Squeaky steering wheel fix

[Erich M.]

Being the owner of a '95 525i with over 213k miles, I finally had to correct the squeaky steering noise. If not for my benefit, to keep the wife from bothering me about it. It turns out that it was the plastic bearing just behind the steering wheel. I found that our little freinds in the E36 community have quite an inclusive writeup on this particular problem. So rather than duplicate efforts, I'll just point you to that link. I have added my input which you will find at the end.

Steering wheel squeak FIXED... Writeup w/pics - Bimmerforums - The Ultimate BMW Forum (http://forums.bimmerforums.com/forum/showthread.php?t=245961)

Hopefully this will help those of you with the dreaded squeak and you can get on with enjoying the Ultimate Driving Machine!

[ss2115]

Hi Erich and thanks for the reference to that thread.
My steering does squeek in one position in the cold weather, but not hot weather. Hasn't driven me mad as it has some people, but something I always intended to get around to "one day".

As you have played around with the steering column as such, you might be able to advise:
In one of the replies it was mentioned that an E46 member had drilled a hole through the column from the inside of the cabin and filled up to said hole with a lubricant and this obviously saturated the bearing and solved his problem.
Would that also work in our E34's as it seems a better solution in many ways - ie: get more lubricant in, less hassle to apply and always accesable to repeat if neccessary.
But I don't know if the spindle and bearing arrangements are the same which is why i'm asking.

I realise that your fix was a different problem being at the top of the column, but the referenced thread states that most common is the bottom bearing as a starting point and if you have good knowledge of the steering column arrangements, you might be the best person to advise.

[Erich M.]

My squeak ended up coming back. I thought about drilling a hole in the column but it wasn't necessary. I found that the slip ring is actually making the noise. Just to be on the safe side, I did squirt some white Lithium greas on the lower bearing. There was no need to drill a hole. After removing the lower trim panel per the Bentley, I was able to reach the lower column bearing. Of course, the trim panel that covers the pedals also has to come off, and in order to have room to get it out, a crash pad has to be removed which is directly behind the lower steering trim panel. Believe me when I tell you that there is a lot of wiring in that area as well as the device for the column (movement in and out). I'm not sure I would be able to drill a hole without hitting or damaging something in the process. Now I need to figure out why the slip ring is making the noise. I'm not sure if it needs to be replaced. It is original to the car!