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Thread: How to replace slip ring write up :) horn not working?

  1. #1
    Join Date
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    How to replace slip ring write up :) horn not working?

    My horn has not been working for a couple of months now. My inspection was due in December, but I cannot pass without a working horn.

    I tested the horn. It was good. However I was not getting power to it.

    So I took off the airbag on the steering wheel as I was told crap can gum up the connection. But the connection was clean.

    I did not want to trace a wire from the steering wheel to the horn. So I did some more research and read that it might be a faulty slip ring.

    The slip ring is what lets you have power from the steering wheel (horn, steering wheel buttons) and lets you still be able to turn the wheel. It is basicly a ribbon power line.

    I could not find a write up anywhere on how to replace this. So in typical bcausseaux fashion I made one.

    First you are going to want to disconnect the battery and let the car sit for at least 15 mins. This is so when you take off the air bag it won't blow up in your face



    So after the 15 mins have passed you're ready to work. First you will take off the bottom plastic cover of the steering column. This will requre a phillips head screwdriver. This is just a plasic screw. After you take the screw out there will be an expansion plug which you can just pull out with your fingers. Now just pull off the cover. It is hooked to the top cover with clips, but it will come loose. There is no need to remove the top cover.



    Now you're ready to take off the air bag. It is held on by two screws on the back of the steering wheel. You will need a T27 torx head. The screws will stay in the wheel so don't bother trying to get them out. It is easiest to get to the screws if you turn the wheel one way then the other to get to the other screw as shown in the picture.




    Now, this is a terrible picture but you will get the idea. Once those two screws are removed the airbag is free to fall. As you can see in this picture there is very little slack. Maybe 4-5 inches at the most. Don't let the airbag fall or hang by these wires. There is a brown wire that is the ground. Unclip that. Then unclip the airbag wires, they just pull straight out. Now set the airbag away face up.



    Now you're ready to remove the steering wheel. If you look at the big center nut you will see the splines that hold the wheel on. At the bottom is a centering mark. Take a sharpie and mark where the wheel is in relation to the center mark so you can line your wheel back up later. The wheel is held on by a 16mm nut. It is not on all that tight, I did not require a breaker bar for my car.



    You can now pull the wheel straight off. The slip ring is attached to the steering wheel and to the car by two harnesses. Disconnect the harnesses, they are on pretty tight.



    You now have a free wheel. As you can see in this picture it was quite obvious why my horn was not working. Not only was one wire complete broken from the clip but the other three were showing bare metal



    Removal of the slip ring from the wheel is just a matter of 4 screws. You will need a T10 torx head. On the front of the wheel is a ground wire.



    On the back of the wheel there are three more T10 screws. The slip ring is free now.



    There are two things to note when placing the new slip ring. The first is that there is a notch in the front of the new slip ring that must go into a pin on the wheel.




    The second thing to note is that on the new slip ring there is a red peg attached. Do not remove this until later. This is so the new slip ring does not rotate until it is ready to be installed. If the slip ring rotates and you install it in the car when you turn the wheel all the way to one way you will rip the ribbon and get to do this all over again.



    Now take your wheel with the new slip ring back to the car. Set the wheel on your knees and plug the harnesses back in. Now you can take off the red pin, careful to not let the slip ring rotate.

    Line up the center mark you made on the wheel and spline and push the wheel back on. Put the 16mm bolt back in and tighted.

    Get the air\bag and set that on your knees. Connect the airbag harness and the ground. Don't let it fall, screw the airbag back to the wheel.

    Connect the battery.

    You're all done

    This takes about an hour. I could see it taking two if you're nervous about the airbag and taking your time to double check everything.

    The slip ring cost a little less than $160

    If anyone can think of anything I left out let me know

  2. #2
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    get a sparco steering wheel and replace the one they got from a bmw bus to put in the z3.
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  3. #3
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    Thanks for the write-up.

  4. #4
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    Great write up and pic's thanks a lot...hope I never need it, but if i do you have been a tremendous help...

  5. #5
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    2K Z3, 997 911S
    I had this break on me in my old E36, after I took apart the steering column for some reason or another. I ended up bring it to my mechanic (old german guy) and he managed to re-soider the broken points. Saved me alot of money cause If i remember correctly that stupid part cost alot.

  6. #6
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    Thanks for the writeup. Do you know if the directions work for the three spoke wheel?

  7. #7
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    Same instructions

  8. #8
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    1999 z3 coupe - black
    I had that same 4 spoke steering wheel, I replaced it with a three spoke and the instructions you gave would work identically with it.

    I have another three spoke wheel if you're interested. No airbag though...just the slip ring.



