Heated steering wheel not working.
 

Hi guys,

I just finished fixing the X (see what was done below just in case it could be related) and suddenly heated steering stopped working.

I checked the fuse in glove box and it's good. When I push the button, the red light doesn't light up . WHat else should I check ?

Work done:
My expansion tank busted and coolant was spraying all over the engine bay. I finished the work today and went for a ride and noticed the heated steering doesn't work and was working just fine before I parked it for the fix.

Green relay on top of the fuse panel. If all else checks out you may have a defunct clockspring.

The fuse panel in glove box or in the trunk? And whats a defunct clockspring?
Sry not familiar with electrical stuff.

:nanana:

Does the horn work? Does the rest of the controls on the steering wheel works? If not Google steering wheel clockspring.

Sound like now the time to SELL.

Everything else works ....

Yup . I'm kinda fed up now with it.

Damn giodog2000, you've got more active threads going than anybody I've ever seen...lol!! Which we all know can't be a good thing, I see you're up north, must be that cold polar vortex weather. Well, like you said in your other thread, it may be time to get rid of it, the cash register will just keep a ringing.

If you ask me tonight , I'm ready to sell. After spending all day fixing it and happy about it , it's just a major blow at moral to have another problem pop up not even 30sec into the road test. Very disappointed I must say. But, if you ask me tomorrow morning after the ride to work , I'd tell you I want to keep it. In the other thread "It'll end when I sell it" , this is just what that thread is about. It never was about the money (not happy about it but I can live with that) it's the constant deceptions and loosing the trust of this beautiful car. Tonight, I just can't see how, even though I'm on top of my game for maintenance, it's gonna stop and it's giving me no sign that it will stop.

I'd say it's about time for you to sell and buy a Honda.

send me your wheels first and I'll send you mine though.

Although maybe not, I think your car is jinxed and that jinx might come with the wheels.


Nevermind.

Thx for the help Brandon....you're a pal!

You know us Americans... always willing to help out a Canadian. :)

No worries Brandon , next time your X fails , I'll be there to help you also.

This reminds me of a short story a friend of mine wrote. It was about the love of his young life with whom he'd parted ways after college. She was a hawt, private school girl from a stable family with plenty of money. They partied very, very hard together and then they lost touch. Until he got a call from her about 20 years later.

He jumped at the chance to meet up with her after 2 failed marriages. He'd never loved anyone like her. She picked a fast food place in a border line part of town. He saw her and recognized her instantly even though years of hard core substance and physical abuse had taken toll.

They reminisced. Laughed. Cried. He offered to take her away. She refused knowing her addiction would never hold no matter how much he loved her. He drove her back to a cheap motel where she lived trick to trick. As they hugged and he felt the bones flex just beneath her ragged skin, he said he couldn't help thinking about a life for the two of them. How he could just whisk her away right then and all would be great again. But she instead disappeared in a dark door behind a dark man who'd let her in.

He told me that story and I thought, Wow. That's kinda like owning a BMW for about 20 years. :rofl:

:rofl: Great story. :D

It's just a heated steering wheel, not a deal breaker in my book. If it was the trans or transfer case or the engine yeah time to dump it.

Get a couple of these, and place them inside your driving gloves. :bustingup http://i1.wp.com/blog.thetravelinsid.../grabbersb.jpg

Tuff Crowd tonight.

Wait until the light of day. Some stuff will turn on after a shut down and cool off period. Contacts with dust on them, etc. Check the relay and see if it "clicks".

lol on the hand warmer!!!

It probably will not be a deal breaker. It's just that every single little light, button , function, etc works in my X and I like to keep it that way ( I'm obsessed with broken things ) .... Another learning DIY , at least this one will be in the warm comfort of my heated seat which btw works lol

Thx man :thumbup:

You just jinxed yourself again.


20 bucks says your heated seat doesn't work tomorrow. :)

For problems like this it really helps to know where relevant items are located.

