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M steering wheel retrofit help

R

rich-v

Member
Hello, just bought this

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=290397644809&ssPageName=ADME:B:EOIBSA:GB:1123

and was wondering if anyone knows if the airbag and spoke trim off my original wheel (standard Z4 2004 model) will fit to this? Or if anyone has the part numbers for the black M spoke covers. I think the black looks better but having a M badge on a standard car is so cheese-ball so perhaps it can be removed off the bottom cover?

Any help would be much appreciated
 
This thread will help...
http://www.z4-forum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=16275&hilit=steering+stitching
Contains fitting instructions and advice. With your car you don't need to worry about that extra little cable if you go MF.

I've just done exactly the same. Couldn't find the M-spokes separately and may be very expensive! Have the standard MF spokes on. The sides fit perfectly but the bottom finishes in a different placed... on the M wheel the bottom spoke finishes half way across the face, on std wheel it finished at the bottom. A pig to fit too.

To be honest, if you want less hassle, black spokes and a perfect fit you may be better off selling the wheel you bought and buying the complete M wheel as on the link above.

Air bag is direct swap.

Once I've eaten my porridge I'll take a pic of the silver spokes on that wheel.
 
Thanks pawn but I think I'll stick with this wheel as the complete M wheel from BMW is over £400

The pic of yours would be appreciated though. :thumbsup:
 
Okay, here's a side pic, you can see where the side doesn't fit completely flush at the bottom...
M_Wheel_Old_Spokes.jpg

It's not too bad. I like the silver spokes with the rest of the trim.

Forgot to say... a real bitch to fit! The uneasy combination of brute strength and patience.

Just saw your last post - if you look at the other thread the other guys are picking up the wheel with spokes for around £220... although it doesn't have the stitching, I think it's the 3.0 sport wheel.
 
Sweet, I can live with that. I don't have the multi function so I'm hoping the blank sides will fit

thanks for the pic
 
I fitted the standard spokes as a test, they actually went on easier. Just be careful taking the spokes off the old wheel - a little time inspecting the inside of the spokes prior to remove pays off.

EDIT: This is a great upgrade :thumbsup:
 
PawnSacrifice said:
Okay, here's a side pic, you can see where the side doesn't fit completely flush at the bottom...
M_Wheel_Old_Spokes.jpg

It's not too bad. I like the silver spokes with the rest of the trim.

Forgot to say... a real bitch to fit! The uneasy combination of brute strength and patience.
Click to expand...


I bought the same wheel from the same supplier as the OP and as PawnSacrifice has done I have fitted the original silver spokes however I ended up trimming the bottom one to somewhere between the black M spokes and the silver standard spoke would fit as I just could'nt get it to sit right or look as good as the photo (Is it a very clever angle or was I just useless at fitting them) and to leave the bottom of wheel smooth,

Be very careful when removing from the old wheel as not to break any tabs as they definately will not sit right if you do, its not easy.
 
Thanks RichardG,

could I ask for a pic of your trimmed wheel?

Also, can I take the wheel off then deal with the spokes or do they need to come off with the wheel in situ?
 
rich-v said:
Thanks RichardG,

could I ask for a pic of your trimmed wheel?

Also, can I take the wheel off then deal with the spokes or do they need to come off with the wheel in situ?
Click to expand...

Sorry can't help with a pic at the moment as I'm not even in the same hemisphere as my Z,

The spokes come off with the wheel and cannot be removed in situ.
 
Would really love tri colour stiching but think the black spokes with multi function would cost too much.

Off to find part numbers on RealOEM and hope they are reasonable.
 
And here we go!

IMG_7207copy.jpg

But had to trim it slightly

IMG_7208copy.jpg

It was a bit of a rush job as it only arrived this afternoon and I've got to drive to London first thing tomorrow. And not fitting it today was like telling the kids not to play with the toys on Christmas day!

