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2010 2011 BMW 5 Series Forum F10 BMW 5-Series (F10) Forums General 5-Series Sedan and Wagon (F10 / F11) Forum 2013 535 steering wheel options?
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      07-15-2016, 02:33 PM   #1
gulfstream69xr7
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2013 535 steering wheel options?

I don't particularly like the skinny stock steering wheel on the Non sport or M sport interior. My wife wanted heated steering far more than anything else, so we bought the car with the Pre 1 & 2 and cold weather package.

Now that we've been driving the car for a while neither of us care for the skimpy factory wheel (BMW should be ashamed for putting that in a $70K car).

I reached out to Ledermanz to see what my options would be, but he does not do heated steering wheels. All I'm looking for is something a little thicker than the base steering wheel.

From what I understand the airbag from the base wheel only fits the base wheel. If I buy the wheel sans the airbag, I cannot swap my bag over. All of the ones listed on ebay are single stage airbag, and I don't want to mess with airbag system. I don't mind swapping it from one wheel to another, but I want to keep the two stage setup.

Are there any other options out there other than dropping over $1000 at the dealership?
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      07-15-2016, 04:46 PM   #2
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You can swap in a pre-LCI MSport wheel:



OR you can upgrade to the LCI MSport wheel:



Both are direct fit when installed with all the matching accessories and airbag. They both come with and without shift paddles.
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      07-15-2016, 06:46 PM   #3
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I upgraded mine from a pre-lci m sport wheel to a ledermanz custom wheel, only switched out the air bag with what was in my car at the time.
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      07-15-2016, 07:22 PM   #4
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Quote:
Originally Posted by gulfstream69xr7 View Post
I don't particularly like the skinny stock steering wheel ..... (BMW should be ashamed for putting that in a $70K car).
Fully agreed, sometimes it's puzzling how these decisions are made internally.

As for Ledermanz, that's by far your cheapest and most reliable option. There's a company I believe called "Dallas Custom Steering wheels" that does wrapping, but few of their wheels I've seen have small wrinkles around stitching I personally didn't care for. Plus you would have to send your own wheel to them and wait for up to two weeks, which is not the case with Ledermanz. The upside is that unless they cut the bottom or change the shape of the wheel, you get to keep the heating option, where Ledermanz offers no heating option at all, no matter what the shape. Ledermanz communication, customization and fit and finish are trully great, but I have to say I like the feel of BMW leather much better than his. He claims Napa leather is used, but I personally am not sold. Never seen anyone else complain about this so, perhaps it's just me, being super picky. I also find it to be "ever so slightly" thicker than it should be, but not as big a deal as "feel" of the leather.
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      07-15-2016, 08:59 PM   #5
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      07-16-2016, 02:44 PM   #6
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Quote:
I upgraded mine from a pre-lci m sport wheel to a ledermanz custom wheel
Quote:
Ledermanz, that's by far your cheapest and most reliable option.
Quote:
I really do a lot of research when it comes to upgrades I plan on doing and I've only heard good reviews from Ledermanz across the internet from here, the Audi forums, and domestic market forums. Their customer service was 2nd to none. I can count 20+ emails I sent to them with me changing my mind on how I wanted my wheel to look like. Not once did they not reply or complain. They we're very professional, sent me pictures of the wheel completed and asked for final approval before shipping to me... what company does that?! LEDERMANZ!
As I said in the initial post, Ledermanz does not do heated steering wheels. I asked. and he declined. This car is my wife's daily driver. Winter in NJ is no fun, and she is not giving up her heated wheel.

So are my only options the Sport and LCI Sport wheels?
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      07-16-2016, 03:13 PM   #7
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Last edited by lsturbointeg; 07-16-2016 at 04:46 PM..
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      07-16-2016, 04:07 PM   #8
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Quote:
do some research
Yeah, maybe I should post the question on a BMW F10 message board to see what other people have done.
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      07-16-2016, 04:45 PM   #9
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      07-18-2016, 12:37 AM   #10
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Quote:
Originally Posted by gulfstream69xr7 View Post
I don't particularly like the skinny stock steering wheel on the Non sport or M sport interior. My wife wanted heated steering far more than anything else, so we bought the car with the Pre 1 & 2 and cold weather package.

Now that we've been driving the car for a while neither of us care for the skimpy factory wheel (BMW should be ashamed for putting that in a $70K car).

I reached out to Ledermanz to see what my options would be, but he does not do heated steering wheels. All I'm looking for is something a little thicker than the base steering wheel.

From what I understand the airbag from the base wheel only fits the base wheel. If I buy the wheel sans the airbag, I cannot swap my bag over. All of the ones listed on ebay are single stage airbag, and I don't want to mess with airbag system. I don't mind swapping it from one wheel to another, but I want to keep the two stage setup.

Are there any other options out there other than dropping over $1000 at the dealership?
Start with post #35 here...

Been there, done that, have the better steering wheel!!
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      07-18-2016, 07:51 AM   #11
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Stück View Post
You can swap in a pre-LCI MSport wheel:



OR you can upgrade to the LCI MSport wheel:



Both are direct fit when installed with all the matching accessories and airbag. They both come with and without shift paddles.
do you know if that direct swap includes the primary secondary airbag setup also? my car is a non sport 2011 550i, i would like to do this mod over the winter.
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      07-18-2016, 08:12 AM   #12
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Yes the airbag wiring is the same, obviously the bags are physically different... but they plug in the same.
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      07-18-2016, 08:57 AM   #13
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Stück View Post
Yes the airbag wiring is the same, obviously the bags are physically different... but they plug in the same.
But the cost for this, at least in Canada is stupid high.

