[jdmfrogg]

hey fellas - wanted to share some pics of the Ledermanz (ebay) wrapped steering wheel for our F10s. Several 3 series forums as well as audi, mb, vw and nissan forums have some pics of his work and positive reviews, but I haven't seen anyone post any F10 steering wheels yet so wanted to share some pics from my iphone. If i get some time later, i'll take better pics with a dlsr.

This might be the most cost effective option if you have a non m-sport since you can reuse your current airbag (the M performance and other steering wheel configs require the purchase of a different airbag). The steering wheel comes with OEM left/right thumb buttons but the configs vary, so if they are different from your current setup, you can swap your stock ones over (2 screws on the backside of the steering wheel). No core is needed, so can always swap back to stock whenever you want.

He is based in Latvia but shipping was fast - around 10 days total to San Francisco bay area.

I have a 2011 535 non m sport, I opted for his 3 leather config - regular leather top/bottom, perforated for the left/right, alcantara for the center trim. he also added 4 thumb pads, a flat bottom and increased thickness for the whole wheel.

I have ocd, so looked it over really good...leather looks high quality, stitching looks perfectly consistent, perforations on left/right line up, front/back wrapped like OEM, etc...

Haven't installed it yet, but wanted to share some pics out of the box if others have been interested in his work.

[Dan1416]

Looks great! Had my standard wheel wrapped by a company in England and I was super happy. This looks even nicer! Can't wait to see installed pics!

[lsturbointeg]

Dang it! More money to spend! Is this a simple swap...any fail codes doing this? Can u post a link...appreciate it! Looks awesome!

[Mbbrewer]

I've been eyeing one of these. Looks fantastic. What did it cost you? How hard to remove/ install wheel and airbag?

[kondor]

Wow....looks great. Curious how much this costs if you provide the wheel?

[jdmfrogg]

Originally Posted by lsturbointeg

Dang it! More money to spend! Is this a simple swap...any fail codes doing this? Can u post a link...appreciate it! Looks awesome!

Hi LS turbo. Should be easy - high level install is to disconnect lead to battery, slide a thin screw driver into the small hole found on the backside/bottom of the steering wheel to release the airbag, remove the nut holding the steering wheel in, disconnect some harnesses, swap over your buttons/controls and then reverse the steps above (make sure you have a torque wrench for accuracy). Since its a straight swap, I do not believe there should be any errors or coding needed - just plug and play

found some youtube posts showing the steps:

Originally Posted by Mbbrewer

I've been eyeing one of these. Looks fantastic. What did it cost you? How hard to remove/ install wheel and airbag?

brewer - his prices change, but if you search on ebay for f10 steering wheels and then look for his posts you'll be able to find his current market prices. I compared his prices to a few others in europe as well as 2 other popular steering wheel wrapping shops in the US, and I think his price was very competitive while the feedback on his work was all positive from various other car forums.

Originally Posted by kondor

Wow....looks great. Curious how much this costs if you provide the wheel?

good question condor - maybe send him a message to see if that is an option. i remember reading that someone with a less common car sent their steering wheel in and had a fast turnaround, but they didn't quote any prices on those forums.

[VMRWheels]

Nice, that looks really good

[e85sbm]

How do you know the airbag is able to be transferred? This is my biggest concern as the cost of the airbag is pretty high.

[lsturbointeg]

Originally Posted by e85sbm

How do you know the airbag is able to be transferred? This is my biggest concern as the cost of the airbag is pretty high.

I was able to pull up that eBay listing along with other f10 steering wheels. Seems like you would have to reuse your airbags and buttons from your stock steering wheel to the new one.

[e85sbm]

how do I know what steering wheel he has is compatible, I see a few different designs

[Jet in Oz]

Looks great. Two paramount considerations - Driver Safety and Vehicle Warranty.

[makkan00]

I was considering this but my steering wheel is heated.
So I'll have to ship mine. Increased thickness will decrease the amount of heat which will pass through additional layer of leather and underlay.
So not sure what to do.

