BMW Steering Wheel
 Replacement
Wayne R. Dempsey

Difficulty Level: 4
Difficulty scale: Adding air to your tires is level one
Rebuilding a BMW Motor is level ten

[click to enlarge]

     Adding an aftermarket steering wheel is one of the most exciting and rewarding projects you can perform on your BMW. There are a wide variety of wheels to choose from, and let’s face it—the stock BMW wheel is not too exciting. Even the stock M3 wheels are a little dull.

     All later-model BMWs came from the factory equipped with driver’s side air bags. Air bags are important pieces of safety equipment, and I fully recommend keeping them in place. That said, you cannot install an aftermarket steering wheel and also keep your air bag in place. With this in mind, I recommend you install an aftermarket wheel only if your car originally didn’t come with an air bag (like the older E30 cars), or if you’re converting your car into a club racer or weekend track car. If you choose to install an aftermarket steering wheel in your street car, be forewarned: Air bags are probably the best protection you will have in a crash. Also, state and local regulations may restrict what you can do with your air bag. For the purpose of this project, I’ll assume that the aftermarket wheel is going to be installed on a track car.

     First, disconnect the battery and wait at least 15 minutes (see Project 84). The air bag is a dangerously explosive package and can be set off accidentally by a variety of triggers. The air bag control system is designed to remain operational for up to 15 minutes after the battery has been disconnected.

     Next, remove the lower plastic cover under the steering wheel and disconnect the bright orange air bag connector. Then, remove the air bag from the steering wheel by disconnecting the two Torx screws that attach it to the front of the wheel (see insets, Photo 3). The air bag should be loose from the wheel. Disconnect the small harness, remove it, and place it aside.

     Next, remove the wheel itself. If you don’t own an impact wrench, here’s a neat trick for removing the steering wheel: First, take one of those obnoxiously large, red steering wheel locks and clamp it onto the steering wheel. The long handle on the lock provides a significant amount of leverage on the wheel. Then, insert a deep socket onto the nut. Compressing together the steering wheel lock handle and the long handle attached to the socket will enable you to loosen up the steering wheel nut. Under no circumstances should you ever turn the steering wheel all the way to the end of the rack and use the end stop to hold the wheel while you remove the nut. The steering wheel has a lot of leverage, and you can easily damage your rack and pinion if you apply too much torque to the wheel.

     Once you have the nut off of the wheel, simply pull the wheel off the steering column. If the wheel is stuck on the splines and doesn’t want to come off, take a rubber mallet and gently tap the rear of the wheel until it begins to move. Install the new wheel onto the included steering wheel hub and then onto the car. Hook up the horn and test it before you tighten the wheel down again.

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