[Footloose]

Hi all,

A belated contribution. On 6th February 2013, I took delivery of a new 3 door sport from the main dealers here in central Portugal. A couple of hours driving and I knew I had a steering problem. When exiting gentle curves and centering the steering wheel, I too encountered the situation where the power steering appeared to go to sleep and felt a resistance which required unusual force to overcome. The result in applying this force, and waking up the power assistance, was a sudden over-steering which put the car off the intended line. This would happen between 20 and 50 times per 100 km.

It was not possible to steer the car smoothly and with finesse and accuracy. A cross wind on a straight road when minor directional adjustments are constantly required exaggerated the problem and at times was alarming. I has scared my wife whilst overtaking trucks on a motorway for example. The car was fine in town, but at highway speeds, potentially dangerous.

I have driven 3 different courtesy cars, none of which had this problem, so after 3 weeks or so, the dealer took it back, kept it for two days, drove it about 400 km and agreed that 'there was some inconsistency in the steering'. So they downloaded an update into the cars computer and declared it fit. Another 100 km and I knew that there was an improvement in that the stickiness was less harsh but nevertheless still evident and just as frequent - sufficient to spoil my enjoyment of a new car.

I complained again and they took it back for another two days and about another 400 km, after which they told me that they had reduced the tyre pressures which they said were well over-inflated (as delivered) and checked the tracking. At this stage they were backing away from acknowledging the problem, saying that the computer analysis showed no fault. At one point, after having contacted Germany for advice, my after-sales manager confided that they didn't know what to do.

I have since instituted formal complaint proceedings with the dealership and their response is that 'no faults are shown on the computer'.

I am considering further complaints to BMW Germany, Portugal, the dealership and DECO, Portugal's consumer protection agency, but don't hold out much hope for a fix because they don't want to bear the hassle and expense.

Any advise please (apart from buying a Golf) would be gratefully received and an update from earlier sufferers would be of use.

Thanks, footloose