Active steering fault.

- Fresno, CA, USA

I was driving my car and was in the middle of a turn through an intersection when my belt tensioner and broke. My car is equipped with BMW's "active steering" system that is driven by the serpentine belt. When the belt broke, I was not able to steer my car and it felt like the steering column was locked. I barely avoided an accident with another vehicle and ended crashing on to the median. My kids were in the car with me at the time. If my wife was driving the car, she would have crashed into the other vehicle because the forced required to turn the steering was extremely high. I've driven cars without power steering before, and this is nothing like it. Normally cars can turn when moving - even with no power steering, but with a defective "active steering" system, I was barely able to move the steering wheel. My car had only 52000 miles and it was serviced at the dealer at 48000 miles and nothing was detected. The dealer said the casting of the tensioner pulley broke and the pulley came off and made the belt snap, thereby losing my steering control. I consider myself very lucky that I was able to avoid a major accident and I do not want other people to get injured or die due to this mechanical defect. This happened very suddenly and without warning. This condition not only causes the loss of steering, but can also lead to engine overheating and battery discharge since this pulley also drives the alternator and water pump.

- Grayslake, IL, USA