NHTSA Complaint #10364335 — 2004 BMW Z4

A YEAR OR SO AGO I NOTICED THE STEERING ON MY BMW Z4 WOULD GET "NOTCHY" AND FEEL "STICKY" AT THE END OF THE DAY. EVENTUALLY I WAS ABLE TO RECOGNIZE THE PROBLEM WOULD OCCUR WHEN PARKED OUTSIDE IN DIRECT SUNLIGHT. I FOUND IT ODD THIS WOULD BE BROUGHT ON BY TIME IN THE SUN, BUT AFTER SOME RESEARCH ONLINE DISCOVERED MANY PEOPLE WITH SIMILAR COMPLAINTS. UNFORTUNATELY IT APPEARED EXPERIENCES WITH BMW SERVICE VARIED, AND SINCE MY CAR WAS OUT OF WARRANTY A "FIX" WOULD BE A REPLACEMENT OF THE STEERING COLUMN AT THE TUNE OF 3-4 THOUSAND DOLLARS. WHEN I HEARD THIS ISSUE WAS UNDER INVESTIGATION I DECIDED TO WAIT FOR A DECISION AS IT SEEMED LIKELY SUCH ISSUES WITH STEERING WOULD BE ADDRESSED. I HAVE FOLLOWED THE CASE CLOSELY AND HAVE BEEN READING BMW'S RESPONSES TO NHTSA. SEVERAL OF THEIR ARGUMENTS AGAINST ADDRESSING THIS ARE ESPECIALLY DISTURBING. BMW APPEARS TO RECOGNIZE THE ISSUE, BUT CLAIMS THE EFFECT IS "MINOR". I AM NOT AN EXPERT AND CANNOT SAY WHETHER IT PRESENTS RISK, BUT AS A DRIVER I CAN TELL YOU ANY STEERING EFFECTS ARE DISTURBING AND DISTRACTING. BMW CLAIMS THE EFFECT ONLY OCCURS DURING SPECIFIC/LIMITED CONDITIONS - HIGH AMBIENT TEMPERATURES AND DIRECT SUNLIGHT. WHAT REALLY UPSETS ME ABOUT THIS STATEMENT IS THAT IT'S A CONVERTIBLE SPORTS CAR MARKETED FOR THESE CONDITIONS, SO WHILE THEY MAY BE "SPECIFIC AND LIMITED", THEY ARE PRIMARY CONDITIONS FOR THIS CAR. FINALLY, BMW CLAIMS THIS IS NOT AN ISSUE OF SAFETY, BUT ONE OF QUALITY. FROM MY PERSPECTIVE, THERE ARE SOME SUBSYSTEMS WHERE QUALITY SHOULD NOT BE COMPROMISED, AND STEERING SHOULD BE CONSIDERED ONE OF THESE. I DO BELIEVE THIS IS A SAFETY ISSUE, AND ANXIOUSLY AWAIT NHTSA FINDINGS IN HOPES I CAN HAVE THIS SAFETY ISSUE ADDRESSED BY BMW. I SINCERELY HOPE THIS ISSUE IS NOT SWEPT UNDER THE RUG AND THE MANUFACTURER TAKES RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE QUALITY AND SAFETY OF THEIR AUTOMOBILES. *TR