2004 BMW Z4 problems
NHTSA has received 443 complaints about the 2004 BMW Z4, and 86% of them involve steering. Next are air bags (5%) and electrical system (3%).
At a glance
- Complaints
- 443 filed with NHTSA
- Most reported
- Steering 86% of complaints
- Crashes and fires
- 2 and 2
- Injuries and deaths
- 0 and 0
- Typical mileage
- 48,000 miles 403 complaints with mileage
Source: NHTSA owner complaints
Where the complaints are
Share of this model year's complaints by the part of the car involved. One complaint can name more than one part, so the shares can add up to more than 100%.
When problems show up
View the numbers
| Mileage | Complaints |
|---|---|
| 0k to 20k miles | 48 |
| 20k to 40k miles | 102 |
| 40k to 60k miles | 110 |
| 60k to 80k miles | 72 |
| 80k to 100k miles | 37 |
| 100k to 120k miles | 18 |
| 120k to 140k miles | 9 |
| 140k to 160k miles | 5 |
| 160k to 180k miles | 1 |
| 180k to 200k miles | 0 |
| 200k+ miles | 1 |
What the data shows
Of the 403 complaints that include odometer readings, half describe a problem before roughly 48,000 miles. For steering specifically, the median reported mileage is about 46,000 miles (348 complaints with mileage).
Safety-related details: 2 complaints mention a crash; 2 complaints mention a fire. Its complaints are less severe on average than those of 95% of model years in our database.
Looking only at complaints filed within five years of the model year (so older and newer years are comparable), the 2004 ranks 2nd most-complained-about out of 8 model years of the BMW Z4 with enough data (78 complaints in that window). It is also covered by 1 safety recall campaign.
What owners wrote
A few complaints as filed, shortened and with personal details removed. The first ones are among the most serious reports for this model year; the rest are typical.
Water gets into the battery compartment through the rubber grommet that carries the main battery cable from the trunk to the front of the car. The battery compartment is a well that also houses the car stereo amplifier. Amplifier was sitting in about 2 inches of water causing the circuit board to short out and catch on fire.
For about the last five thousand miles, my steering has developed the dangerous steering condition( described by literally hundreds of owners in blogs and various postings-just do a search for "z4 steering problem") that exists in 2003-2005 BMW z4 roadsters. At first, the problem occurred only on very hot days (as described my many others). Now, it affects all aspects of driving, making the vehicle very difficult to control. Steering requires constant correction from left to right and does not return to center.
The steering is the only problem but your web site insists on my selecting at least 3 affected parts. In any case, the steering recently became jerky and notchy while driving. After several days of this, I took it my local foreign car repair specialist and they diagnosed a problem with the electronic power steering. Ultimately, they replaced the entire steering column at a cost to me of $4100.
Tl* the contact owns a 2004 BMW z4. While traveling at speeds of 25 MPH, the steering wheel became increasingly difficult to steer. The vehicle was taken to the dealer where the contact was informed that the rack and pinion would need to be replaced. There were no prior warnings. The current and failure mileages were 32,000.
I have noticed on warm days the steering becomes sticky as if the power steering is coming on and off. This causes a over controlling of the car and makes it difficult to drive. I felt very unsafe. I took the car to BMW roadshow at memphis and was told the problem was the electric steering unit and will cost $4000 to repair. I researched the internet and was shocked at the number of complaints going back as far as 2009. I called BMW customer service and was told that it was not their problem.