High performance position control in machine tools can only be achieved modelling the dynamic behavior of the mechatronic system composed by the motor, transmission and control during the design stage. In this work, a complex analytical model of a ball screw drive is presented and integrated in a mechatronic model of the actuator to predict the dynamic behaviour and analyze the impact of each component of the transmission. First, a simple 2 degrees of freedom model is presented, and is analysis sets the basis for the development of a more complex model of several degrees of freedom, whose resulting fundamental transfer functions are represented using natural and modal coordinates. The modeling in modal coordinates carries a reduction of the transfer function that reduces computational work. The two models are compared and experimentally validated in time and frequency domain by means of experimental tests carried out on a specifically developed ball screw drive test bench. Keywords:Ball screw drive Machine tool dynamics Mechatronics Nomenclature m, J Mass, inertia moment c Viscous damping k Stiffness ωi i-thmodal frequency φij i-thdof component of the j-th eigenvector x,θ Linear, angular position in natural coordinates δ Positionin modal coordinates ξi Damping coefficient of the i-th mode f, τ Force, torque in natural coordinates g Force in modal coordinates Kv Proportional gain of the position loop Kp Proportional gain of the velocity loop Ti Integral time of the velocity loop