2015 BMW I3

ON SEVERAL OCCASIONS, AFTER POWERING-UP THE CAR, THE STEERING HAS BEEN VERY HEAVY AND PULLED TO EITHER THE LEFT OR RIGHT. THE CAR RESISTED BEING DRIVEN IN A STRAIGHT LINE AND IT FELT AS THOUGH SOME SELF-DRIVING FEATURE WAS TRYING TO WREST CONTROL. ON ALL OCCASIONS, EXCEPT FOR ONE, PARKING THE CAR, POWERING-OFF, PAUSING FOR A FEW SECONDS AND POWERING BACK ON HAS RESOLVED THE PROBLEM. IF THIS SITUATION WERE TO OCCUR ON THE HIGHWAY IT COULD EASILY THROW THE CAR INTO ONCOMING TRAFFIC. AN ONLINE BMW I3 FORUM HAS MANY SIMILAR COMPLAINTS GOING BACK TO 2014. I TOOK THE CAR TO THE DEALER TWICE AND THEY CAN FIND NOTHING WRONG. IT WOULD SEEM TO BE A FIRMWARE ISSUE AND I FEAR BMW IS WAITING FOR A FEW FATALITIES TO SEE IF IT WORTH ADDRESSING.

THE I3'S POWER STEERING WENT OUT CAUSING THE CAR TO PULL TO THE LEFT RESULTING IN ME DRIVING INTO ONCOMING TRAFFIC AND ALMOST OFF THE ROAD. (LOW SPEED, 15MPH). USING FORCE, I WAS ABLE TO TURN THE STEERING WHEEL, WITHOUT THE USUAL POWER STEERING ASSISTANCE, STRAIGHTENING OUT THE VEHICLE'S DIRECTION AND GOT ME ON THE CORRECT SIDE OF THE ROAD. THE CAR WAS VERY DIFFICULT TO STEER. ADDITIONALLY, THE STEERING WHEEL WAS ALSO MOVING BY ITSELF CAUSING THE CAR TO DRIFT TO THE RIGHT. STRAIGHTEN OUT THE WHEEL AGAIN AND IT WOULD TURN ITSELF TO THE RIGHT AGAIN. THE I3 WAS IMMEDIATELY POWERED DOWN AND RESTARTED/REBOOTED AND THE ISSUE WENT AWAY. SINCE THIS OCCURRED AT LOW SPEED, THE RISK OF AN ACCIDENT WAS REDUCED. HOWEVER, IT THIS WERE TO OCCUR AT HIGHWAY SPEEDS, IT COULD BE DISASTROUS. NO ERRORS CODES WERE EVER DISPLAYED. I WILL BE INSTALLING A DASH CAMERA TO RECORD THE NEXT TIME THAT THIS HAPPENS. A SIMPLE INTERNET SEARCH RESULTS IN MANY OWNERS REPORTING SIMILAR DANGEROUS SITUATIONS.

IN DECEMBER I HAD A PROBLEM WHERE THE CAR'S STEERING PULLED TO THE LEFT- AT FIRST I THOUGHT IT WAS DUE TO A FLAT TIRE, BUT IT WAS NOT. I MADE A SHORT DRIVE- PARKED THE CAR FOR AWHILE AND CAR DROVE NORMALLY. PROBLEM REOCCURRED ON 2/14/19 - WITH THE CAR BECOMING HARD TO STEER- A SHORT PARKING OF THE CAR DID NOT FIX IT- BUT SITTING OVERNIGHT DID. HTTP://WWW.MYBMWI3.COM/FORUM/VIEWTOPIC.PHP?F=15&T=5065 AND A VIDEO ( NOT MINE) OF THE PROBLEM. HTTPS://WWW.YOUTUBE.COM/WATCH?V=P9HJSA2YXOK&FEATURE=YOUTU.BE

TWICE THE POWER STEERING FAILED TO FUNCTION CORRECTLY. EACH TIME THE FEEDBACK TO POWER ASSIST "FLOATED" IN AN UNDETERMINED STATE. THE ABILITY TO FORCE A TURN (MAKE HARD TURNS) SEEMED TO ACTIVE THE POWER ASSIST AND WORKED AS EXPECTED. STRAIGHT DRIVING SEEMED TO CAUSED THE POWER ASSIST TO GO ON AN OFF AND WANDER OR VARY THE FORCE. IT WOULD SEEM TO ENGAGE POWER ASSIST WHEN STEERING WENT OFF CENTER. THE EFFECT WAS SIMILAR TO DRIVING IN RUTS. BOTH TIMES THE FAILURE CORRECTED ON POWER OFF FOR A FEW MINUTES. POWER OFF FOR ONLY A MINUTE DIDN'T FIX. REPORTED TO DEALER WITH NO FIND REPORT BACK. I SUPPOSE WITH A PUNY CAR LIKE THIS THEY COULD HAVE JUST REMOVED POWER STEERING.

WHILE DRIVING, STEERING BECAME HEAVY, NOTCHY. IT WOULD NOT CENTER ITSELF; FOR EXAMPLE, AROUND A TURN, THE STEERING WHEEL WOULD STAY IN THE DIRECTION I TURNED. THIS HAS HAPPENED SEVERAL TIMES OVER THE LAST FEW MONTHS! IT SEEMS THERE IS A BUG IN THE SOFTWARE. BMW CAN'T FIND ANYTHING WRONG. SEVERAL FORMS HAVE BEEN CREATED OVER THIS PROBLEM.

