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48,764 BMW Z4 cars manufactured from 2003 to 2005 are being investigated by the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration because of possible steering wheel defects which can lead to loss of control. If this problem is confirmed, this can lead to recalls.
There have been 107 complaints filed to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration office from BMW Z4 owners because of loss of power assisted steering. Most BMW Z4 complainants say that steering wheel sticks, binds or locks up once they reach the speed of 45 mph, which makes it very difficult to control the vehicle.
There was one crash and a couple of complainants were almost involved into accidents. No fatalities were reported due to the steering wheel defects.
Source: Autonews
These were probably built at the Spartanburg USA plant rather than Regensburg, which started building US-bound Z4s only from 2009 onwards.
This article Says much more about US automotive quality than BMW’s.