NHTSA Complaint #10669435 — 2005 BMW Z4

THE ELECTRIC POWER STEERING ON THE CAR IS DANGEROUS. THE STEERING IS ERRATIC AND VERY TWITCHY. THE PROBLEM IS NOTICEABLE AT LOWER SPEEDS BUT AT HIGHWAY SPEEDS IT IS DANGEROUS TO DRIVE THE CAR. THE STEERING WHEEL STARTS OUT STIFF, LIKE AN OLD CAR WITHOUT POWER STEERING, BUT THEN THE ELECTRIC MOTOR SUDDENLY PROVIDES TOO MUCH POWER ASSISTANCE. THE ELECTRIC ASSIST RESULTS IN A SHARPER TURN THAN YOU NEED AND THEREFORE REQUIRES IMMEDIATE CORRECTION. IT CONSISTENTLY DOES THIS; IT IS NOT A ONE-TIME THING. IT REQUIRES CONSTANT ATTENTION, WITH BOTH HANDS ON THE WHEEL AT ALL TIMES. THIS MAKES THE CAR BOTH MENTALLY AND PHYSICALLY EXHAUSTING TO DRIVE ON THE HIGHWAY. DRIVING AT LOWER SPEEDS IS ANNOYING BUT AT HIGHWAY SPEEDS IT IS DANGEROUS. THE CORRECTION AND SUBSEQUENT OVERCORRECTION PROBLEM MAKES THE CAR DRIVE DOWN THE HIGHWAY LIKE A SNAKE. IT IS DIFFICULT TO KEEP THE CAR IN THE CORRECT LANE. THE ROUGHER THE PAVEMENT THE MORE DIFFICULT IT IS TO DRIVE THE CAR. THERE HAVE BEEN A FEW TIMES WHERE THE OVERCORRECTION HAS RESULTED IN ACCIDENTALLY VEERING OUT OF THE CORRECT LANE. FORTUNATELY, NO ACCIDENT HAS OCCURRED YET. PLEASE FEEL FREE TO CONTACT ME AND COME DRIVE THE CAR TO SEE FOR YOURSELF. IT ONLY HAS 55,000 MILES ON IT AND BASED ON THE OTHER COMPLAINTS THIS IS A SYSTEMIC PROBLEM WITH THE 2005 BMW Z4. *JS