Car went into dealer today to have a leak from the steering system fixed, and they found that there was some play in the track rod end.

I'm not really sure what this means..........I was assured that it'll be fixed under warranty. Has anyone else had any problems, and what might the symptoms be in case it's something I might have been ignoring!!

its a ball joint that connects the steering rack to the hub (the bit between the bottom ball joint and the suspension strut) and can only really be tested with the car jacked up

HTH

I have noticed a slight knock at low speeds from steering, ie when pulling out or into a parking space, my car has 27K so wear such as this could be possible, due service in a month so will inform dealer. Has any one else had this problem?

Mine knocks when driving slowly around corners when it's slightly bumpy. It uses to only do it when cold, now it does it all the time.

Have had it checked out by 2 different dealers and they say there is nothing wrong :mad:

I'm going back next week as I am certain there is a loose ball-joint, or perhaps engine mount. It doesn't exactly make you drive with confidence.....

Thread ressurection.

Today, I replaced Discs and pads all round because under braking, I was getting a severe shaking coming from the steering wheel. My initial thought was warped disc and to be honest, all discs and pads were on the raggety side anyway...

However we have found what looks to be the cause of the shaking... the near side front wheel when fully tightened can be physically shaken and you can see it move.

My cousin who did the brakes (Mechanic for 7 years) said my near side track rod end is f00ked... so I'm calling BMW tomorrow.

I'd noticed pulling into a car parking space a slight knocking and also the feeling that the wheel had caught something very briefly and then released.

My knocking noise turned out to be worn bushings on the anti-roll bar at the front - started at about 10k miles, but had to get worse before Mini would investigate the issue properly, at 20K miles. They replaced the bushes and the knock went away.

There is still a pop when I accelerate from a standing start, which I will have Mini look at in the very near future.

Well to be honest, The mere fact that you can physically see the wheel move when it's firmly bolted on is very worrying... It's like something off a toy car... :)

ive been having similar funny happenings on my car 29k on the clock ive had 2 steering colums fitted under warrnty but my steering still dosent feel right and my steering wheel dosent make full lock one way and makes more than full lock the other i.e norm is 1 full turn and then a half turn mine is uneven so to speak i have had a full bmw KDS alingment and tacking done and for 10 mins after it was back to nromal then as soon as i got home (10 miles) the steering wheel probelm was back ????????????