My 540i almost killed me.

[401michael]

Was driving on I-95 south in Miami where I live my friend is in the car with me and I had been making pulls on the highway give the car gas and suddenly it hits 3,000 RPMs and just cuts but Smooths back out go to hit the gas again car revs up then hear a loud pop engine dies while going 85 gauges start acting funny alarm goes off the steering column then locks with the wheel slightly turned and as the car is rolling towards the left side of the highway about to go into the express lane the traffic across 3 Lanes Slams on their brakes as my car just rolls with a locked column so I slam on the brakes as hard as I can and get the car to stop just before we go into the Express Lane the alarm is still going off I had just replaced the fuse for the Anti-Theft so the rear seat of the car was already out all I had to do is turn around and reach behind the lip it's under from the driver seat. Almost caused a huge pile up. Any idea what could have caused this? I believe the pop I heard was an electrical short.

[demetk]

How did your steering wheel lock engage with the key in the ignition? Did it break and accidentally lock while driving?

[Mykk]

The 3k rpm cut sounds like a classic M60 crank sensor problem, a new sensor takes care of that. But the other symptoms make me think something more electrical, a short, a bad ground something. Did the steering wheel really lock or was it the power steering stopping when the engine stalled?

When it comes to 20+ year electrical I believe less is more and I would be removing any and all alarm bits and finding bypasses & work arounds.

[401michael]

The column locked as the alarm went off with the key in the on position I took the car out again but on local roads and without the alarm fuse in, everything was fine until I tried to accelerate then heard 3 loud pops sounded from the tranny area and the car did the same thing again except this time the column didnt lock from the anti theft so i was able to pull over turn the key off and then turn the car on and limp home

[demetk]

Steering wheel doesn't normally lock from a car alarm going off. I could just imagine the lawsuits from building that into an alarm system.

[401michael]

Im just curious about the loud pop or bang I heard almost sounded like a backfire. The engine just suddenly dies too. Very weird

[de Witt]

Odd. Ive only read about the E34 steering column lock failing and locking a parked car (just one example), but if the engine shut off then perhaps that explains the locking. Maybe your steering lock/tumbler was ready to fail. Old Neiman Mercedes steering column locks typically warn you when the tumbler starting to fail with a very hard time moving the key/tumber through the positions. The tumbler can usually be replaced easily if you can move the key to the II position but if the key cannot move to II, then the column lock is engaged and its time to do some drilling.

[e30luv318i]

X2 I can’t think of a way the ignition would lock with wheel with the key in

[moroza]

I had a very hard time reading that. Punctuate, please.

The steering column lock is purely mechanical, from the key tumbler. If it really locked up on you with all this other stuff going on, it's a freaky coincidence.

I once had this happen (in a different car) while driving, and it scared me into deleting the lock on every car I own from then on. Steering is the last thing you want to lose; I'd rather lose brakes first. All the lock does is slow down (not stop) anyone trying to steal the car.

[Hofmeister]

it sounds like multiple issues acting up at once. you can delete the lock (which im debating myself).
btw im in broward (sample/95) if youre coming up here let me know.

[ross1]

[Jackson42]

What's "Christine" in German?

[401michael]

it sounds like multiple issues acting up at once. you can delete the lock (which im debating myself).
btw im in broward (sample/95) if youre coming up here let me know.

It was multiple issues acting up at once I disabled the anti theft and haven't had the issue again

[NikosX]

I'm sorry to hear OP. Glad you're ok. I have a hard time believing the steering lock engaged with the key in the on position...But I would believe that with the engine stalled, OP was probably trying to steer with no assist while backing the key off to try and restart while the car was moving.

Pops are most definitely backfires.

What codes are on with your CEL?


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[401michael]

I'm sorry to hear OP. Glad you're ok. I have a hard time believing the steering lock engaged with the key in the on position...But I would believe that with the engine stalled, OP was probably trying to steer with no assist while backing the key off to try and restart while the car was moving.

Pops are most definitely backfires.

What codes are on with your CEL?


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I was heading straight when the car backfired and quit. as the car quit the alarm went off I didnt touch the key until I stopped the car as I turned the wheel to get over column locked and I had to stop I had no CEL however after this all happened I parked my car for a month or so. I recently decided to fix it as I missed driving it. I replaced the camshaft position sensor upon inspection the plug was cracked and had a wire out. the car would start but would run very rough it also burned oil so I replaced the pcv and fixed all vacuum leaks I could find and cleaned the idle control. just drove the car to ft. myers and back to miami burned a quart of oil going to ft. myers so I need to troubleshoot that oil burning issue further but the car runs good now. also regapped my plugs to .042 im running copper plugs. car also burns gas like a mf. but no more backfires or what feels like fuel cut.