Power Steering Leak (E46 328i)

[HiMiles]

I just found out that the 2 ps hoses have leaks in them. My question is for the experts, can I do it myself or are these hoses wrapped around the engine? Todd, can you give me some feedback on that if you've worked around that? It costs $195 for each hose at the dealership to replace including parts and labor. I have a 328i E46 1999
Any feedback will be appreciated. Thanks

[morcheeba]

Just a funny story about power steering leaks... Maryland is especially anal about its vehicle inspections. What gets me is that there is a complete inspection when the car is registered, but no safety inspections ever as long as you own the car. Bald tires, no breaks, no problem! But, when I registered my car, they noticed some power steering fluid gunk on one of the hoses. I had noticed this when I got the car many years earlier (it was in another state), and it wasn't an active leak; very dry. The previous owner probably tightened it up. It's not really a safety issue - there are tons of cars out there without power steering, and you only need power steering when you're parking.

Nevertheless, the MD inspection insisted that it be fixed. Reasoning that it wasn't leaking, I figured a simple cleaning would do the trick. The hose and the connection looked fine. My mechanic concured. The inspector, who had been friendly before, was really agitated to see the car back clean and not leaking, but without a new hose. Maybe he was pissed that I didn't have it fixed at his shop (I'd have conflict-of-interest issues with that), maybe he felt I wasn't respecting his authority (http://lightsnsirens.freeyellow.com/cartman.htm). Oh well. I took it to another inspector who didn't know that at one point, approximently 5 years earlier, the hose had leaked, and he passed it. Five years later when I sold it, it still hadn't leaked.