I recently purchased a brand new M-tech steering wheel with shift paddles from Patryk at bimmertech (
http://www.bimmer-tech.net).
Patryk thoroughly, specifically and patiently answered all my questions and concerns prior to purchasing this brand new steering wheel. Furthermore, he used my VIN to confirm that my BMW would accept the new M-tech steering wheel and was also able to be successfully coded to enable the shift paddels.
He emailed me the BMW instructions that offered a step-by-step on how to safely remove the airbag and steering wheel without incurring any error codes, problems, issues, etc.
Once I received the new steering wheel I removed the stock steering wheel from my BMW. Then I removed the left hand switch housing from the stock steering wheel. It was very easy to do. It is held in place by 1 screw on the rear side of the steering wheel. Once I had the switch housing seperated from the steering wheel I removed its back side panel (3 screws) unplugged the connection and set it aside. Then I did the same to the left hand switch on the new steering wheel, as it had buttons that did not apply to my BMW. Then, it was as simple as plugging in and reinstalling the stock switch housing to the new steering wheel and reinstalling the new wheel and airbag back into my BMW.
After reinstallation, all my switches worked as normal. Except the new shift paddles, as they needed to be activated.
Then I simply connected with one of Patryk's associates from bimmertech via skype. He gave me the appropriate files to download onto my laptop and we subsequently connected remotely. I simply used the appropriate cord to connect the laptop to my car. He activated the paddles in about 2 minutes!
Everything went perfectly. Every step is as easy as plug and play. No worries.
If you have a desire to upgrade your steering wheel then this is the way to do it. You WILL NOT be dissapointed!
I highly recommend Patryk and Bimmertech. These guys are the best at what they do.
BTW, apart from the shift paddles, the steering wheel is thicker too. Very cool.