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Cheers Tom
Yes, its easy once you disconnect the battery. There’s a knack to removing, but its easy enough.

Thought I'd end this thread with some photos of the wheel on the car. Before - and after.

Looks great!

Can you still drive/ steer with the button surrounds removed? ie. remove the buttons to recoat but still use the car?


Apologies for the stupid question

jock156 wrote: ↑Thu Mar 02, 2023 4:28 pm Can you still drive/ steer with the button surrounds removed? ie. remove the buttons to recoat but still use the car?

Brian, I have a spare standard wheel we could swap over while you get yours sorted if that's easier for you?

pride and place, your hard graft has certainly paid dividends

jock156 wrote: ↑Thu Mar 02, 2023 4:28 pm Can you still drive/ steer with the button surrounds removed?

I was driving mine without buttons or airbag for a couple of days!!

Cheers EZ!

I started doing mine today, after reading everything I could find on this forum!

..and promptly managed to break both of the stubs that accept the 2 screws on the bottom piece. The BMW dealership I bought it from offered to tidy up the the steering wheel when I bought it in 2011 and it looks like they already broke quite a few of the clips as well. Also painting over the original covering caused a poor surface to develop, admittedly after 7 years or so.

Everything else came apart quite well. I used plastic scrapers and my nails to remove the soft covering then used 800 grit to try and get a smooth surface - we shall see. Took most of the afternoon being slow and careful.

Currently everything has 3 coats of plastic primer which has acted as filler as I've gently sanded back after each coat . The backside of the bottom cover had the stubs superglued back in earlier and now I've used epoxy resin to try to strengthen them. I only have a few of the (very) stiff clips left so I'm in emergency mode!

I'm thinking as the stubs were very tight in the wheel after I had to pull them out of their slots, it might be worth a little lubrication, not just to get them back in without troubling the epoxy (as they were quite stiff coming out), but also when putting the torx back in- any thoughts?

I quite like the finish of the leather, it's always been treated and cleaned so I think I'm going to leave it as is.

Tomorrow will be more gentle sanding back to get the right texture and start applying the matt black paint. I wasn't going to apply a clear coat but after seeing the results on this thread I'm going to buy some tomorrow. Very Nice work!

I didn't break mine but I do fill the holes with hot glue just for that extra support.

Good work, a340driver.
Take it slowly and it will all turn out lovely.

Thanks inkey$! All back on today in between showers. I can't believe how much better it looks. Thanks for putting up a great guide

inkey$ wrote: ↑Fri Feb 10, 2023 4:38 pm After reading a few threads on here, I'm experimenting with the plastics.

Forgot to thank you for the write up as this is what I used to do mine

You're both very welcome and glad it came in handy as a guide. Look forward to seeing some pictures of your hard work

inkey$ wrote: ↑Fri May 05, 2023 4:35 pm Look forward to seeing some pictures of your hard work

Final result

1536Z4 wrote: ↑Fri May 05, 2023 7:08 pmFinal result

Thanks for posting that, I now know exactly what I want for mine will look like as I want to match my black and white interior