Steering wheel buttons not working

[Hoopie]

I recently replaced a longitudinal metal shaft for the motor vertical adjust on my steering wheel. Now the buttons and the horn stopped working. I first thought the constant contact spring in the steering wheel stopped having contact because I had to remove the steering wheel to do this job. When I put the steering wheel back in I noticed that the steering wheel was moving quite a bit (posterior) toward the rear of the when attaching the steering spindle and column back together. I had to press the 2 together rather hard. Could this cause a loss of contact with the spring?? Help with any information. I have not opened up the steering wheel to take a look.

[Hoopie]

I stopped into the dealership and they said that if I took the column out of the car and let the wheel turn around it could cause this problem. Does anyone know why?

[bcredliner]

What is the year and model X5 you have?

[GunnyGlow]

Originally Posted by Hoopie

I stopped into the dealership and they said that if I took the column out of the car and let the wheel turn around it could cause this problem. Does anyone know why?

I think there is a sort of ribbon cable in there that is all wound up to allow the buttons to work and wheel turn. Maybe if you let the wheel turn past the point that would normally be the stop/lock to lock it damaged the cable.

Don't know for sure on E53's.... Just thinking out loud.

Sent from my SCH-I545 using Tapatalk

[Clockwork]

clocksprings in older Bimmers have a wire ribbon which only has so much length and if you do not have the ribbon wound to its center length and centered on the wheel before you put it on the steering shaft, you will stretch it and break the airbag connection.
BUT I do not believe the new steering wheels have that sort of issue anymore.
I believe the clock spring stays on the steering column these days and not pulled off with the steering removal. I just replaced my 4 spoke wheel with a 3 spoke sport and the clockspring for my 2005 stayed on the shaft and in no way could get "broken" from what I did. now if you had to remove it I GUESS it somehow could have been damaged. But I'm not sure WHAT would be damaged in these newer style clocksprings

is it possible you forgot to plug a connector back on? Check the fuses?

[Hoopie]

I have a 2000 4.4 with a sport steering wheel. Strange thing is that everything worked for 2 to 3 weeks after my "fix". Little bit by little bit buttons stopped working, the horn was the last to go.

[bcredliner]

When you did your "fix" did you remove both the steering wheel and the clock spring?

I assume you aware that there is a mark on the steering column that needs to be aligned with the mark on the steering wheel? The clock spring does have a ribbon that can be damaged if the two are not aligned. No warning lights on the cluster?

I am not sure I understand what you mean by "the steering wheel was moving quite a bit." There should be no in/out movement of the steering wheel when it is properly seated and the washer and nut are secure.

[Hoopie]

The steering wheel stayed attached to the column it was never removed., I removed the column to fix a motor problem. The steering was freely moving while I fixed the motor problem, them I realized that maybe there is a center rotation to the wheel. So I had to spin the wheel 9 or 10 times in each direction before it stopped to find the center. Then I reinstalleditback into the X.

[bcredliner]

Are you saying the front wheels were perfectly straight when you installed the column with the attached steering wheel as it should be when traveling down the road in a straight line?