The car reports this message: Drive carefully. Changed steering effort. Have the problem checked by the service center.

- Chicago, IL, USA

Intermittent and sudden "Changed Steering Effort" warning on dash every 2-3 vehicle starts. Steering effort is very noticeably increased. This is a known issue among all BMW iX owners, easily inspected, and BMW has swept this problem under the rug for too long and quietly replaced all the steering racks when the warning pops up. Fortunately for many, they're under the factory warranty. Unfortunately for me, I have had my car less than 2 years, and barely over the factory warranty on mileage. However, it is VERY concerning as many owners are getting their steering racks changed out at even under 10k miles. Yes, this can happen suddenly on the freeway at speed and I do believe is a safety issue. The problem can easily be reproduced and is a very typical problem on BMW iX's all over the US and globally as many owners on forums have been asking for help on this issue. The vehicle has been inspected by the dealer and their fix is to replace the entire steering rack. Yes, intermittent warnings. I hope NHTSA can get to the root of this and have BMW issue a recall for this steering rack issue, as our cars are very heavy and fast and if there are any sudden failures, it can be dangerous and fatal at highway speeds.

- San Marino, CA, USA

The steering rack on my under 2 year old BMW iX with ~21k miles needed to be replaced. The vehicle displayed an intermittent warning about increased steering effort and to contact my service center. Upon taking it in they diagnosed it as a steering rack issue. Before taking it in, internet searches suggest many other owners of 2022 BMW iXs are having similar failures for the last several months. Steering failure could easily cause a crash and significant injury or death if it happened at the wrong time. Having the rack fail on a car this new is worrisome.

- Seattle, WA, USA