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DTY steering wheel swap

12K views 15 replies 13 participants last post by  armenh7 
#1 ·
hey guys.
i did a steering wheel swap for all of you.
thank you SOINCMS for providing the steering wheel http://www.sonicms.net/

1) Disconnect your battery just to be on the safe side. If you remove your airbag with the battery connected, you will get an airbag warning on your dash. which only the dealer can reset.

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/53792257@N03/5821870355/" title="IMG_0019 by dwrek325xi, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2187/5821870355_baefee7d43.jpg" width="500" height="333" alt="IMG_0019"></a>

2). Look on the back side of your steering wheel towards the top there will be two holes at around your 2 and 10 o’clock. use a Phillips screwdriver or torx. Let the hole guide the screwdriver in and push slightly until you feel a spring tension. Once you get the right spot that side of the airbag will pop loose. Repeat on the other side.

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/53792257@N03/5821870999/" title="IMG_0021 by dwrek325xi, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2176/5821870999_7b82ba3b15.jpg" width="500" height="333" alt="IMG_0021"></a>

3) After you have popped the air bag out, The connectors for the airbags must be removed. There should be two connectors for the airbag.

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/53792257@N03/5822435176/" title="IMG_0023 by dwrek325xi, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2298/5822435176_1def73f826.jpg" width="500" height="333" alt="IMG_0023"></a>

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/53792257@N03/5821870213/" title="IMG_0035 by dwrek325xi, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3507/5821870213_dd6387b9d1.jpg" width="500" height="333" alt="IMG_0035"></a>

4) Then remove all connections to the steering wheel.

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/53792257@N03/5821871121/" title="IMG_0026 by dwrek325xi, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2460/5821871121_f57b5a29b9.jpg" width="500" height="333" alt="IMG_0026"></a>

5) un-bolt the steering wheel. All BMWs have a steering wheel mark at the bottom so you’ll know exact how it goes back on. TORQUE on the bolt is 62.5Nm

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/53792257@N03/5821871219/" title="IMG_0025 by dwrek325xi, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2470/5821871219_3bb0b5a802.jpg" width="500" height="333" alt="IMG_0025"></a>

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/53792257@N03/5822435996/" title="IMG_0029 by dwrek325xi, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3097/5822435996_f98a05c559.jpg" width="500" height="333" alt="IMG_0029"></a>

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/53792257@N03/5822434398/" title="IMG_0034 by dwrek325xi, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5028/5822434398_9a726ce3d5.jpg" width="500" height="333" alt="IMG_0034"></a>

6) The two trim pieces on the steering wheel is held on by 4 screws 2 different kinds pay attention which one goes where. 2 up front 2 on the back. When you put the trim on the new steering wheel pay attention to the gaps before you tighten it up.

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/53792257@N03/5821871957/" title="IMG_0031 by dwrek325xi, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3249/5821871957_6331726dc4.jpg" width="500" height="333" alt="IMG_0031"></a>

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/53792257@N03/5821871345/" title="IMG_0032 by dwrek325xi, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3224/5821871345_a416e8982e.jpg" width="500" height="333" alt="IMG_0032"></a>

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/53792257@N03/5822436182/" title="IMG_0030 by dwrek325xi, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2714/5822436182_00717e29c2.jpg" width="500" height="333" alt="IMG_0030"></a>

7) Put it all back together :woot:

8) Reconnect the battery and make sure everything still works.:blah:

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/53792257@N03/5822434788/" title="IMG_0039 by dwrek325xi, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3052/5822434788_f6cfd27862.jpg" width="500" height="333" alt="IMG_0039"></a>

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/53792257@N03/5821873351/" title="IMG_0788 by dwrek325xi, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3523/5821873351_e16e731d46.jpg" width="500" height="374" alt="IMG_0788"></a>

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/53792257@N03/5822435068/" title="IMG_0038 by dwrek325xi, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5160/5822435068_701403b0ed.jpg" width="500" height="333" alt="IMG_0038"></a>

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/53792257@N03/5821870617/" title="IMG_0041 by dwrek325xi, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3553/5821870617_33e682fd5d.jpg" width="500" height="333" alt="IMG_0041"></a>

thank you SOINCMS for providing the steering wheel http://www.sonicms.net/
 
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#4 ·
1) Disconnect your battery just to be on the safe side. If you remove your airbag with the battery connected, you will get an airbag warning on your dash. which only the dealer can reset.
BMW recommends disconnecting the battery, and Bentley goes one step further specifying disconnection for 1 minute before doing any operation with the airbag.

If you need to reset an airbag warning on your dash, in addition to the dealer, someone with the proper Peake airbag tool, can also reset it.
 
#12 ·
if you look VERY close at the pic above the 6th step you can see the notch on the steering wheel, once you have them out you can see the notch on the hub end -- it is hard (impossible) to miss, really...I did a swap yesterday, I put an M wheel on 330, dont care what anyone says, it is so much better, I love it. Anyway, if you want any help outside what is on this DIY message me, I would be happy to help. Just take your time and don't rush, it's fairly easy
 
#13 ·
Tried to do this last night, might stand to add some detail. I had to go to some different DIYs to find it all. For example that in order to remove the airbag, you need a flat head screwdriver, and youre not unscrewing anything, you are finding a little spring loaded metal tab and pushing it towards the center of the wheel. Once you feel like the spring is fully depressed, push a little harder and the air bag will pop out on that side. Also that the bolt that holds the steering wheel in place is torqued on REALLY hard, so a breaker bar or 1/2 drive socket setup would be helpful. Ill also add another post with a list of tools that people should gather before hand. Might save some people some time
 
#14 ·
Sorry for a double post, but completed this in about five-ten minutes once I had everything I needed. Before you start you should have:
Replacement steering wheel
Small thin metal rod (I used a small circular file, a screwdriver will work if the shaft is long and thin enough, one with interchangeable heads will likely not work.)
16mm socket (these are NOT included in most metric socket sets so make sure you have one before you even start)
Socket extender
Breaker bar (my hub bolt was really stuck on there)
Torque wrench
Small flat blade screwdriver(optional) to pry up the tabs on the connectors to the airbag.
Hope that saves someone some time!
 
#16 ·
Sorry for bumping such an old thread, but instead of disconnecting the battery can I just remove the fuse for the airbag? I don't like disconnecting the battery because the voltage spikes always kill something. For me, it's always my headlight bulbs. I just retrofitted projectors and HID's so I wouldn't want those going. Also I've read where others had their cluster's "blow" after reconnecting the battery.
I'd also like to do a bc stalk retrofit. Do I really have to remove the steering wheel?
 
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