Boosting power steering
 

Wife just got her 08 4.8i last week (without Active Steering), and she found the steering heavier than anticipated. The X5 she had test-driven was fully optioned, but being cheap, I told her not to get the Active Steering when we were custom ordering the car. I'm pretty sure she'll get used to it, but in the meantime, does anyone here know about or have experience with boosting the power steering? Any help would be greatly appreciated so I don't have to sleep on the couch.

I don't know how to help you, but :xoutpost:

sorry to tell you but you should


have gotten the active steering i traded in my x5 with another just for the


active steering,,, i dont think there is another thing you can do...

Thanks for the welcome. I joined this board because people seem to be friendly here. I'm not sure my wife will trade her car for one with Active Steering. I've seen posts mentioning a Service Menu in iDrive and I wonder if the powersteering can be adjusted there. On my A3, I can adjust the steering through the ECU by using a VAG-Com connection. Since this is my first experience with a BMW, I have no idea whether the same can be done on the X5.

No, you cannot adjust the power steering assist. This isn't an //M car. Should have gotten the Active Steering if steering heft was an issue.

All right, thanks.

She will get used to it. Initially I also thought the steering was too "heavy", but 1.5 months later it is no longer an issue.

yeah, I was in the same position and yes the steering is tougher but it's safer to steer with both hands anyway so I decided to be happy with it.

I even went in to the dealership because my steering would not come back to normal position after turning at low speeds (around 5km/h during parking maneuvers). They made the steering a bit lighter (maybe put a bit more grease?) but made no drastic difference. I can definitely live with it for now but my next one will have active steering for sure.

After driving several other loaner 3 series BMWs I find that the X5 steering is the heaviest among the models. :popcorn: I wonder why...

Maybe because it weighs more than any other model...

Craig

Yeah, wifey already says she's getting used to it, but Active Steering is the way to go for the X5.