I called the dealer to ask, and, are you sitting down, $3800 all in (of course that's parts and labor to install, so maybe 2/3 of that if you just get the parts and install it yourself, which is straight forward I assume).

Personally though (slightly off topic), I prefer the old style BMW wheels, with slightly larger airbag and no shiny (to me cheap looking) plastic on the steering wheel.
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      07-18-2016, 09:04 AM   #14
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Yeah... if you buy it all new its going to be expensive yes.

I did my retrofit pictured above for about $900.
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      07-18-2016, 04:06 PM   #15
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I have a 2013 M Sport wheel for sale, no air bag or paddles
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      07-18-2016, 07:27 PM   #16
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Quote:
Originally Posted by DigitalNav View Post
I have a 2013 M Sport wheel for sale, no air bag or paddles
Is it heated? and if so how much for the wheel. I assume I'd have to then buy an airbag for it.
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      07-18-2016, 09:39 PM   #17
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Quote:
Originally Posted by gulfstream69xr7 View Post
Is it heated? and if so how much for the wheel. I assume I'd have to then buy an airbag for it.
No heating, looking to get $200. in pretty much perfect condition.
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      07-18-2016, 09:55 PM   #18
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Stück View Post
Yeah... if you buy it all new its going to be expensive yes.

I did my retrofit pictured above for about $900.
I got the sport wheel w/paddles and airbag for $390. I just had to do the airbag modification to make it work (single-stage to dual-stage).
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      07-19-2016, 05:09 AM   #19
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Quote:
Originally Posted by DigitalNav View Post
No heating, looking to get $200. in pretty much perfect condition.
I appreciate the offer, but I'm trying to find a heated option. This is my wife's daily driver, and she is not willing to give up the heated steering wheel. She'd rather have the crappy standard wheel with heat, than the sport wheel without.
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      07-19-2016, 05:11 AM   #20
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ezaircon4jc View Post
I got the sport wheel w/paddles and airbag for $390. I just had to do the airbag modification to make it work (single-stage to dual-stage).
Where may I ask did you get it? I'd take that route, and do the bag swap that was posted upthread.
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      07-20-2016, 12:45 AM   #21
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Quote:
Originally Posted by gulfstream69xr7 View Post
Where may I ask did you get it? I'd take that route, and do the bag swap that was posted upthread.
eBay from Lithuania. The seller was bars-bmw.
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      08-11-2016, 02:48 PM   #22
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Completed retrofit of base leather wheel with Sport Wheel

Thanks to the many posts here on this forum, I was able to replace the skinny leather wheel on my car with a Sport wheel. It wasn't too difficult with all the help from other forum members.

My car is a pre-LCI 2013 535xi. The first thing to do is figure out what steering wheel related options your car has to make sure you get all the right parts. I have:

Heated wheel - (248A); Lane Departure Warning (5ADA); and Lane Change Warning (5AGA.)

To find out what part numbers I needed, I logged onto realoem.com and entered my VIN. Here are the parts I needed:

Sport Steering Wheel - 32336790894
Airbag module - 32306783828
Vibration Generator - 32336787452. The options you have (listed above) on your car will determine what generator you need or if you even need one.
Trim Cover - 32336787441
Steering wheel control unit - 61319383878. The original part # is 61319218379 but has been superseded by this one. This is one part that fits in both wheels so I just moved it from the leather wheel to the sport wheel. Like the vibration generator, the part # you need depends on the options you have.
Steering wheel multi-function switches - 61319229484. I didn't realize the switches are physically different on each wheel (the difference is primarily on the back of the switches as they mount differently into the wheel) so I didn't know I needed one until I tried to move the ones in my old wheel to my new sport wheel. So I had to put everything back together, order a switch assembly, and then take everything apart again a few days later when the switch came in One thing about the switches - the top and bottom ones on the left side (for cruise control) on the new switch are labeled differently. The new top switch is labeled LIM (SET on the old wheel) and the bottom switch has a really small speedometer icon on it (this turns cruise control on and off.) My old wheel was labeled I/O. But the functionality is the same - everything worked fine.

I was able to find the sport wheel and airbag on eBay. The wheel was $225 and the airbag was $425 - substantially less than what new ones will cost at the dealer. I paid $100.50 for the vibration generator; $96.07 for the trim piece; and $211.89 for the multi-function switches. I got those items from my local dealer who gives 25% off for BMW CCA members. So with all the parts plus taxes/shipping the total came to about $1100. Pretty expensive for a new (used) steering wheel.

Once I had all the parts, it was just a matter of following the instructions in some of the other forum posts to take the old wheel off (disconnecting battery first!); moving the control unit from the old wheel to the new one; fitting the new parts in the sport wheel; and then putting the wheel in the car. The test drive was successful - everything worked perfectly.

Here's a pic of the new wheel. I wish it would have been less $$ but I love the sport wheel. Great upgrade!
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Last edited by rja66; 08-13-2016 at 03:01 PM..
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