I AM REPORTING A RECURRING ISSUE WITH THE STEERING WHEEL. THE VEHICLE WAS IN MOTION, ON A CITY STREET, GOING STRAIGHT. WHEN THE ISSUE HAPPENED, THE STEERING WHEEL TURNED TO THE LEFT NOTICEABLY BY ITSELF AND IT TOOK FORCE BY HAND TO CORRECT IT SO THE CAR COULD GO STRAIGHT. THIS CREATED A SAFETY RISK CONCERN TO THE DRIVER. I FEEL THE AFFECTED COMPONENTS LIKELY ARE THE STEERING WHEEL AND ELECTRONICS SYSTEM. BELOW IS A MORE DETAILED DESCRIPTION: IN MARCH, THE STEERING WHEEL TURNED LEFT SLIGHTLY BY ITSELF AFTER THE CAR WAS STARTED. THIS POSITION OF THE WHEEL WAS ENOUGH TO MAKE THE CAR TURN LEFT GRADUALLY. IT TOOK SOME FORCE BY HAND TO STEER AND KEEP THE WHEEL BACK TO THE REGULAR NEUTRAL POSITION. WHEN THE WHEEL WAS KEPT AT THE REGULAR NEUTRAL POSITION, THE CAR WAS ABLE TO GO STRAIGHT. HOWEVER, THE STEERING WHEEL TURNED TO THE LEFT AGAIN AFTER HANDS WERE REMOVED FROM THE WHEEL. AFTER THE CAR WAS TURNED OFF AND BACK ON AGAIN, THE STEERING WHEEL BEHAVED NORMALLY AGAIN, MEANING IT STAYED IN THE REGULAR NEUTRAL POSITION WHEN HANDS FREE, AND THE CAR WENT STRAIGHT. THE SAME ISSUE OCCURRED TWICE WITHIN THE SAME WEEK. THE NEXT WEEK THE OWNER SENT THE CAR TO THE DEALER TO TAKE A LOOK. THE DEALER KEPT THE CAR FOR ALMOST TWO WEEKS, DID A LOT OF RESEARCH INCLUDING STEERING/SUSPENSION AND ALSO EXTENSIVE TESTING, BUT WAS NOT ABLE TO DUPLICATE THE ISSUE. IN LESS THAN A MONTH AFTER THE OWNER TOOK THE CAR BACK, THE ISSUE OCCURRED AGAIN. THE INTERESTING THING IS: THE OWNER GOT A 2018 I3 94AH REX LOANER CAR AND THE SIMILAR STEERING WHEEL ISSUE SHOWED UP WITH THE LOANER CAR AS WELL! TIMELINE: MARCH 2018: HAPPENED TWICE IN A WEEK 3/22: SERVICE #1 4/25: HAPPENED ONCE 4/28: SERVICE #2 5/8: SIMILAR ISSUE HAPPENED WITH THE LOANER CAR 2018 I3 94AH REX 6/10: HAPPENED ONCE 6/12: HAPPENED ONCE 7/18: SERVICE #3 8/2: HAPPENED ONCE MANY VIDEO CLIPS WERE TAKEN AT TIMES.

SEAT BELT TWIST INTO THE RE-TRACTOR BACK OF THE SEAT AND CANNOT BE UNTWISTED BECAUSE THE TWIST REMAINS BEHIND THE SEAT FROM THE FLOOR TO THE TOP OF THE SEAT. TAKEN TO THE DEALER BUT THE DEALER DENIES THAT THIS IS POSSIBLE CLAIMING SOMEONE MUST HAVE MESSED WITH THEM INSTALLING THEM BACKWARDS. I HAVE ANOTHER ISSUE TOO WITH THE SEAT MAT ON THE PASSENGER SIDE THROWING AN ERROR MESSAGE WHERE THE AIRBAG WILL TURN OFF WITH A PASSENGER IN THE SEAT. DEALERSHIP CLAIMS IT'S DO TO MOISTER AND REFUSES TO FIX IT UNLESS PAY 1500 DOLLARS. THIS COMPONENT IS FAULTY BUT THEY ARE BLAMING ME AND I DID NOT SPILL ANYTHING INTO THE SEAT IT WAS PURCHASED THIS WAY. THIS COMPONENT SHOULD NOT FAIL SO EASILY EVEN IF THE SEAT WAS DAMP. SHOULD I HAVE TO PAY 1500 DOLLARS EVERY TIME SOMEONES BUTT SWEATS INTO MY SEAT? THAT'S RIDICULOUS. THE SENSOR WILL FAIL OVER BUMPS WITH A PASSENGER IN THE SEAT REGARDLESS OF SPEED. ONLY HEAVIER PASSENGERS OVER ABOUT 240 LBS TRIGGER THE ERROR.. IT WILL RESET ITSELF ONCE THE TRIP IS COMPLETED. BUT FOR THE DURATION OF THE TRIP THE PASSENGER WILL NOT BE PROTECTED FROM THE AIRBAGS IN THE EVENT OF COLLISION.