Heavy Steering & Vibration Points to Bad A5 Sensor

I had nearly identical issues with my 2009 A4 last year. As someone who does basic maintenance but leaves complex repairs to professionals, this problem had me worried. The symptoms matched yours exactly, heavy steering, vibrations, and stability control acting up. The workshop diagnosed a faulty steering angle sensor in the steering column. The sensor failure was causing incorrect readings, making the power steering and stability systems behave erratically. The repair involved recoding the steering sensor and a full system calibration. Total cost was 195 Euro, which included diagnostic time and labor. The steering response returned to normal immediately after the sensor replacement and recalibration. To better assist with your situation, could you share: Any warning lights on the dashboard? When did the symptoms first appear? Have you noticed if the problem gets worse during turns? Did you recently have any other steering-related work done? The steering sensor issues can vary between different model years and configurations, so these details would help determine if your case is similar to what I experienced.

Thanks for sharing your experience. The traction control light started flickering last week, along with the electronic stability warning. My vehicle had its last service at 58000km, about 3 months ago. The steering column feels most unstable during left turns, and the vibration gets worse at higher speeds. No previous steering work has been done. The heavy steering seems worse after the car sits overnight, improving slightly after driving for a few minutes. Just hoping to avoid a full steering system replacement, since the sensor failure diagnosis matches what others have experienced. Will book it in for a proper diagnosis based on the repair costs you mentioned.

Thanks for those additional details. Your symptoms are even more similar to what I experienced than I initially thought. The behavior of the traction control light and electronic stability warnings matching exactly what happened with my A4. The fact that your steering feels worse after sitting overnight but improves with driving actually reinforces the steering sensor diagnosis. In my case, the workshop explained that temperature changes can affect faulty sensors, causing those cold-start steering issues. When they fixed my car, they first performed a wheel alignment check to rule out any other issues. The steering angle sensor replacement itself was straightforward, but the critical part was the proper calibration of the new sensor with the electronic stability system. One tip from my experience: make sure they check the entire steering column while they have it open. My mechanic spotted and fixed a small wiring issue that could have caused problems later. The repair costs you mentioned seeing reasonable, mine was 195 Euro total, though prices can vary. The important thing is that since the fix, my steering has been perfect with no recurring electronic stability or traction control warnings. Keep us updated on what the workshop finds. Based on the matching symptoms, I am fairly confident you are dealing with the same sensor issue I had.

Great information about the sensor replacement and glad to hear the repair cost was reasonable. I have scheduled an appointment for next week to get it checked out. The diagnostic details you shared about temperature sensitivity and alignment checks will help me discuss the issue more effectively with the workshop. The steering has gotten slightly worse, now the vibration starts even at lower speeds, and the electronic stability light stays on constantly instead of just flickering. Will make sure they do a complete steering column inspection as you suggested, rather than just focusing on the angle sensor replacement. Good to know the calibration after sensor installation is critical. I will specifically ask them about that part of the repair process. Your experience gives me confidence this can be fixed without major steering system replacement, which was my main concern. Will update the forum once I get the final diagnosis and repair completed.