[ezaircon4jc]

For those interested in swapping the horrible base steering wheel for the sport steering wheel here is my successful journey...

I did the swap today. I got the wheel w/airbag from Lithuania so knew I was going to have an airbag issue. What I had to do was remove the entire airbag assembly from the old wheel to install into the "new". The cover comes off relatively easily (there is a bracket holding the mounting tabs in place that comes off easily) and the airbag itself is packed so well I had no issues getting it into the new cover. I initially thought all I would need to do is replace the ignitor but that turned out to not be the case. There is an additional connection to the airbag itself; which necessitated replacing the entire airbag. Replacing the entire assembly was pretty straight-forward and if you can get as far as replacing the steering wheel this extra step shouldn't pose a problem. Just pay close attention to what you're doing as you go. One hitch I found is the ignitor has a different orientation after reinstalling the ignitor into the new cover so the blue connector was a tad short. It did stretch enough to fit back into the connection. Here are some pics of the process..... Questions?? Ask away and I'll answer what I can!!

Oh..... DISCLAIMER!!!!!! I bear NO responsibility for anyone trying this and having catastrophic results. This is MY EXPERIENCE ONLY!!

Now that that's out of the way here are some pics of the process...

UGH.... I can't post pics.. yet. I'll keep trying... GOT IT!!!!!!

[lsturbointeg]

Curious to see what ur talking about as I did mine with no issues other than replacing the steering wheel controls with mine again. Get those pictures up cause it'll make more sense visually

[Akkord29]

I would also throw out there DO NOT TURN YOUR CAR ON UNTIL YOU RECONNECT ALL THE AIRBAG plugs! I found out the hard way and had an airbag light that would not go away until I had it reset. Unless you have the tool, you'll need to ask the dealer to reset which probably won't go over well.

[ezaircon4jc]

Originally Posted by Akkord29

I would also throw out there DO NOT TURN YOUR CAR ON UNTIL YOU RECONNECT ALL THE AIRBAG plugs! I found out the hard way and had an airbag light that would not go away until I had it reset. Unless you have the tool, you'll need to ask the dealer to reset which probably won't go over well.

THANK YOU!!!!! I remember reading that somewhere but forgot where and about that. I also neglected to mention to remove the negative battery terminal for at least a half hour before commencing. I will get that when I'm back on my laptop....

[ezaircon4jc]

Originally Posted by lsturbointeg

Curious to see what ur talking about as I did mine with no issues other than replacing the steering wheel controls with mine again. Get those pictures up cause it'll make more sense visually

For some reason the site wouldn't let me post them..... They were the right size.... I couldn't use my base wheel stock airbag with the sport wheel. They are different so had to transplant my airbag into the airbag "casing" of the new wheel. I did forget to take a completed pic as I was so excited that it worked!!

[lsturbointeg]

Originally Posted by ezaircon4jc

For some reason the site wouldn't let me post them..... They were the right size.... I couldn't use my base wheel stock airbag with the sport wheel. They are different so had to transplant my airbag into the airbag "casing" of the new wheel. I did forget to take a completed pic as I was so excited that it worked!!

did you get the wheel from Ledermanz or what company is out of Lithuania? I had them get me a stock base non m sport steering wheel and make it more of a sport wheel with the flat bottom so i can still use my OEM airbag. we both have the same base steering wheel. interested to see how you managed to get a non m airbag work in a msport steering wheel...but KUDOS if you got it to work! but hurry up with those pictures lol!

[ezaircon4jc]

Originally Posted by lsturbointeg

did you get the wheel from Ledermanz or what company is out of Lithuania? I had them get me a stock base non m sport steering wheel and make it more of a sport wheel with the flat bottom so i can still use my OEM airbag. we both have the same base steering wheel. interested to see how you managed to get a non m airbag work in a msport steering wheel...but KUDOS if you got it to work! but hurry up with those pictures lol!

I saw your post and really liked your wheel!! The cost and down time made me think a while; and I kind of wanted the paddles... I got the sport wheel off of eBay for $389 shipped!

OK... I still can't uplod pics. I get some security token error... Grrrrr..... Anyway (and I hope this doesn't violate any forum rules as I have the pic on another forum) here are pics.

[lsturbointeg]

oh yeah i saw that post on bimmerfest.

[ezaircon4jc]

Got the pics in... Seems I forgot to resize them... Here are a few more...

[dadysev]

ok a little help here.I believe lsturbointeg talked about this before with switching M sport steering with non M sport problems and European wheels.
The pic of my wheel i believe is the sport but non M from and i have a 2011 550i, if i Just got the M sport wheel would i be able to put my airbag back in it?
or is it a different airbag also. i"m not talking the LCI sport wheel with the Round bag either. The regular non moded M sport to lsturbointeg wheel he got from Ledermanz.
Please help before i order the wrong thing!

