3-spoke steering wheel question

[bimmerbot]

Hello everyone, been lurking for probably two months, and I've been learning a lot. I'll post my vitals in Personal Bios soon, but for the moment, I have a question:


I want to put a 3-spoke airbag wheel on my '98 ti sport. What are my options?

Am I limited to the 3-spoke sport wheel that was an option on the ti sport? Can I use a 3-spoke E36 M3 wheel, and if so, from which years, and are there any fitment issues, either for the wheel itself or for the airbag connector?

Also, does anyone have any preferences for a particular 3-spoke wheel, and why?


Thanks for any and all advice,

Jeff


(And I know this is the Shift Levers forum, but I couldn't find any better place to post this. http://www.happytogether.com/318ti/forum/smile.gif )

[This message has been edited by bimmerbot (edited 10-10-2002).]

[J!m]

The M3 wheel is the only 3-spoke wheel I know of. I have a '98 sport, and it has the 4-spoke wheel. I would like to install this wheel as well.

You can buy all the parts new from the dealer. I would also recomend having them install it, for safety and liability reasons. (if you get in a wreck, and the bag does not deploy, you will not be able to blame BMW if you touched it...)

Basically, you need the wheel, air bag and slip ring. The good news is, the slip ring is the same, so you don't have to buy it.

Air bag: ~$530.00
Wheel: ~$300.00
Labor:~ 1 hour @$95.00
(FYI the ring is ~$100.00)

I would avoid used, for the liability reason listed above, and a dealer may not want to install the used wheel.

------------------
"Speed's just a question of money. How fast you 'wanna go?"

[fourbanger]

While on the subjest of steering wheels..

Anyone know if E46 steering wheels are compatible with E36s? My friend is changing his E46 three spoke for a momo and I was considering buy his old one (it's three spoke, it's smaller in diameter and it's got no buttons other than the horn). Will there be any compatability issues?

[fourbanger]

nobody know?

ok, i got another ;)

Anyone know where I can order Hamann steering wheels? I don't wanna put MOMO cuz, well, I don't want italian in the bimmer :P

[J!m]

I would say that you need to compare the horn and air bag connector from the E46 wheel to the E36 wheel, then compare the splines. These connectors are under the plastic trim in front of the wheel. There is the possibility that you could change the connectors to make them fit, but screw that up and... :shock:

The E36 wheel slides right on and off (no puller needed), so this should not be a big deal to check the splines. No experience with the E46 wheel.

If you don't care about liability, disconnect the battery before playing with the air bag, or it may deploy in your face (literally..). :oops:

Safer to ask the dealer. Maybe your friend will 'loan' the wheel to you to check fitment at the dealer. If it fits, let us know.