# 2003 Steering wheel upgrade



## PropellerHead (Jan 3, 2002)

The plan is officially in action:

Replace my circular-esq, triangular-type, 3 spoke 2000 540i6 (or ia Sport), airbag and steering wheel:








with the smaller, round airbag and FATTER wheel. (pic coming- from rost12, thanks, btw)









I have on an authority which I trust explicitly that the upgrade will work great without fault codes as was hottly contested on some other forums.

The stuff has been ordered and should be here early next week! I'll keep us all aprised of the outcome. I can hardly WAIT!


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## 01silber (Jun 28, 2002)

will you please take some pictures of the wireing in the wheel once you remove the airbag, i need to see how they have the wires hooked up please
thanks
max


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## mottati (Apr 15, 2003)

someone over on roadfly just posted pics of this very same project completed on a MY 2000 540. Looks like plug and play, very cool.
Mike


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## PropellerHead (Jan 3, 2002)

mottati said:


> someone over on roadfly just posted pics of this very same project completed on a MY 2000 540. Looks like plug and play, very cool.
> Mike


Yeah- It was through my communcation with Vince on THIS board that Tyrone and Arjun learned that they could do the upgrade. Since they are in SoCal and Crevier had two wheels/airbags in stock, THEY got theirs first. 

Not really mad- happy to know it works so well. My wheel should arrive Tues or Wed. Still no Internet access at home.


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## PropellerHead (Jan 3, 2002)

01silber said:


> will you please take some pictures of the wireing in the wheel once you remove the airbag, i need to see how they have the wires hooked up please
> thanks
> max


Here is a gallery taken by Tyrone of the wheel he's sending me.

Enjoy Pics here


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## 01silber (Jun 28, 2002)

cool thanks for the pics, when you do yours please take some pics of how the wires in the wheel contact through the columm
im trying to figure out how they are wireing the switches through the columm , so basically how they are hooking the wires in your pic to the ones that i assume will be behind your wheel when you remove it
thanks again
max


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## Mr Paddle.Shift (Dec 19, 2001)

Max, 

All Z3s have different wirings compared to the post 03/99 E39s. The E39/E46/E53 parts are not retrofittable into a Z3. Although PropellerHead has the similar looking sport wheel, that wheel has two different structures. Yours belong to an earlier structure that accomodate a different switch.


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## vietsb (Apr 8, 2003)

01silber said:


> im trying to figure out how they are wireing the switches through the columm , so basically how they are hooking the wires in your pic to the ones that i assume will be behind your wheel when you remove it
> thanks again
> max


You can check on my site for more pics of the steering wheel swap, but here are some notes:

-When BMW went to dual-stage airbag in '99, the slip-ring changed from being on the wheel to being on the steering column. That shouldn't change how the buttons function, but the wiring will be somewhat different.

-The wheel buttons after 9/96 talk directly to the I-Bus, so getting them to perform different functions isn't a trivial matter.


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## vietsb (Apr 8, 2003)

PropellerHead said:


> I have on an authority which I trust explicitly that the upgrade will work great without fault codes as was hottly contested on some other forums.


Hey Prop, what mo/yr is your E39? I believe when I researched the smaller M-Sport wheel that it was listed for 09/00+, but if you have dual-stage, from even back in '99 it's possible it should fit and function as long as the SRS computer has no issues w/ the newer airbag. It was KrispyKreme's (possibly uninformed) service mgr that said something about it only working on 01+ cars. Good luck - it's a *great* upgrade! Too bad my 11/96's only upgrade option was the skinny M-Sport wheel


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## Mr Paddle.Shift (Dec 19, 2001)

Prop has a 05/00 E39. I checked for him a while back as well and yes the new steering wheel + round airbag will be compatible. As a matter of fact, two of my MY2000 E39 paddle-shift retrofit customers have the same airbags. No problems with the light at all.


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## PropellerHead (Jan 3, 2002)

Mr Paddle.Shift said:


> Prop has a 05/00 E39. I checked for him a while back as well and yes the new steering wheel + round airbag will be compatible. As a matter of fact, two of my MY2000 E39 paddle-shift retrofit customers have the same airbags. No problems with the light at all.


Indeed!

Look what Brown delivered today! And I KNOW it works... I just have yet to ready the pics!


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## Mr Paddle.Shift (Dec 19, 2001)

Wait a minute...let me get this right. That is the packaging for the airbag?? Did Crevier send it as a haz-mat?


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## vietsb (Apr 8, 2003)

Mr Paddle.Shift said:


> Wait a minute...let me get this right. That is the packaging for the airbag?? Did Crevier send it as a haz-mat?


Yeah, mine was just plain brown-boxed but wrapped in plastic wrap. No metal basket for me...


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## Mr Paddle.Shift (Dec 19, 2001)

Just make sure next time (or for future owners who want to buy the airbag), please request that shipper declares it as a haz-mat or dangerous good under Cat 9. If UPS discovers that the package contains an airbag, they can fine the shipper or receiver or both up to $25,000. No kidding. :eeps:


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## Tyrone (Apr 17, 2003)

Very nice, Prop! I like that airbag pic.

