PS res./hose leak.

[Cubieman]

I have recently developed a small leak where the power steering hose closest to the driver's side connects to the PS reservoir.
I would imagine that at 67K maybe the hose is simply starting to get brittle up there and that may be the cause of the leak.
Would it be advisable to order a new PS reservoir as well when doing hoses? Also, is genuine BMW the only way to go on a PS res. or are other brands just fine in this case?

[antknee]

yeah if you haven't done the high pressure lines, i would do those as well. I went with an offbrand (forget the brand) about 60K miles ago, and its faired better than the OEM one which only lasted 48K miles.

[S3diment]

Ironically mine is doing that too. When I take turns, it almost seems to cut out the power. Was thinking about getting the full kit from FCP.

[Cubieman]

I may just replace the res. and two lines running to res. for now.
Is a non-genuine res. acceptable?

[Kcalhoun27]

There was a forum member making high press hoses, with varying success stories. Im having mine swapped with oe equivalent from my local indy, i guess getting another 15 years out if them is going to have to be good enough

[Cubieman]

A genuine BMW reservoir is $63 vs. Rein $14, Uro $12, ZF $22, February $27, Dorman $41.

If I could save $50 I would sure like that, but I know with some parts it is best to use genuine for various reasons and others might not make any difference.

[mrgizmo04]

Just fyi, depending on what kind of clamps you use (or whoever previously used in your car) to attach the hoses to the reservoir, those clamps can loosen over time and make it look like the hose cracked and is leaking. All it takes it to just tighten up the clamps. (Ymmv, not saying it will solve everyone's problem, but something to check).

Also, the lid/cover for the reservoir has a hole in it that comes out to the side via one of the ribs (you can see it in the ECS screenshot below, the one facing directly at the camera has a hole). It's there for overflow of fluid. That will send fluid all over the reservoir side (whichever way that hole is facing when the lid is tightened down) and will run down the hoses that attach to the reservoir, making it look like a leak.


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[Cubieman]

Just fyi, depending on what kind of clamps you use (or whoever previously used in your car) to attach the hoses to the reservoir, those clamps can loosen over time and make it look like the hose cracked and is leaking. All it takes it to just tighten up the clamps. (Ymmv, not saying it will solve everyone's problem, but something to check).

Also, the lid/cover for the reservoir has a hole in it that comes out to the side via one of the ribs (you can see it in the ECS screenshot below, the one facing directly at the camera has a hole). It's there for overflow of fluid. That will send fluid all over the reservoir side (whichever way that hole is facing when the lid is tightened down) and will run down the hoses that attach to the reservoir, making it look like a leak.


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I checked the vent hole and unfortunately it does not appear to be the issue. I inspected the connection area and it appeared that the hose was slightly cracking around the connection area.
I wanted to tighten it up but my CV type pliers only work straight on and not at 90°. I'll have to get some different pliers as its real tight space in there.

[T.J.]

Fwiw, the new bmw lines have a revised design from what the cars came with from the factory

[Andrew 06M3Cab]

I believe ZF was/is the OE manufacturer for BMW. I am just in the process of refreshing the whole system (while doing rod bearings), and went with that one. And Rein is OE for the pressure line.

[01SG]

I got the ZF, don't see how you could go wrong with them. I too believe it's the OEM, although on this part I don't see how it would make much of a difference anyway.

[JamesSJ1]

I believe ZF was/is the OE manufacturer for BMW. I am just in the process of refreshing the whole system (while doing rod bearings), and went with that one. And Rein is OE for the pressure line.

^^^ This. Just bought a ZF reservoir from FCP, and the BMW logo is literally scratched off of the exact same spot as the BMW logo of the original one in my 2006.

[Cubieman]

I was under there last night and it would seem the only way to have any kind of real access to work on this area would be to remove the entire air intake, great. I'll pick up a ZF, a chase bay would be nice but I've been spending too much recently.

[TexaZ3]

ZF is OEM. I would change reservoir, and both feed and pressure hoses.

[Cubieman]

I will do this, just not looking forward to removing that CSL box, but I can't stand fluid leaks.