My car still isn’t fixed unfortunately. I got the correct axle for it and installed it without too much trouble. It’s driveable now at least, but the ABS, stability control and brake warning lights remain on. I tried recalibrating some settings with ISTA on my laptop without success. The only thing I’ve managed to do is make the turn signals stop self canceling. The steering angle sensor now does not work. I find it unlikely that it’s dirty (a common problem on E60 and E90 BMWs) because the warning lights started out of the blue one day. Typically, a dirty sensor causes the lights to come on occasionally and the lights can be cleared. I’m starting to suspect the SZL, or steering column module, is faulty. It’s a little too expensive for me to take a shot at just popping a used one on for a test though. Tomorrow, I’m bringing the car to a local independent shop to see what they can tell me. I’m hoping it doesn’t take too much work, and thus time and money, to ferret out the problem.
On the brighter side, I bought a random-orbit polisher and polished and waxed the car this weekend. It looks ridiculously shiny. I’m very happy with the result, even though the car is silver, which doesn’t show the shine as well as a darker color. I’ll definitely keep up on the waxing because it looks so good. Tomorrow I’m going to clean out the interior so the mechanics don’t think I’m a total slob.