I have a 2004 E46 M3, and the last couple of winters it has developed an annoying habit. Living in the Northeast, it gets down below freezing in the winter. Not the hard core below zero much, but into the teens and 20s. Anyway, when my car sits outside during the day in the cold weather, and I come out at night to head home, the steering is VERY hard for a very short period of time. By the time I'm out of the lot and down the street a couple of blocks its back to a reasonable amount of effort. Just wondering if anyone else has experienced something like this and what the cause might have been. Other than this short amount of time when the car has been sitting in the cold everything else is fine. Fluid has been changed once in 70,000+ miles, and level seems okay. ~gs2gf ________
man you have to give that fluid time to warm up is all. the fluid is very thick at these cold temps. nothing is wrong with your M so rest assured. are you getting snow where you are? if so how is it driving in the snow? Mine is all over the place but this was with oem continentals, and they were fairly new.
I don't think the temp of the fluid is changing in the 60 seconds from start to when the problem disappears. Car doesn't go out in the snow, try to keep the chemicals off it whenever possible. But yes, with stock tires they are a handful in the snow. I never needed to drive it enough in the snow to warrant a set of snow tires / wheels, but that would make a big difference. ~gs2gf
You would be surprised at how quick all the fluids in your car heat up. Were talking metal to metal hydraulic pumps in your power steering system. Not meaning to contradict you for the sake of conflict. I would'nt state something if i were'nt sure. I'm taking Automotive Technology as we speak at OCC, so its slightly more than an educated guess my good man