[lsturbointeg]

Originally Posted by dadysev

ok a little help here.I believe lsturbointeg talked about this before with switching M sport steering with non M sport problems and European wheels.
The pic of my wheel i believe is the sport but non M from and i have a 2011 550i, if i Just got the M sport wheel would i be able to put my airbag back in it?
or is it a different airbag also. i"m not talking the LCI sport wheel with the Round bag either. The regular non moded M sport to lsturbointeg wheel he got from Ledermanz.
Please help before i order the wrong thing!

U have paddle shifters don't you? Ledermanz can get an OEM wheel and make it to whatever design u want. so because I have a non msport he used a non msport wheel and made it look sporty with the flat bottom and thumb rest. For you dadsev you would need to let him know exactly what OEM wheel you have so he can get the same one and redesign it to your design that way all you have to do is transfer your air bag and controls over. Fellow member MSportF10 just ordered his but he has paddles just like yours. Maybe u can PM him. He posted a picture of his wheel on my thread. Here's the wheel he ordered... does it look like yours?

[lsturbointeg]

Originally Posted by ezaircon4jc

.

dang bro...u actually disassembled your air bag

[ezaircon4jc]

Originally Posted by lsturbointeg

dang bro...u actually disassembled your air bag

Yup.. I figuered I had nothing to lose. The hardest part was getting all the "ears" opened at the same time I had to use multiple flat-heads to keep the "ears" open as I moved around the cover. I was surprised how easy the swap was.

[dadysev]

Originally Posted by lsturbointeg

U have paddle shifters don't you? Ledermanz can get an OEM wheel and make it to whatever design u want. so because I have a non msport he used a non msport wheel and made it look sporty with the flat bottom and thumb rest. For you dadsev you would need to let him know exactly what OEM wheel you have so he can get the same one and redesign it to your design that way all you have to do is transfer your air bag and controls over. Fellow member MSportF10 just ordered his but he has paddles just like yours. Maybe u can PM him. He posted a picture of his wheel on my thread. Here's the wheel he ordered... does it look like yours?

yes it does. i may just grab a used wheel in good condition. Thats why i was asking about the wheel swaps. but after your post a while back i really like the custom also! lol

[lsturbointeg]

Originally Posted by dadysev

yes it does. i may just grab a used wheel in good condition. Thats why i was asking about the wheel swaps. but after your post a while back i really like the custom also! lol

i would send him this picture and let him know this is the wheel you have with the paddles but let him know as far as leathers, preforated, alcantara and stitching colors. at least he knows what the wheel looks like

[lsturbointeg]

Originally Posted by ezaircon4jc

Yup.. I figuered I had nothing to lose. The hardest part was getting all the "ears" opened at the same time I had to use multiple flat-heads to keep the "ears" open as I moved around the cover. I was surprised how easy the swap was.

doesn't that void the warranty on the airbag because it was disassembled?

[ezaircon4jc]

Originally Posted by lsturbointeg

doesn't that void the warranty on the airbag because it was disassembled?

Don't know why it would. It's completely intact and there are no warning lights/fault codes. They would never have reason to question the "factoryness" of the airbag as it sits.

[BadBoyBeltran]

Hello.

I want to replace/rewrap my steering as well. What is the PM Name of the guy from Luthuania here in the forums? Is he the same guy on EBay?

[lsturbointeg]

Originally Posted by BadBoyBeltran

Hello.

I want to replace/rewrap my steering as well. What is the PM Name of the guy from Luthuania here in the forums? Is he the same guy on EBay?

i believe so

[top ramen]

Nice write up. I just swapped my steering wheel from non sport to sport with paddles last month. Instead of buying a sport airbag unit, I bought a sport airbag cover and dismantle the non sport airbag and swapped everything over to the sport airbag cover. Everything fit perfectly. I should've took some photo too for a diy to show how easy it was.

[lsturbointeg]

Originally Posted by tomyang

Nice write up. I just swapped my steering wheel from non sport to sport with paddles last month. Instead of buying a sport airbag unit, I bought a sport airbag cover and dismantle the non sport airbag and swapped everything over to the sport airbag cover. Everything fit perfectly. I should've took some photo too for a diy to show how easy it was.

Post some pictures of the finished wheel

[ezaircon4jc]

Originally Posted by tomyang

Nice write up. I just swapped my steering wheel from non sport to sport with paddles last month. Instead of buying a sport airbag unit, I bought a sport airbag cover and dismantle the non sport airbag and swapped everything over to the sport airbag cover. Everything fit perfectly. I should've took some photo too for a diy to show how easy it was.

My Plan "B" was to purchase the cover and swap the airbag, as you did. Fortunately, my wheel came with the airbag.