Steering is screwed after adding new wheels.
 

So I added some 16x8 Style 5's and now my steering is all screwed. Usually when u take a turn and release the wheel It will automatically spin back to straight. But now the wheel just stays put in the turn and I have to turn it back straight. Even when going in a straight line, if I turn the wheel just a bit it stays put instead of going back to straight. Don't know what's the cause. Please help!!!

Check the inside of your wheels to ensure nothing is touching/rubbing on tires/wheels.
Maybe pull off the wheels and see if there is any sign of rubbing. Front and rear.
LouM...

Checked it out and nothing is touching. I should also mention the car got crashed on the right side so I replaced the lower control arm and the sway bar link because they got bent. Even still I cant figure out why its like this. Would getting an alignment help? Or is it a mechanical failure within the suspension components.

- So you put a different set of wheels. Why? Original one got damaged in the wreck?
- Is this the first time you drove the car after replacing the control arm and sway bar link? If yes, your caster is way off. Alignment check might reveal the problem. Correcting the alignment problem is another story.
Good luck.

Only time I've had the steering stick was when the upper strut mount bearings failed. I guess it could also happen if the washers below the strut mount were not stacked correctly.

My experience was exactly like you describe, steering would stay where you put it.

It's good you mentioned that.

My passenger side upper strut mount is starting to give me some creaking noises in the morning. I can feel the strut bearing is binding but not enough to cause the front wheel to stay turned even after letting go of the steering wheel or releasing the steering input.
I may need to start looking into a new set of upper strut mounts too.
Can these bearings be relubed or just go ahead and replace them since it's got 250k miles on them?

Yes the wheel got bent up bad so It was either buy another stock wheel or upgrade to Style 5's. Yes the first time I've driven the car was yesterday. I'm going for an alignment in a few hours. I need one for sure anyway so hopefully That'll fix the issue. Ill post the results.

So I got the alignment and it helped a lot, but the steering still doesn't return to center as sharp as it used to. The guy says I need some adjustable camber tops to get the car back how it used to. I'm not buying that though because it was perfect before and the only thing different now is the wheels are an inch wider, from 16x7 to 16x8. An extra inch can screw up the steering that much?

Do you still have a pair of the original wheels you can try on the front and see if it helps with the issue?

The rear mount of the control arm might have been pushed in thus reducing the caster. Can you check that?

I think it might also be part of an offset issue. The strain on the rest of your suspension is probably not helping.

I do have the original wheels but they don't have tires on them. I took swapped them onto the new BBS. By the way those original wheels are for sale if anyone wants a good set of style 19's. 1 is bent and the other 3 are pristine. I checked the control arm mount and its good. Ill just live with it I guess. Maybe down the road ill figure something out, but for now Im kinda getting used to it.

Why don't you look at the strut tops? It sounds like spidertri hit the nail on the head. Plus, your mechanic even said that you need adjustable camber plates to fix the car back to original spec. My bet is that you hit the bump hard enough to also mushroom your shock tower and break something on the strut top.

That's a good point. Ill look at that right away. How would I repair the strut top though? Its structurally incorporated into the body.

People have taken hammers and just hammered it down to the original shape. Using one of BMW's strut tower reinforcement plates as a template for the original shape is also helpful.

One of my strut towers were mushroomed. I took a block of wood and hammer to my strut tower, using the reinforcement plate as a guide, and got my strut tower normal again. I may have gotten lucky but it is now within factory specifications.

Okay, Ill get on that first thing tomorrow. Thanks for the advise.