steering Wheel became Hard to turn

[EVMan]

The i3's steering is powered by an electric motor with none of the hydraulic lines of the typical power steering system.

I feel they need to rewrite this software.
I feel , part of the reason why the car feels like jumping left right , is the steering wheel which does not have a center bias.
At high speeds - above 85 miles , over uneven roads , i need to use both my hands hard , unlike other cars , which stay in the lane lot more easily.

I also had heavy left bias issue , while driving suddenly , and it fixed while driving itself in a minute .

[alohart]

Same thing happened to me today. Does any one have a update on this? Wow it was scary.,...

If you haven't done so, file a complaint with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Otherwise, BMW won't be as motivated to fix this problem.

[AndrewDebbie]

Two or three people on the UK i3 Facebook group are reporting the same problem.

Most recent one took the car into a dealer. The car was returned "No Fault Found" and had a software update.

So yes, if you have the problem report it to NHTSA and take the car to a dealer. BMW need to know about every i3 that has the issue.

[phuonguy]

I have a 2015 I3 Rex production date is 2015-10-15. I was driving in ECO Pro node and the sterring became stiff after i made a turn. It was stiff for awhile until I switched to Comfort mode. Since then, I am driving in Comfort Mode and have not experience the issue.

I haven't run in ECO Pro for a long time.

[Xsbank]

I have not read the entire thread but my 2017 did all of the steering stuff described here. It went back to the dealer every time it happened. Software issue that was going to take a number of months to fix. Apparently the software was not properly booting the steering module. EVERY BMW has electric steering, this should be a simple, known issue.

The long and the short of it was I refused to pick it up, rejected their offer of a courtesy car for (perhaps) 4 months and they refused to buy it back (Canada, you know) so they gave me a brand new 2019 with way more doodads than the original to replace the '17. It's for sale, 2500 km, I'm disgruntled. But BMW was good over this.

A steering fault is a SAFETY ISSUE! Stop screwing around and scream bloody murder until they fix the software!

[PBNB]

Ya, I think I saw it listed on CL.

I would love to speak to you about it but just a tad too rich for me.

Sorry to hear about your issues.

We are loving our used 2015 Rex that came from Cali. Almost a year now and not one glitch to speak of and we use for our business. We have been dealing with BMW in Langley which is where we bought our Mini from in 2013. They seem to be on the ball.

[Obioban]

My 2017 BEV (non tech pack, no auto park, 9/16 production) did this yesterday. Super heavy (felt like no assist) on center, but full assist on any "real" turning. Went away after I went into a store and came back out.

Has anyone who's had the software updated had the issue repeat after the update?

[MKH]

steering Wheel became Hard to turn

Contact your dealer, there are several service bulletins out on this issue.

[MichaelL]

Just got my i3 back from bmws collision center after being hit at 80mph on the freeway by an out of control driver. I have to say the i3 saved my life. I love this little car. When I picked it up today from bmw I drove back to my office just fine. On the way out of the parking lot the steering wheel became almost impossible to turn and ran right into a pole. This is the second time the steering has done this. The first time I did what this forum said and rebooted the car. It was fine after that. I think the car is totaled now.. The collision center did no front end work so I’m not sure it’s related to that. As much as I love this little car I’m still a little shaken up by the whole thing and don’t feel safe driving my i3 after this. Even if they fix it as much as I love this car it’s not worth my life. With so many people having this issue why is it not more well known? It could kill someone... :/

[bcnbuda]

I’ve been having this problem intermittently for a while. It always “fixed” itself after restarting the car. Finally, it has gotten to where it stopped working altogether and the dealership is telling me to fix it will cost $5000! $3600 just for the part, the entire steering assembly. Needless to say, I want to try to find some other solution. My car only has 30,000 miles on it! But it’s out of warranty due to it being a 2014 model.

Any suggestions?