Steering wheel locked, ignition working -- Help!!

[imstig]

Hi,

I was just at a mechanic shop to get my AC checked and they wen to go move my car into the bay. The guy comes back and tells me the steering wheel is locked. When I go outside, I find that the car turns on, but the steering wheel is still locked. My intuition is that he turned the key hard past the lock mechanism, but I'm not sure.

Is there any way to fix this without needing new parts or drilling a hole to disable the lock mechanism? Where should I be looking first? I'm about to go work on it in their parking lot.

Car is a 98 z3 2.8l

Thanks!

[DimrBimmer]

https://www.bimmerforums.com/forum/s...on-t-disengage
The best I could find. But looks like solution was exactly what you are trying to avoid.

[imstig]

https://www.bimmerforums.com/forum/s...on-t-disengage
The best I could find. But looks like solution was exactly what you are trying to avoid.

Yep. I ended up drilling it out. I first took off the steering wheel to take off the lock housing assembly, but there were bolts with torque sheared heads on them that I would have to chisel out. I didn't want to do that -- it would require dashboard removal, so I gave up and drilled it.

If one manages to take it off, you can just remove the lock pin and put everything back together. I think the mechanism that pulls down the lock when the key is turned broke.