Something metal fell off inside my steering column. What is it?

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richs

Well-known member
Joined
Apr 4, 2020
Messages
64
Hi, all. I was adjusting the tilt of my steering wheel in my 2017 today and noticed (for the first time, oddly enough) that the wheel telescopes in and out. So, I tried adjusting it a bit to see what position I liked. After a few gentle pulls and pushes, and some additional tilt adjustments, I distinctly heard a piece of metal fall off inside the steering column! Nothing actually fell out into the cabin; this was some piece of metal either breaking off or popping off and falling down inside the column. It fell with a "ringing" sound, so I'm pretty sure the part was metal, not plastic, but it's hard to tell without being able to see anything.

After this happened, I didn't notice anything odd about the steering wheel or column. It still telescopes and tilts just fine, with no weird noises or grinding. It still holds its position firmly when the tilt lever is in the locked position. The car steers just fine, too, thankfully. I think I heard the dislodged part slide into another position when I went around a corner, but it was silent after that.

Does anyone have any idea what happened? The car still is under the original factory warranty, so I'll be taking it to the local BMW dealership for sure, but thought I'd ask here, too. I'll update this thread if I learn anything more.
 
Thought I'd post an update in case anyone was curious.

The BMW service department was stumped by this one. They took apart the steering column and didn't find anything loose in there, nor did they find any missing parts. They just put it all back together and sent me on my way. I haven't heard any more noises since then. *shrug*
 
Looks like two other people had a similar thing happen but their metal piece actually fell out. This post shows a picture of the part:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/BMWi3/permalink/3905731136167385/

A reply to the post is a second i3 owner reporting the same piece falling out near the steering column.

To me, the part looks like one of the soft metal bands typically used to anchor a part of the wiring harness to a bulkhead. One end has a bolt hole and the other end is just rounded.
 
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