N15 SSS - Loose Feeling in Steering Wheel

Hey guys!

For a while now, I've been suffering from a loose feeling in my steering wheel. It is most noticeable when going over bumpy road surfaces and is accompanied by an audible "rattling" sound that seems to be coming from inside the dash somewhere along the steering column. I feel like there's some issue in the steering column, but I could be wrong.

I have done the following so far:

• Brand new left and right outer tie-rod ends. Inner tie-rod end ball-joints in good working order.
• Wheel alignment
• Tested rack bushings with pry bar and little or no play in rack

Are there any serviceable items in the steering column I should try replacing? Any other thoughts?

I will mention that I'm quite sure that my struts are fairly well completely shagged, but not sure if they could be contributing in some way to this issue.

There is a Uni joint on the firewall covered by a big black boot, they can flog out and give you slack between the steering wheel and the rack itself

Have the car off and have someone quickly wiggle the steering wheel from left to right (just the slack part of the movement) and listen to where the noise is actually coming from, if there's play somewhere it will make a sound

I had a similar problem in my n14, it turns out it was a worn out spline on the cast aluminum fixing for the steering wheel. The wheel had a few centimeters of play, and sometimes on the road it would slip a little.

I have fixed it with a temporary workaround by putting a 1mm piece of copper wire in the spline and tapping the cast aluminum part back over. But this may not last long and its probably a good idea to get a new (not worn out) cast aluminium steering wheel fixing.