Thinking about getting a new steering wheel

[cooljess76]

I'm getting tired of how crappy my OEM 4 spoke steering wheel looks. It's discolored and just boring IMO. Not a big fan of the Mtech II's or the M3 3 spokes either for that matter. I just think they're ridiculously overpriced and nothing really special. I was thinking about getting something like this:

I'd like the spokes to be black though and I'm not really concerned with the airbag. As long as my passenger airbag works, that's all that really matters to me. BTW, I'm not spending the $300 that this Sparco wheel costs. I'm just using it as an example of what I may be getting. Anyway, what do you guys think? Any suggestions or alternatives besides OEM BMW steering wheels?

[Ji Money]

$300 seems like a good price for OEM stuff, so that Sparco wheel is good I guess.

I need one myself, but with an airbag.

[Ji Money]

I know you don't want OEM, but these are nice.



http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/BMW-M...QQcmdZViewItem

[cooljess76]

Those are okay, but nothing really strikes me as special about it. They cost a ton and in the end, it does the same thing that a 50 dollar racing style wheel does, minus the looks. The airbag thing really took some consideration from me because I USED to be a cop and I've seen them save lives. But personally, I've been in three major accidents and none of them involved an airbag deployment. The first was in my crx(totaled/no airbag), the second in my civic(almost totaled/airbag didn't deploy???) and the thrird in my alfa romeo(totaled/no airbag). I was wearing my seatbelt PROPERLY adjusted and walked away without a scratch each time. Maybe it's ignorance on my part, but I'm just toying with the idea right now and want to clean up my interior a little, starting with the ugly ass 4 spoke.

Also, when I get my donor car in a couple of months, if it has a 3 spoke and the airbag is intact, I'll probably use that one.

[Ji Money]

But is it legal to have no airbag? Then I ask myself, is weed even legal? Who cares! Smoke weed! Fu#k an airbag!

[cooljess76]

Originally Posted by Ji Money

But is it legal to have no airbag? Then I ask myself, is weed even legal? Who cares! Smoke weed! Fu#k an airbag!

My thoughts exactly, notice I capitalized the word "used" in my post above
Some states have safety inspections. California does not as they seem to care more about emissions. I'm sure it's illegal, but so is what have stashed under my seat

[cali-ti]

i agree the stock 4-spoke is too big and doesn't give one great choices for hand position. i bought an e46 m3 wheel to fit, but might fit that to the used X5 i get (if it doesn't have a heated steering wheel). problem with e46 m3 wheel is fitting the airbag (since it's a dual stage vs the stock ti single stage). if i could retrofit steering wheel controls (which i hadn't originally planned to do), maybe it work be worth fitting the e46 wheel. i don't mind the wheel Ji Money posted a pic of, but i'd want the one with the "thumb bumps" that i've rarely seen on ebay (don't think they were ever in the US cars either).

[cooljess76]

I actually used to really like the BMW 3 spoke wheels, especially because of the thumb rests, but I've since gotten over it and just want something a little less expensive.

[Ji Money]

Yeah I've been reading about the two stage airbags.

Jess, are you packin' heat to the SoCal meetings too?! Remind me to never go!

Yay, my shift just ended, time to go home and roll some trees!

Later guys.

[cali-ti]

if he is, you shouldn't be afraid, you should be thankful. and if you are jess, be careful! can't imagine the heat you'd catch ... but then again your life is more important. too bad schwarzenegger isn't getting that corrected (but man would he have a lot to overcome!).

i hear ya on the less expensive. too bad the dollar is sucking c0ck right now or the ones from europe would actually be a good possibility (that's where i got my e46 m3 wheel, thanks to the assistance of nick lavender). i still have no airbag for mine and am undecided on whether to get one or just get the airbag cover and fit that w/o the airbag. considering how long people have survived without airbags and the cost to replace them ... i'm really hearing what you're saying jess.

that said, i'm not sure i'm feeling that sparco. not sure what would "strike my fancy" but that one doesn't seem to be doing it.

[cooljess76]

Lol, nah I was just messin. I don't roll like that. The way I see things, if I can't handle someone with my bare hands or some sort of improvised weapon obtained during the heat of the moment, then they deserve whatever it is that they want from me. If anyone were to point a weapon at me, chances are they'll be holding a useless piece of metal in a matter of seconds anyway, lol.

The Sparco wheel isn't exactly what I was looking at, but similar. And I'm sure there's some flaming to catch, but here it goes:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...MEWA:IT&ih=008

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...MEWA:IT&ih=003

[cooljess76]

For those prices, how could I go wrong? And yes, I realize it says JDM(an acronymn for rice), but is there even such a thing as a DTM steering wheel, lol. Also, FWIW I was thinking about making a BMW horn button out of an emblem or something and sticking it to or replacing the existing horn button with it. I was also thinking about putting the motorsport stripes on the bottom spoke///

[SDKmann]

Check this out- http://forums.bimmerforums.com/forum...d.php?t=873544

[cooljess76]

Nice, that's the look I'm going for, but still a little rich for my blood.

[cali-ti]

think the second one you linked to was nicer looking except for the silver (which would have to go). maybe retrofit the bmw steering wheel emblem in the center too. hard to beat $8 for a steering wheel, lol