On top of the fuse panel (you have to pull the glovebox and remove the 4 torx screws to drop the fuse WHOLE fuse panel) there are a number of green relays along the left hand side. The second or 3rd one should be your heated steering wheel relay...I'll have to double check which slot. If your HSW button doesn't even light up, my money is on a toast clock spring, burnt or incorrectly located relay.

swap the heated wheel relay with one of you other ones, just make sure they are the same

remove the airbag and check the 2 wires coming from the clock spring, one of them should have power, get that far and you should know where you sit

Thanks for the help guys, i'll be doing that this weekend.

And to Brandon, you know what Karma is? Your attitude brings bad Karma. I wish you well buddy....

I'm just busting your balls buddy.

I hope you don't think I was being serious. Just trying to bring a little humor to the subject since it seems like you're cursed with gremlins in your ride.

In BMW "speak"...a clock spring is called the "slipring"...and in the e53 and many BMWs since 3/99-up build date...the "steering column switch" (which contains the slipring). It is a device that allows the air bag & buttons on the MFL (multi-functional) steering wheel to be powered yet allows for unfettered steering wheel rotation.

Back before the debut of the dual stage airbags (around 3/99)...the slip ring used to be mounted to the back of the steering wheel (see pic below)...then both would be mounted to the steering column:


BMW changed the design and now the slipring (aka clockspring) is incorporated into the steering column switch and is physically mounted to the steering column itself...with the steering column stalks plugging into the switch (see images below):

Thx for info :thumbup:

:thumbup:

:dunno:.... I went to the car wash tonight and when I got out, steering works as if nothing happened. U N B E L I E V A B L E :doh:

See I told you so. Now I can take all the credit for this "fix":nanana: Welcome to world of electronics.

More than likely: Relay contact, dirt/carbon on contact ring, hand cream on the button so it does not go down all the way, etc. Plan on the issue poping up sometime later when another/ all the streering wheel function stop working.

Here you go : :bow:

Yup , chances are it'll come and haunt me again in a near future ...I'm mentally prepared :D

You are welcome.

Glad to hear and read some good news from Canada tonight. I am sure you need a spat of happy driving and good feelings. CONGRATS!

I'm off tomorrow and there is a snow storm starting tonight...Happy driving starts tomorrow morning ;)
Thx man!

Update:

As you remember , when I came out of the carwash it started working again but that lasted only a few days.It died in a very gradual way this time (like you will see in the vid. Temperatures stayed cold until today. It rained all day here and temp. was +3c ( 37F). A "carwash" kinda day ;)

It is now making some contact like when it gradually died. Please watch the 9 sec vid and let me know if you think it's the spliring (clockspring) or more likely the relay. The green light flashes when I release.
I did not have time to test either one but before I get into it , i'd like your feedbacks....thx

Heated steering - YouTube

looks like a bad contact somewhere or maybe bad switch to me? how many times has your steering wheel been pulled off the car?

From what I know the steering was never pulled out.

Well you lost me. I don't have a heated steering wheel so no help

Thx RB for trying :thumbup:

any update? im having a similar issue. This morning it was freezing outside. I go to turn on the heated steering wheel and the light flickered and turned off. no heat :(

Sorry bro , the only way I found to fix "the" problem was to sell the X5. Bought a 2015 Outback and 2015 WRX...been problem free since.

Good luck!

Bummer.. good luck with your new vehicles

bump..

anyone else have this issue?

We are having an issue (05 4.8is) with the heated steering and heated front seats. Switches light up green and do not flicker, but no heat. It seems that pushing the buttons several times (on/off/on/off...) eventually gets whichever to work, then the other works as well. In other words repeated pressing steering heater button eventually gets that and seats on. Or repeated pressing of seat heater button (either seat) eventually gets that seat, the other seat and steering on. So I suspect the relay, but am mistified why the button lights come on. Haven't had time to do anything about it or really investigate.

Turned out to be a bad alternator/voltage regulator, which was overcharging at times and freaking out the brains. The ABS and 4X4 lights would come on, the Trans Fail Safe came on, and several other weirdnesses, as the problem got worse. Once we had new components in, all of these electrical gremlins disappeared.

Congrats on the solution. Thanks for posting