BMW XM Owners Report Critical Power Steering Failures

Hi there! I've got some experience with cars and had almost the exact same issue with my 2021 BMW X7 last year. The symptoms you're describing sound very familiar, I experienced that awful steering wheel shake and complete drop in power steering on my way home from work one day. Took it to my regular workshop, and it turned out to be a faulty wiring connection to the power steering unit. They found a damaged plug that wasn't making proper contact. The fix cost me 95 Euro and took about two hours, definitely worth every penny to get that smooth steering feel back! Before I can share more specific advice, could you share: Has the problem started suddenly or gradually? Which error messages are you seeing exactly? Have you noticed any unusual noises when turning? By the way, I also owned a BMW X6 and never had steering issues with that one. But these electrical gremlins can pop up in any modern car.

Thanks for sharing your experience! My issue started quite suddenly last week, one morning the steering just felt completely off. Mine's pretty new, just hit 25311 KM and had its last service about a month ago. The error message I'm getting is "Power Steering Malfunction" on the dash display. And yes, there's this weird grinding noise when turning, especially at low speeds. Really concerning since it's still under warranty. I'll definitely get it checked out asap, appreciate the heads up about the wiring connection. That sounds like it could be similar to what I'm experiencing. Did you notice if the problem was worse when the engine was cold?

Hey again! Thanks for those extra details about your XM. Actually, after reading your response, I'm even more convinced our issues were similar. When I had my X7's steering problems, I also noticed the grinding noise was worst during cold starts, especially in the morning. It's funny you mention that! Just to share my complete experience, after they fixed that initial wiring issue I mentioned before, the problem actually came back about a week later. Turned out the first repair was just treating the symptom, not the real cause. The actual culprit was a faulty power steering control module. The grinding noise was basically the electric power steering trying to work with corrupted signals from the module. Since your XM is still under warranty, you're in a much better position than I was. My advice would be to document everything, record videos of the grinding noise and when exactly it happens, save any error messages you get, and note down dates and times. The more info you can give to the service center, the better. By the way, have you checked your power steering fluid level? I know our BMWs have electric power steering, but it's worth checking just to rule out the basics. Keep us posted on what you find out!

Thanks so much for all that detailed info! It's really helpful to hear about your full experience, especially about the control module being the real problem. That's exactly the kind of insight I needed. I just checked the documentation from my last service, and they actually noted some electrical readings were slightly off, though nothing major at the time. I'm betting this could be related. I've started recording everything like you suggested, got some videos of the grinding noise and screenshots of the error messages. I've booked it in at the dealership for tomorrow morning. Will definitely push them to check both the wiring and the control module, rather than just accepting a quick fix. Really hoping they can sort it properly the first time, unlike your experience! Thanks again for all your help, I'll update the thread once I know what they find.