TeamD Adventures

I began chasing down a longstanding annoyance on the BMW Sunday, and the
trail went down Alice’s rabbit hole. Before I reached the nether end,
most of the dash on the driver’s side was spread out around the rest
of the interior, and a mound of screws like a red ants’ hill lay on
the mat.

The steering column was loosened in the pursuit, and when I began to
retorque it I noticed play between the upper and lower parts of the
steering shaft. The upper part is tubular, with spines on its inner
circumference; the lower part’s a solid rod with matching splines.
Evidently the arrangement is part of a collapsable column for accident
safety. The play was rotational — the outer tube could move slightly
before a like motion was imparted to the inner rod. If I wiggled the
wheel, I could hear the same little rattle that we’d occasionally
heard since we bought the car. Aha!

Removing the play just required tightening a large gland nut on the
lower end of the tubular part. Rattle — gone. Haven’t driven it yet,
but I expect the slightly vague on-center feel to be gone as well.
Had I not found the “extra” thing to fix while chasing the annoyance,
I’d have considered most of Sunday’s hours wasted; but as the steering
slop was corrected, I feel wonderfully at peace with the time it all
took.