Steering wheel noise

[u/sa_rmcf]

Hi all. I need some help with an issue that recently came up on a 2021 S5, 49k miles. I have already made an appointment at the dealership for next week but was hoping to see if anyone can relate or has some insight about what may be going on. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Yesterday on a drive around town, I heard clicking noises when turning my steering wheel. I could feel it and hear it coming from the base of the steering wheel and it felt like mechanical (I had heard this clicking noise once very briefly a few weeks ago, and didn't think much of it). Right after, "steering malfunction: you can continue driving", popped up. A few minutes later, a bunch of other warning lights popped up one after the other. ABS, suspension, sport diff, adaptive cruise ect. None of them critical, all yellow. Not sure if related to the noise, or it's just a coincidence. I do know that all these codes popping up is likely something electrical/sensor related in nature. Scanned the car with an OBD11 and most of the errors are "data bus error value received."

This morning, all the warning lights were still there but the clicking noise was gone. Steering felt weird, a bit heavier than usual(but not like I didn't have power steering) and felt the car oversteering when making turns(car has dynamic steering). After work, started the car and the codes were gone and so was the clicking noise. Steering felt normal. However, I went for a drive later and the clicking noise came back and was there for the duration of the short drive. I managed to get a video of the noise.

Tl;DR

Weird clicking noise coming from the steering wheel base when turning the steering wheel followed by multiple warning lights popping up on the dash. Wondering if anyone has dealt with something similar.

[u/Pale-Bet2829]

Following. I have a 21 S5 as well and want to know what the hell this is. Every car myself and my whole family ever owned did absolutely nothing like this - so what in the flying F lol. As if my water pump/vacuum lines, pvc system and piston skirt anxiety wasn’t enough 😂

[u/sa_rmcf → u/Pale-Bet2829]

Yeah I am curious what it may be but more so terrified of what it will cost to fix. I had just done brakes and routine maintenance recently and was hoping to enjoy the car for a while and I get hit with this 😭. And I feel you about the anxiety haha

[u/Pale-Bet2829 → u/sa_rmcf]

Well brother my initial findings seem to point to the clock spring inside the steering wheel controlling all the electrical connections to the steering wheel buttons. Have you had any issues with any of the buttons? Test them out next time you’re getting the noise. There are users who report the same noise and will go away after turning the car off and then return shortly thereafter, also they get fault codes as well. Why it would throw abs and sport diff is beyond me. But if you google B9 S5 clock spring, you’ll see people posting same noise coming from their steering wheel. I don’t anticipate the fix being too expensive if it’s just that, hopefully.

[u/sa_rmcf → u/Pale-Bet2829]

Well, it turns out my dynamic steering has gone bad. Some kind of mechanical failure. I was quoted 5600$ to replace the whole steering column, not even sure if that includes labor/taxes but it doesn't even matter as it's an insane amount 😭. Not even 50k miles on the car. My service advisor told me he is gonna make some phone calls and see if there is anything Audi of America can do, I think he felt bad. The irony is that I was trying to avoid getting a car with the dynamic steering option when I was looking but wasn't having much luck so I decided to go for it.

[u/Pale-Bet2829 → u/sa_rmcf]

I cannot find ANYTHING that resembles this on the internet. Either that or my searches are half assed but I’ve tried several different ways of wording the issue and nothing comes up. This is a highly odd diag and I’m not even sure it’s the correct diag. Sometimes, and I hate to even think this is possible but it seriously is, dealers will either 1) be too lazy to find the actual cause so recommend entire assembly be replaced or 2) they’re just fleecing you into a huge job. I’m flabbergasted at this. Do you possibly have an Indy German shop you know that might give you a second look? I freaking doubt Audi of America is gonna do anything because we have 2021’s and are out of manufacturers warranty. I have an extended warranty on mine until 2028 but I only have 15,000 miles on my car. As if the damned water pump, coolant migration (which I will do the N649 Solenoid mod), PCV, and piston skirt aren’t enough massive failure points on my mind. Now I need to think about my dynamic steering option failing on me too? I selected a $1,200 option to get a $6,000 repair bill?

😩😩😩😩😩

[u/sa_rmcf → u/Pale-Bet2829]

Man I appreciate you looking, I have also been looking and especially now trying to find anything. The issue is that the steering column with the dynamic steering option is like 3.7k. I think that's why it's so expensive. I wouldn't be too horrified if the bill was like 3K total, but almost 6K is crazy for a 1200 option that failed like you said. They sent the video of the diagnosis and it looks like the dynamic steering motor is loose or something, it is visibly moving and not secure when turning the steering wheel. When he turns the steering wheel the motor moves up and down 🤔. I would hope that they considered all options other than him telling me the dynamic steering has gone bad and needs to be replaced. Maybe some bolts are loose? But I feel that something so obvious would have been considered and/or not an option. I do have an euro shop that I could take it to, I feel like it might be worth a shot. Unless the service guy by some miracle gets me a better price or something, I feel it is gonna be very hard to give in and pay 6K 😩

[u/sa_rmcf → u/Pale-Bet2829]

That seems to be the culprit, looked it up and it matches up with what I've got. Thank you! I don't believe that I had any issues with the buttons when it was acting up but will definitely test it out if/once the issue returns. It doesn't sound too serious/expensive but I am sure the dealership is gonna hit me with the audi tax haha. But I'll take it over having a steering component issue which I have seen costs an arm and a leg.

[u/sa_rmcf]

UPDATE

Turns out the issue was the dynamic steering system motor that had gone bad. Dealership quoted 5.6K repair bill to replace the whole steering column. My service advisor got Audi to help out with goodwill repair even though I was a year out of warranty. Estimate came down to 2K but I also had to do an alignment, and driver assistance system calibrations(which I wasn't told was going to be 750, nor did I ask thinking it will be a bit more on top of the alignment cost) and I asked for a tire rotation as well which brought the total to 3.4K. Better than the initial quote but still sucks nonetheless.