/EWS II system - as the steering lock is part of the antitheft design, maybe something has gone haywire in my EWS II system, which prevents it from disengaging the steering lock? if this is the case, do ya'll think i'll have to replace the entire EWS system or can i just have it fixed?

to review:
1996 1.9L (M44) Z3 Roadster (E36)
I can start the car
Steering wheel will not unlock
I can drive the car (albeit only back and forth and not turning)
I was driving the car for about a month before this happened
I know both of the previous owners (we're all related) and neither of which are prone to abusing their cars
Current milage is at ~133k miles.


anyone? it would be much appreciated if ya'll had anything for me.
~kwan

[SunzOut]

Lock for sail on ebay

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/BMW-E...281210005r8991

ALso there are different parts for manual or automatic.

[Chinky420]

...but do you know for sure that this is the cause of the problem (or the proper solution)? i don't want to replace the lock with a new one, if it's going to have the same problem happen 2 months down the road.

have you heard of anyone else with this same sort of problem?

[luciano136]

I've read a lot on this forum and I don't recall ever seeing that problem. So, I would say it is not very common. I know that doesn't help you but it might explain the limited responses...

[Chinky420]

:grin: that was what i was afraid of.

but still, expect to see this bumped at least twice more in the next couple of days.....i may get lucky.

[JoshS]

I've never heard of that problem. But we racers have to disable those steering wheel locks, so if you like, I'll talk you through it.

The way the lock works is that a pin is forced up through the steering column from underneath. The pin is at the end of a little hinged flap, and a spring pushes this flap up towards the column. When the key is removed, the flap is freed, and the spring pushes it upwards. So, all you need to do is remove the spring. That way, gravity wins, and the pin never gets pushed upwards into the column.

Removing the spring is not that hard, really. You don't even need to remove the steering column trim. Under the center of the steering column, at the end of the ignition switch, you'll find a rectangular metal piece. Drill a 3/8" hole right smack dab in the middle of it. If you aligned the drill right, a spring will fall out of the hole (or maybe just get wound up on the drill bit). Once you remove the spring, the little flapper that sticks up into the steering column to lock it should be allowed to drop, and your steering will unlock.

Of course, yours is already stuck for some reason, so I can't guarantee that removing the spring will allow the pin to fall out from the steering column. If necessary, I suppose you could try to insert a screw into the flap through your new hole, and then use the screw head to try to pull the flap down.

Good luck!

[Chinky420]

yay, a solution where i get to take a drill to my car.

and do i have to drill INTO the flap,
or do i just have to drill THROUGH it?

this won't mess up my key assembly or trigger anything with my anti theft system?

[JoshS]

It's a purely mechanical change, it won't affect any of the electronics. You'll be drilling through the case, but not through the flap itself. The spring pushes the flap up away from the bottom of the case. Your goal is to get the spring out so that nothing pushes the flap up.

Think of it this way -- this is the same part you'd be replacing if you chose the replacement route. So if this doesn't work, you're in the same boat you'd be in if you hadn't tried it.

[Chinky420]

cool, i'll be drilling later tonite then

any tips on placement?

if nobody answers, i'll assume that i'm drilling in the center of the rectangular metal peice
and i'm assuming that i need to be drilling perpendicularly to the plane of the metal peice (90 degree angle, straight up and down, relative to the surface i'm drilling into).

[JoshS]

See this post:
http://forums.bimmerforums.com/forum...1&postcount=51

As you can see, I drilled in the wrong place the first time. Once I drilled in the center, I found the spring. It was located by that little nub, which is on the moving flap.

[Chinky420]

worked like a charm. took the whole of 10 minutes. thanks for the picture, it really made it easy.

[JoshS]

Great! So the car is driveable again?

[lokijibber]

wow... that is one of the best diagnoses and fixes I've read here yet. Very nice Josh!

[luciano136]

+1

[cngizbleevng]

Very nice. I'd never heard of this particular problem before either, so it's nice to see a simple fix available for it. Thanks Josh.

[Chinky420]

yeah josh, thanks a bunch, it completely solved the problem. gravity FTMFW.

literally it took me less than 10 minutes to fix, 11 minutes total, if you count the two to three minutes it took to vacuum out the metal shavings once i was done. the steering wheel was kinda stuck at first (right after i took out the spring), but as soon as i cleared the wheel to the right, it was then able to go back to the left all the way (locking pin finally dropped outta my way and outta my life).

...and this also solved my other problem: finding a bmw forum where people know what they're talking about.

that's what i call a twofer.
~kwan

[laos815]

nice, i'm having the same problem with my 97 318is. i'm def gonna try this out.

[esoto]

Worked like a charm! Thanks for explaining how to get the steering wheel lock pin out of the picture!

[A ///Monster]

1995 M3, exact same symptoms. I'll be drilling in an hour. I'll post up the results.

Drilled it right in the middle. I think I spent maybe 80 seconds to drill out the base of the spring. Spring dropped out and I can see the pin. Wheel is no longer locked. First time I've ever fixed something by drilling a hole in it.

[Chinky420]

it makes me happy that my FIRST bmw post EVER is still getting bumped 7 months after i first posted it.....and the post is still helping people with this weird one-of-a-kind problem.

awesome.

[IRPancake]

1995 M3, exact same symptoms. I'll be drilling in an hour. I'll post up the results.

Drilled it right in the middle. I think I spent maybe 80 seconds to drill out the base of the spring. Spring dropped out and I can see the pin. Wheel is no longer locked. First time I've ever fixed something by drilling a hole in it.

you dont mess up alot of things do you. work on a rustbucket jeep, you'll learn to drill out alot of things

[avus323i]

I am having the exact same trouble as Chinky420. I drilled the hole and removed the spring, but my steering wheel is still locked!!! FML! When you guys took out the spring did a steel locking pin come out as well? I don't know what to do at this point.

[JoshS]

The thing that the spring was pushing up is an arm that pivots on the right end (towards the key) ... it doesn't have much travel, but towards the left end is a pin that sticks up into the steering column. Once you removed the spring, gravity should have let the left end of the arm fall down into the case that you drilled through.

If after removing the spring, there is still space between the case and the arm, then you need to somehow pull that thing down. Start by wiggling the heck out of the steering wheel to unstick the pin. If that doesn't work, I recommend drilling a small pilot hole into the arm and try to get a small sheet metal screw into your hole. Then pull down on the screw.

[Chinky420]

just so long as the spring came out, you should be able to disengage the lock by jarring the wheel hard back and forth.

if that doesn't work....listen to joshs advice. cuz i got nuthing for ya... lol

good luck.

[avus323i]

Thanks a lot JoshS! I had to remove the plate (a lot of drilling) and dig around for that POS pin. It was way up there but after some violent shaking (my steering is fine trust me) and digging with a flat head, it finally came down. One of the worst things that can happen to a car but it's over and done with. Once again thank you!