Steering wheel - The Unofficial BMW M5 Messageboard (m5board.com)

JPint · 25th January 2006, 12:06

Well one thing i love on the latter models is the round steering wheel i hate the one i have on the '00 model .

I would instantly go and buy the one with the alcadara but it won't fit cause you need a round one first to swap airbags .

Has anyone with a '00 model ever bothered changing Wheel ?

Damit iam in love with the alcadara one .

Kin Mak · 25th January 2006, 17:02

Yes I have, just had to buy both the steering wheel and air bag.

http://www.e39m5.com/pictures.html

cosioboy · 25th January 2006, 17:09

Yes, the swap is very easy as long as you have the airbag and new steering wheel. Do a search, there are plenty of posts with directions, perhaps even a few by me. Much nicer, almost get a go-cart feel. Much beefier and better visual clearance for your instrument cluster.

As far as alcantara, keep in mind it is not as beefy as the regular 01+ 3-spoke M steering wheel. Also, make sure you give the proper part number for the M5/M3 steering wheel - those come with the tri-color stitching, versus all black stitching found the the non-M sport pakcaged E39s.

Kin Mak · 25th January 2006, 17:19

Yeah, I made the mistake getting the one without the multicoloured M stitching.

mottati · 25th January 2006, 19:04

i did the swap on my 00 with an alcantara wheel out of the 330 zcp. While the thickness of this wheel is less than the 01 and later M5, it is pretty similar to my old 00 wheel. No wear issues so far (though that may come later), no red/blue stitching on this wheel unfortunately. You need to buy a later style airbag as well, but it is a simple swap on a car produced 3/99 and later. I have heard you can use a CSL wheel, with some minor modification. You'd have to add the "pods" for the multifunction controls, from another steering wheel. I saw a write up somewhere, perhaps x5world.com?
Mike

cosioboy · 25th January 2006, 19:08

Quote:

Originally Posted by mottati

i did the swap on my 00 with an alcantara wheel out of the 330 zcp. While the thickness of this wheel is less than the 01 and later M5, it is pretty similar to my old 00 wheel. No wear issues so far (though that may come later), no red/blue stitching on this wheel unfortunately. You need to buy a later style airbag as well, but it is a simple swap on a car produced 3/99 and later. I have heard you can use a CSL wheel, with some minor modification. You'd have to add the "pods" for the multifunction controls, from another steering wheel. I saw a write up somewhere, perhaps x5world.com?
Mike

Isn't the M3 CSL for SMG only? Is it at all possible (and easy) to get rid of the paddle shifters? And that wheel costs some serious dough...

mottati · 25th January 2006, 19:10

Quote:

Originally Posted by cosioboy

Isn't the M3 CSL for SMG only? Is it at all possible (and easy) to get rid of the paddle shifters? And that wheel costs some serious dough...

i think you can remove them. Yes it is expensive. I'll have to search and see where i found the write up. Perhaps it was someone using it with a steptronic car...
Mike

ase2dais · 25th January 2006, 19:21

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kin Mak

Yes I have, just had to buy both the steering wheel and air bag.

http://www.e39m5.com/pictures.html

Mind if I ask how much did that steering whl/airbag venture cost you?
Looks Great!

3rd One · 25th January 2006, 19:26

I did the swap and I think i paid around $340 for the colored stitched wheel from circle bmw. the airbag was about $400 or so on ebay.

the swap took about 5 minutes..and it was well worth it.

cosioboy · 26th January 2006, 01:40

Quote:

Originally Posted by 3rd One

I did the swap and I think i paid around $340 for the colored stitched wheel from circle bmw. the airbag was about $400 or so on ebay.

the swap took about 5 minutes..and it was well worth it.

Yes, it is exactly $340 from Circle BMW. Same price for tri-colored or black stitching, just different part numbers. No BMW dealer will ship you an airbag though, it is against Federal law.

Here's a hint what you can do - find a buddy with an E46 3-series sports package and swap your entire M- steering wheel for his non-M 3-spoke wheel. You end up using the airbag only, then sell the steering wheel on Ebay. Net cost of the enitre upgrade - $200 or less.

3rd One - did you make sure you tightened it with a torgue wrench according to specifications, this is actually quite important.