I'll take it off again to do a proper job on the bottom spoke. I must say I was bricking it when I was taking the airbag off, it felt like defusing a WW2 unexploded bomb, despite there being no power connected. It ended up a pretty easy job in the end and a great modification. If anyone is interested the guy I bought the wheel off on eBay is selling more of them but I might be tempted to go for the £220 all black version with the correct cowling as mentioned above.
 
RichardG said:
PawnSacrifice said:
Okay, here's a side pic, you can see where the side doesn't fit completely flush at the bottom...
M_Wheel_Old_Spokes.jpg
Click to expand...

I bought the same wheel from the same supplier as the OP and as PawnSacrifice has done I have fitted the original silver spokes however I ended up trimming the bottom one to somewhere between the black M spokes and the silver standard spoke would fit as I just couldn't get it to sit right or look as good as the photo (Is it a very clever angle or was I just useless at fitting them) and to leave the bottom of wheel smooth,
Click to expand...

Took some doing to get the spokes on as it, but brute force won the day - something I never usually advocate, I really had to push the bottom spokes into the leather on the new wheel to get them to align. But no, it doesn't sit completely flush to the bottom of the wheel.

For anyone who's found this thread looking to do a retrofit, there is now a How To:
http://www.z4-forum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=34&t=16422
 
Does anyone know the part numbers for the M wheel multifunction retrofit kit? The best I could find is 32348035326 but this looks like just the covers on RealOEM?

Would love to buy the tri-colour wheel at the great price and fit multifunction to it.
 
I went for the plain black stitched version in the end as got a great price of £195 delivered. In case anyone reading this thread at a later date wants to do the same here's where I got mine from:

http://www.z4-forum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=16592
 
rich-v said:
But had to trim it slightly
It was a bit of a rush job as it only arrived this afternoon and I've got to drive to London first thing tomorrow. And not fitting it today was like telling the kids not to play with the toys on Christmas day!

I'll take it off again to do a proper job on the bottom spoke. I must say I was bricking it when I was taking the airbag off, it felt like defusing a WW2 unexploded bomb, despite there being no power connected. It ended up a pretty easy job in the end and a great modification. If anyone is interested the guy I bought the wheel off on eBay is selling more of them but I might be tempted to go for the £220 all black version with the correct cowling as mentioned above.
Click to expand...

Hi Rich out of interest and it may be a silly question but what did you use to trim the bottom piece and how easy was it to do?
 
PawnSacrifice said:
RichardG said:
PawnSacrifice said:
Okay, here's a side pic, you can see where the side doesn't fit completely flush at the bottom...
M_Wheel_Old_Spokes.jpg
Click to expand...

I bought the same wheel from the same supplier as the OP and as PawnSacrifice has done I have fitted the original silver spokes however I ended up trimming the bottom one to somewhere between the black M spokes and the silver standard spoke would fit as I just couldn't get it to sit right or look as good as the photo (Is it a very clever angle or was I just useless at fitting them) and to leave the bottom of wheel smooth,
Click to expand...

Took some doing to get the spokes on as it, but brute force won the day - something I never usually advocate, I really had to push the bottom spokes into the leather on the new wheel to get them to align. But no, it doesn't sit completely flush to the bottom of the wheel.

For anyone who's found this thread looking to do a retrofit, there is now a How To:
http://www.z4-forum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=34&t=16422
Click to expand...
I bought an M wheel similar to the above minus the M/F switches off a forum member.The plan being to transfer my M/F switches onto the M wheel.
It was very fiddley to say the least,parting the side spokes needs two pairs of hands to split them,not a two minute job.
I found it easier to remove the three screws and take the rear cowl off.
The lugs on the broke on the bottom spoke as i was removing it,and in my haste to refit it before darkness fell i trimmed to much off it .so now on the lookout for a silver bottom spoke.
Anyone have a spare they are willing to sell or know where i might get one. New from BMW come as a kit and are silly money.
 
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