There are 5 stored owner reports matching the steering leading-label group for the 2008 BMW Z4 in our NHTSA-sourced dataset. These are unverified consumer reports and may not reflect confirmed defects.
This group counts stored reports whose component label starts with one of this site's matching prefixes, ignoring case. Each matching report counts once within the group. Components mentioned later in the label or only in the narrative are not searched. How component counts work
Loaded 5 of 5 matching reports.
Open the full vehicle complaint log (all categories)VERY ERRATIC STEERING. CROSSING THE CROWN OF A ROAD WILL PULL ONE WAY AND THEN QUICKLY PULL IN THE OPPOSITE DIRECTION UNLIKE ANYTHING I HAVE EVER DRIVEN. ALSO SAME EFFECT WITH TRYING TO STAY IN LANES WITH ANY COMMON DEVIATION. THIS IS WORST AT HWY SPEEDS BUT DOES OCCUR AT LOWER SPEEDS AS WELL.
JUST BOUGHT A USED 2008 Z4. CANNOT DRIVE STRAIGHT LINE, CAR GOES ALL OVER THE ROAD. STEERING HAS "STICK-SLIP" EFFECT. CAR WANDERS FROM RIGHT TO LEFT AND LEFT TO RIGHT. GOT RUBBER ELEMENTS IN FRONT AXLE REPLACED, 4 WHEEL ALIGNMENT, ..., NO CHANGE. APPEARS TO BE A POWER STEERING ISSUE. *TR
AFTER STARTING UP THE CAR (BUT DURING IGNITION, THE KEY SLIPPED IN MY FINGERS CAUSING A MISSED START, I THEREFORE HAD TO TURN THE KEY AGAIN TO GET ENGINE TO TURN OVER.) AND DRIVING FROM MY DRIVEWAY, THERE WAS A COMPLETE FAILURE OF THE STEERING ASSIST WHICH CAUSED EXTREMELY DIFFICULT STEERING/CORNERING. I PULLED OVER, THINKING IT HAD TO DO WITH THE MISSED START, TURNED OFF THE ENGINE AND RESTARTED IT; STILL NO POWER ASSIST. TOOK IT TO THE DEALER, THEY WERE ABLE TO DO A COMPUTER RESET WHICH RESTORED POWER ASSIST, BUT TOLD ME THEY COULD NOT SAY IF OR WHEN IT WOULD HAPPEN AGAIN. I COULD OPT FOR COMPLETE STEERING COLUMN REPLACEMENT AT A COST OF $3500! I'VE OWNED THE CAR FOR 5 MONTHS AND MAYBE PUT 400 MILES ON IT? THIS IS TOO DANGEROUS A THING TO LET GO, I DON'T THINK THIS IS SAFE. THIS SHOULD BE RECALLED. *TR
WHILE TURNING ON A CONSTANT RADIUS CLOVER-LEAF ON-RAMP (RIGHT OR LEFT), A SUDDEN CHANGE IN STEERING ANGLE WAS REQUIRED TO AVOID AN OBSTACLE. AS THE ELECTRICALLY-ASSISTED STEERING WAS QUICKLY ADJUSTED, A FLAT SPOT (OR A HEAVY SPOT OR A DELAY IN BOOST) IN THE STEERING WHEEL/FEEL WAS ENCOUNTERED. IN OTHER WORDS, MORE FORCE WAS REQUIRED THAN EXPECTED TO QUICKLY CHANGE THE STEERING ANGLE. IF THIS IS NORMAL, IT COULD INTERFERE WITH EMERGENCY MANEUVERS TO AVOID OBSTACLES. PERSONALLY, I FIND IT TO BE UNSAFE AS THE STEERING FEEL IS UNPREDICTABLE. THIS UNPREDICTABLE STEERING FEEL OCCURS ANYTIME I NEED TO MAKE AN ABRUPT CHANGE IN STEERING ANGLE. *TR
STEERING FAILURE WITH DTC FAILURE AND BRAKE YELLOW WARNING LIGHTS. MUST FIGHT WITH CAR TO DRIVE STRAIGHT WANTS TO VEER TO THE LEFT WITH SHAKY STEERING. *TR
Complaints are unverified consumer reports submitted to NHTSA. A high complaint count may reflect vehicle popularity, not defect severity. Data sourced from NHTSA public records.
NHTSA source checks for this vehicle year
Checks are recorded separately for each dataset, not for the whole page. Dates use UTC. A missing check date does not mean no records exist.
Vehicle import recorded: Apr 28, 2026. This is the stored import date, not confirmation that every source was successfully refreshed.