Steering position unable to be at full straight

[SDSUPRAGUY]

Trying to diagnose this steering issue. After about 15 minutes of spirited driving the steering wheel will not allow me to hold the car at full straight. It either wants to be 2 degrees to the left or right and will click over when turning the wheel. Anyone know what this could be? See attached video

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[rowdy]

my wheel does that too, i’ve seen others mention having it as well. my thoughts are it’s an alignment issue but haven’t had the time available to get it taken care of yet.

 

[razorlab]

There is actual physical click? Something is wrong with that steering rack.

 

[SDSUPRAGUY]

There is a physical click but not an audible one. Before the car is fully warmed up this isn’t a problem at all and the car tracks completely straight

 

[razorlab]

There is a physical click but not an audible one. Before the car is fully warmed up this isn’t a problem at all and the car tracks completely straight

Yea it should feel smooth through it's whole sweep, no physical indents or anything.

Do you have aftermarket suspension and/or suspension arms, sway bar, end links? Something could be binding. However, the fact you say it's fine cold makes me think it's the actual steering rack.

 

[tracer bullet]

Troubleshooting related, if you're able to find a gentle curve to drive sometime, and the wheel is at a sustained angle for a while. does it do this same effect but at the new angle? Or only when it passes through "straight" driving?

I'm wondering if it does takes this set / has this issue at a different angle maybe it's related to a ball joint or something not actually steering related. If it's only when driving straight then it would seem rack related or in the shaft itself.

Loose stuff happens, but having it get tight like this is odd.

Another troubleshooting idea, probably really hard to gauge, is if it feels like it's physically getting blocked or is there some chance the EPS is off for a fraction of a second? Eh after typing that it seems really unlikely but in 2025 almost 2026 and cars being overengineered this could be electronic?

 

[rowdy]

@tracer bullet i had a hunch it was maybe electronic related too as when the issue would happen to me, it was less pronounced when in regular mode and a lot more noticeable in sport.

@razorlab i was experiencing this on stock everything suspension wise.

 

[Z4m40i]

This almost looks like what happens when the thrust bushing on the steering rack is too tight. When it’s too tight, you’ll have issues with the steering wheel returning to center; however, the clicking is usually associated with too loose of a thrust bushing. See here:

https://www.supramkv.com/threads/suspension-clunking-noise.12641/page-4

There was also a TSB for clicking that blamed tie rods. I have replaced these twice and still have minor clicking in my 2020 z4.
https://static.nhtsa.gov/odi/tsbs/2023/MC-10235180-9999.pdf

 

[tracer bullet]

This almost looks like what happens when the thrust bushing on the steering rack is too tight.

I wondered about that, but was thinking it might be tight through the whole range. Had the effect of not wanting to return to center, because that inherent tendency was maybe weakest as it got closer to the center and was finally overcome. I really don't know though, never messed with adjusting one.

 

[razorlab]

When I over tightened my rack, it was tight through the whole range. There was never any indent feeling.

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