# Just installed the alcantara M steering wheel & shift boot



## JonW (Jan 6, 2002)

I just installed the alcantara M steering wheel and alcantara shift boot in my car. Here's all the info:

The part numbers are:
alcantara wheel: 32 34 7 919 218 
alcantara ebrake boot: 34 40 7 919 214
alcantara shift boot: 25 11 7 919 219 
(I did not get the ebrake boot.)

I ordered the parts from Chris Crinion at Crevier BMW, (714) 835-3171 x393. He's asking around $435 for the steering wheel and $48 for the shift boot. I called around to the usual suspects (Cutter, Pacific, Circle, etc.) and Chris was the only one who could actually order the parts now. Other places should be able to do so in a couple months or so. They're not in stock. He has to order them from Germany and then ship them out. I think it took 3 weeks in total.

The steering wheel is the same one as now comes with the 330i performance package. No shift paddles. I quite like it. The alcantara feels nice- not too slippery, not too rough. And the wheel is slightly spongy and that?s good. It?s thicker than the regular wheel. I never liked the bottom split spoke, so that's fixed now. The wheel is not perfectly round. The "radius" is shorter going toward the bottom of the wheel than to the sides. Well, I have not measured it, but it seems that way as I turn the wheel it does not always line up at the same height of the dashboard. I guess there's no need for it to be round as long as it's symmetrical.

The shift boot is nice because it comes with the plastic collar to snap it into the console there. So installation is really easy. I added a cable tie in there to keep the boot high, touching the shift knob, so there is no gap between the knob and boot.

To install the wheel, I followed the excellent directions here: 
http://www.bmw330ci.com/DIY_M3_Wheel.htm
All the buttons work perfectly. The total time to install both parts was just over an hour. Probably could have been a little quicker if I wasn't doing it at night, trying to disconnect the wires with a flashlight tucked between my chin and shoulder. 

In case you were wondering why I'd bother to do this: It turns out that I've got a skin contact allergy to a particular chemical, potassium dichromate. It's used to tan the leather used by BMW. So the skin on my hands get cracked and bleed when I touch the leather. I didn't know I had this until I got the car, which then made for a trip to the dermatologist. Apparently it's a pretty common allergy. (Volvo now uses vegetable extracts to cure their leather to avoid such allergies.) Up until now, I changed the shift knob to a metal one from UUC (I like that) and had a $4 terry cloth and elastic steering wheel cover from Pep Boys. But that didn't cover all sides of the wheel. Then the 330i performance package came out with these alcantara parts, so I got them. That should be my solution. There's no leather at all in my car now.

Overall, the wheel and shift boot look and feel nice. A little expensive, but nice.


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## doeboy (Sep 20, 2002)

Got pics?


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## RCK (Jan 29, 2003)

:repost: w/ PICS!


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## 3seriesbimmer (Jun 20, 2002)

and the post with NO pics lives on.....:tsk:


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## Dr. Phil (Dec 19, 2001)

RCK said:


> *:repost: w/ PICS! *


Exactly :slap:


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## JonW (Jan 6, 2002)

OK, OK- I get the point. Pics.  

I did the install at night. And I didn't have a digital camera at home. I'll work on it.


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