Stuck track rod end.

Car . BMW 530
Issue is the steering wheel is about 30 Deg off centre when traveling in a straight line.
Solution , in my mind , loosen both track rod ends and adjust using a spanner against a rule to ensure tracking stays as is .
Problem. Can’t get the outer track rod end to rotate. Stupid design fail by BMW . The locknut tightens down over a top hat which compresses the track rod end for greater safety. The track rod has 2 slots in it to enable compression.
The slots are also open to ingress being longer than the top hat .
So every time you drive in the wet water can find it s way into the threads and they will rust and seize.
Tried some heat , some penetrating oil to no avail.
Don’t want to get it too hot as there’s rubber boots not far away .
Think it might be a job for the grinder.
Any ideas I haven’t tried?

Any ideas I haven’t tried?

Fit steering wheel 30 degrees from where it currently is?

Get the car on a ramp or over a pit and apply some leverage. You can’t get any real leverage on a TRE off axle stands.

on my BMW’s (E39’s) i became resigned to the fact it was easier to swap the whole track rod out than try to loosen the adjuster

still takes a bloody big spanner and lever to undo it from the rack

probably easier if you can stand under the car

Yeah..pop steering wheel (often a t50) off, and straighten.

DrP

Please disable any airbags first, before removing steering wheel, as just disconnecting the main battery is not always enough!

Steering wheel is not coming off .
There’s loads of buttons and an explosive airbag in there.
Might try to open the slot up with a cold chisel or flat head screwdriver twisted in the slot so I can get more fluid in there

 adjust using a spanner against a rule

Just count the number of turns and do the same on both sides.

Soak the nut in some decent penetrating oil every day for a few days with driving in between, the usage and constant soaking usually works it’s way in and loosens them off.  It’s surprising how much effort it can take though.

Yeah..pop steering wheel (often a t50) off, and straighten.

That can cause issues with the self-cancelling mechanism on the indicators (make your own joke…) and stability systems if the sensor is on the column.  Someone had done it to my mum’s Nissan Note to hide that it had been bumped up kerbs most of it’s life (alloys had been refurbed when she bought it) and it meant the stability system was not happy on occasions.  Noticed the self-cancelling was off to so reset the whole thing before getting an alignment done and all was fine afterwards.

Is it the tracking that’s off or the steering wheel?

Adjusting the TREs might leave you with weird steering in your attempts to get the wheel aligned. The rack won’t be centred anymore, you’ll have more lock one way or the other, might also give you issues with wheel hitting arch liners or other suspension components.
And depending on the rack and the cars age/spec, the pump might cycle at a higher speed if it detects the rack off centre as it *thinks* you’re turning and need more flow/pressure. They’ve been kicking around for ~10 years or so.

Do the right repair, not a bodge.

Sorry but how is it 30 degrees off centre? Did you hit a wall?

Do the right repair, not a bodge.

This.

Are you sure that it isn’t a feature meant to get you into the outside lane of a motorway and keep you there?

Headlamp flash falls more naturally to hand as well

Solution , in my mind , loosen both track rod ends and adjust using a spanner against a rule to ensure tracking stays as is .

Is the tracking actually correct though? Personally the first step here would be to take it to somewhere decent to have that checked.

I’d get it four wheel aligned first.  And I’d be very wary about putting too much stress through the track rod ends, I tried to unseize mine without twisting the inner track rod, gave up and sent it to a garage a few weeks later. Then within a few hundred miles the steering rack failed (motor/bearings) which cost ££££ to fix

Make sure you don’t wind the TRE out too far as well…

Whys it so far out? 30° is huge

For the sake of ~£50 to get it done by someone else with lasers and stuff, just take it into Kwikfit.

Sorry but how is it 30 degrees off centre? Did you hit a wall?

Also this?

What have you bent to get it 30deg out? I’ve rebuilt the entire front suspension and been less far out by eyeball and guesswork!

Its easy to remove the steering wheel, just disconnect the battery for at least twenty minutes before you do it.  The airbag just pops off once you have depressed the catches from the rear with a couple of screwdrivers.

I haven’t hit anything . I bought it with it off centre. Tracking is spot on , tyre wear very even with no diving or tramlines ever.
It’s not got lane control or the active steering system some versions do .
Going to buy new ones, fit them then get it 4 wheels aligned. It’s £70 locally with a tyre centre I trust who are not part of a chain.
I own digital verniers so can very accurately measure the existing threads and recreate the existing alignment

I own digital verniers

Sigh.

No you bloody don’t.

Yes I bought 2 from the CRC blow out sale with the intention of keeping one at work and one at home.

No need to swear and wet your pants at a small grammar error. This isn’t an engineering degree paper .

Lol love a stw pedant ^^ ?

Tracking is spot on

It won’t be after you correct for 30 degree of steering wheel misalignment.

Going to buy new ones, fit them then get it 4 wheels aligned. It’s £70 locally with a tyre centre I trust who are not part of a chain.

It will be after it’s been laser aligned.
Wheelbase is equal so the string line method would at least get it squared on the toe , obvs not castor and camber.

You don’t specify the age of your 5-Series, but it may also need its steering angle sensor re-calibrated so that the ABS / Stability system can tally steering input with wheel speeds and / or lateral forces. My 3-series is pretty sensitive to such things.

I still want to know why its 30 degrees out…

Something is bent, no question but your alignment will highlight that.

30degrees isn’t that far off easily achievable by an apprentice on the alignment bay

It will be after it’s been laser aligned.

Only in a straight line, your steering (Ackermann geo) will be out with unequal length track rods.

Jack and support the front end. Centre the steering wheel and turn full lock left – note how many turns and degrees until the wheel hits the end of the rack. Do the same the other way full lock. From there you can figure out the centre point of the steering rack and then understand if the steering wheel is correct to the rack or not. Once you figure that out then you can start twiddling with TRE’s

Steering angle sensors are attached to the steering column and not the steering wheel.

Nothing is bent . It drives superbly with no bump steer , diving under braking , doesn’t push whilst cornering.
I have changed the bump stops so would have noticed accident damage or missing bushes.
Going to remove the steering wheel and click it round a spline, YouTube makes it look ridiculously easy.
Will report back around 10am if not in A&E

Going to remove the steering wheel and click it round a spline,

You need to centre the rack / steering column as per my post above before relocating the wheel. Especially so if the car has a steering angle sensor – if the rack is off centre (because the TRE’s are incorrectly installed) then the BCM thinks the car is cornering when it’s actually going in a straight line.

Fail.
Airbag didn’t deploy. But..
There is a woodruff key type of affair that means it can only be fitted in a certain way and clocking it round on the splines is not possible. Like it was in the 90s

So either something is weird in the column itself, or the tracking is already way out.
Or the rack is offcentre/wrong spec, or someones been bouncing it off kerbs…

It’s had a replacement alloy wheel , there’s a receipt in the service history. So that’s a strong possibility. Inner track rod might be bent inside the rubber boots.
I’ll run a metal rule along it.
Next game is fit outers after angle grinding off the existing then alignment. If still no joy the inner track rod replacement is an option.
Or just accept it and keep on driving it and is.

Best price for Michelin tyres was Kwik-Fit, who told me the TRE’s were stuck tight so no tracking adjustment.

Got a local garage to warm up the seized parts with an induction heater – £10 well spent.