[TheGlobetrotter]

Originally Posted by Jet in Oz

Looks great. Two paramount considerations - Driver Safety and Vehicle Warranty.

So are you saying it would void it?

[Jet in Oz]

Originally Posted by TheGlobetrotter

So are you saying it would void it?

Not saying that at all but each country has different safety standards therefore you would need to verify that any aftermarket product you are buying that is 'safety specific' (i.e. steering wheels, seat belts, alloy wheels, etc) do in fact meet your country's safety standards otherwise you can definitely expect your warranty to be compromised. In Oz we have the Australian Safety Standards as well as the Motor Vehicle Standards Act. Technically OEM and aftermarket products need to pass these before they can be sold here.

[TheGlobetrotter]

Originally Posted by jdmfrogg

hey fellas - wanted to share some pics of the Ledermanz (ebay) wrapped steering wheel for our F10s. Several 3 series forums as well as audi, mb, vw and nissan forums have some pics of his work and positive reviews, but I haven't seen anyone post any F10 steering wheels yet so wanted to share some pics from my iphone. If i get some time later, i'll take better pics with a dlsr.

So where are those pics?

[jdmfrogg]

Hi guys - sorry been out of town due to work.

I'm planning on installing it late this month... I have to take the car in for the vanos bolt recall and didn't want to put it on before then... just to make sure no grease/dirt gets on the wheel while in for the service

i'll post pics as soon as its on.


Just catching up to the thread - Jet in Oz mentioned warranty concerns. When I meant the steering wheel was OEM, I meant that it was a stock factory BMW steering wheel that was just recovered in different leather with padding and had thumb grips epoxied on (material is only added, nothing structural is cut or removed from the stock wheel). It is not made by a third party or other company - the one I received has all of the factory BMW labels, part#s that look like my stock one. I'm guessing Ledermanz buys these in his country from a BMW dealer or has local customers that he takes their factory steering wheels off (cores) when he does local recovering so that he always has stock for his internet sales. If you wanted, you can also just swap the stock steering wheel back on to prevent any questions from the dealer since it is an easy job.

Thanks for the input guys - pics in a few weeks.

[PARTS@STBMW]

LOVE LOVE LOVE IT! Great job!

[jdmfrogg]

Got the vanos bolts done last week so I spent Friday night installing the wheel.

As requested by a few, here are some updated pics of it installed.



If anyone wants, I can try to write up a diy, couple of steps to yank the battery negative and then finesse the airbag off and torque specs for the center bolt... in my case it definitely was not as quick as the youtube video posted above

[lsturbointeg]

Oh man that Looks good and just more money for me to spend now Lol!

[Jet in Oz]

Originally Posted by jdmfrogg

Just catching up to the thread - Jet in Oz mentioned warranty concerns. When I meant the steering wheel was OEM, I meant that it was a stock factory BMW steering wheel that was just recovered in different leather with padding and had thumb grips epoxied on (material is only added, nothing structural is cut or removed from the stock wheel). It is not made by a third party or other company - the one I received has all of the factory BMW labels, part#s that look like my stock one. I'm guessing Ledermanz buys these in his country from a BMW dealer or has local customers that he takes their factory steering wheels off (cores) when he does local recovering so that he always has stock for his internet sales. If you wanted, you can also just swap the stock steering wheel back on to prevent any questions from the dealer since it is an easy job.

Pleased to hear that JDM. No doubt the steering wheels are model for model (F10 for F10) as insurance companies look for any reason to void coverage at the time of an accident (I would actually recommend peeps ensure their insurance policy is endorsed with the modification to avoid any issues). There's no question they look fantastic

[remmib]

Looks great, but now you need more alcantara in the car.

[lsturbointeg]

Speaking of this steering wheel someone posted one for sale in the Market Forum. Any special cleaning products to clean alcantara?