Mr. Paddle Shift, Crevier definitely did not send the airbag. Another authorized party did


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## PropellerHead (Jan 3, 2002)

Mr Paddle.Shift said:


> Just make sure next time (or for future owners who want to buy the airbag), please request that shipper declares it as a haz-mat or dangerous good under Cat 9. If UPS discovers that the package contains an airbag, they can fine the shipper or receiver or both up to $25,000. No kidding. :eeps:


Ignorance is not too difficult for me to feign, Vince...  But I appreciate your sound advice- especially as I intend to sell (and presumably ship) my old airbag.:eeps:


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## Mr Paddle.Shift (Dec 19, 2001)

So where are the pics of the new wheel????? :thumbup: :angel:


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## rost12 (Dec 22, 2001)

Worthy upgrade :thumbup: You'll probably find the steering wheel to be a bit too fat, though


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## PropellerHead (Jan 3, 2002)

*Install pics- not for dial up*



rost12 said:


> Worthy upgrade :thumbup: You'll probably find the steering wheel to be a bit too fat, though


If you knew me roth, you'd know. There is no such thing as too fat as far as I'm concerned.  (Tyrone should get a laugh outa that one.)

Anyway: on with a couple pics:

The old airbag comes out with two torx driven 23mm:








Here, there is no wheel after removing the 16mm nut. You an even see the colum alignment mark:








Ready for the sausage wheel (as shipped):








VERY important to align these two marks. You can also see the airbag plugs:








The new airbag plugged in:








The view from the back seat- Note 16:9 NAV screen, too:








And finally, the view which welcomes me everytime I open the door: Eurodash, 16:9 and big ole meaty wheel. I'm pretty pleased with the results.


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## Tyrone (Apr 17, 2003)

PropellerHead said:


> If you knew me roth, you'd know. There is no such thing as too fat as far as I'm concerned.


And that's the truth!!  Absolutely beautiful pictures! Now I wonder how Alcantara would look...hehehe


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## mottati (Apr 15, 2003)

*Beautiful!*

Great work propellerhead:
Did you post the 16:9 nav swap? (bmwtips material!!!) Did you go to the dvd system (is that Mk4?). Very very nice..... :thumbup: 
Mike


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## rost12 (Dec 22, 2001)

Looks good, PropellerHead :thumbup: 

Did you do the euro-dash conversion yourself? I'm thinking of doing that, but I'm not sure if I could tackle it myself :/


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## PropellerHead (Jan 3, 2002)

rost12 said:


> Looks good, PropellerHead :thumbup:
> 
> Did you do the euro-dash conversion yourself? I'm thinking of doing that, but I'm not sure if I could tackle it myself :/


A friend more mechanically inclined than I am did the conversion with me. It really wasn't all that bad- the worst part is cutting the metal which we did with a Dremel. It would have been faster with a cutting wheel.
left:








right:









You can do it, rost- just take your time. If you're on the left coast, find Agent or Tyrone- they're sure to know what to do. East is easy- Zeckhausen Racing.


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## PropellerHead (Jan 3, 2002)

mottati said:


> Great work propellerhead:
> Did you post the 16:9 nav swap? (bmwtips material!!!) Did you go to the dvd system (is that Mk4?). Very very nice..... :thumbup:
> Mike


I did go with the (so called) MK4 DVD system. I am waiting to purchase the newest DVD ($189) from NavTech until after the new year when they will release a new version. It is MUCh faster than the old MK2, and was one hell of an upgrade for the interior.


Tyrone said:


> Absolutely beautiful pictures! Now I wonder how Alcantara would look...hehehe


 Eeeeeeeeviiiiiiiillllllle


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## bmw540i (Mar 30, 2003)

How much did the steering wheel conversion cost? :thumbup:


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## PropellerHead (Jan 3, 2002)

bmw540i said:


> How much did the steering wheel conversion cost? :thumbup:


$827. Considering the total of my other recent mods, the wheel was a cake walk.


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## rost12 (Dec 22, 2001)

PropellerHead said:


> You can do it, rost- just take your time. If you're on the left coast, find Agent or Tyrone- they're sure to know what to do. East is easy- Zeckhausen Racing.


Thanks, PropellerHead. I'll think about it...


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## Jimmy540i.com (Apr 3, 2002)

That is the *BEST LOOKING* OEM Steering Wheel IMHO. The one you replaced looks like a "egg" 

Great Job! :thumbup:


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## E39ADDICT (Mar 22, 2004)

*How Much For Steering Wheel*

Hello...Just wondering how much the steering wheel swap would run and where I could buy it from..new to the forum just wanted to get an idea..

thank you


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## PropellerHead (Jan 3, 2002)

E39ADDICT said:


> Hello...Just wondering how much the steering wheel swap would run and where I could buy it from..new to the forum just wanted to get an idea..
> 
> thank you


Look up 3 posts. :thumbup:

I bought my stuff from Chris @ Crevier BMW.


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