A lot of the guessing and wondering will go away if you can get in there and see / feel what is going on at the u-joint. Even while I was doing that repair back in 2015, my first thought from looking in there while my son wiggled the wheel, was that the rack needed adjustment or replacement. But pretty easily and quickly, I confirmed the motion due to a loosened set screw at the u-joint.

You need an assistant, but other than a flashlight, I don't think any tools are needed or anything needs to be removed (not sure on this though - maybe spending a minute to pull out some of the easy in/out intake stuff will allow better access) to do the inspection.

Your description does sound like normal compliance rather than a dead zone, but still, as easy as it is to check, I would do it.

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2001 X5 3.0i, 203k miles, AT, owned since 2014