  9. #9
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    Quote Originally Posted by struenz View Post
    Great write up and pic's thanks a lot...hope I never need it, but if i do you have been a tremendous help...
    +1

  10. #10
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    Awesome! Thanx
    2010 E60 M5
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  11. #11
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    I have the same issue in my 2001 M-roadster. The SRS light is on, and horn does not work. I took off and inspected the slip ring today, and it looks fine. Is there something that can possibly be wrong with it internally? I hate to buy a $160 part and find out it was not the problem.

    Thanks!

  12. #12
    Join Date
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    DIY write ups make me all teary eyed. Thanks a bunch!

  13. #13
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    Thanks for the Write-up. My horn now works!!

    I just want to note that the repair manual says to unplug the airbag connector underneath steering column before removal of the airbag.



    -Phil

  14. #14
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    Hi All,
    I know it's an old thread but I just did mine based on this excellent write up and have a couple observations I'll toss out.

    I got a bit cheap and replaced mine with a used one...

    1) The connector with the blue and brown wires that connects on the column was COMPLETELY different (but thankfully also orange and had the same wire colours) so I had to cut and splice from my old one.

    2) Since it was used the red pin that keeps it from turning isn't there, don't panic. Turn it GENTLY all the way from where it wants to stop in one direction to where it wants to stop in the other direction and then back up exactly halfway. There's close enough to your center position. (might be worth noting that the one I removed from my car was 4 turns "lock to lock" and the one I put in was 7?)

    3) Mine weren't T10s holding the slip ring to the wheel, they were 5mm nuts.

    Now that I've done this on the 318iS I think I'm comfortable pulling the wheel off the M3 and moving it a couple teeth clockwise barely a couple degrees. The slight off center when rolling straight (and not pulling at all so I'm not concerned that it's alignment) has been driving me slightly batty!

    Jamie

  15. #15
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    Good job - added to my favorites
    2000 Z3 MCoupe, '01 LSB E46 M3, '99 GTI VR6, '06 Audi A4, Andrew '95 Avus M3

  16. #16
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    Thank you so much for this detailed write-up. Things went even easier than I anticipated after reading your DIY!!! I got the part at bavauto -- while it probably wasn't the cheapest place to get it, I can now steer with ease and without annoying grinding and crushing sounds . Thanks again!

  17. #17
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    Quote Originally Posted by jamrobin View Post
    Now that I've done this on the 318iS I think I'm comfortable pulling the wheel off the M3 and moving it a couple teeth clockwise barely a couple degrees. The slight off center when rolling straight (and not pulling at all so I'm not concerned that it's alignment) has been driving me slightly batty!

    Jamie
    If the steering wheel has been taken off before you are probably right. However it is possible to be caused during an alignment if the tool to hold the steering wheel doesn't have adequate pressure and the tie rods are seized. The wheel can end up off. Mark the wheel before you reposition it and then see if you have the same amount of turns lock to lock after. If not put it back and straighten it out with the tie rods.

  18. #18
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    Z3speed4me is offline Coupe Cartel Forever! BMW CCA Member
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    Just did this a few weeks ago; I also disconnected the small harness that Phil posted a picture of.... Bentley says do it, so I did it.

    ~Ken~ '99 M coupe THE "original" TT Stage 3 - HTA3586R; 701 whp 672 wtq @ 26.5 psi ; NeverSell - CoupeCartel

  19. #19
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    Thanks for the writeup. The slip ring on my Z3MC has been squeaking/grinding for years now, I finally got around to replacing it thanks to your instructions.

    My car was pretty similar except what I think was the "ground wire" was purple, and I did not need to disconnect any wires from the wheel itself -- the blue wire you show did not exist in my installation. I only had the screw in the white clip (which provides the peg the slip ring has to be lined up with).. I removed it but did not need to.

    My main piece of information that will help others that I feel wasn't covered in the write-up was to *only disconnect wiring harnesses from the non-slip-ring side*.

    I didn't have my laptop in the car so I mostly did the process from memory, but it wasn't clear in the pictures. Once I had the airbag unscrewed, I pulled really really hard on the wiring harness where it went into the slip ring itself (with the wheel still on), and finally concluded that it must have a tab that hung up on the wheel itself. I thought it made the most sense to disconnect from here instead of from behind the airbag itself, but no, the one to disconnect was the wiring harness that was clipped into the back of the airbag itself.

    Same comment for the other harness that went under the steering column; I tried to disconnect it from the slip ring side instead of from under the steering column.

    Of course, once I had it all out, I looked at my new slip ring, saw it came with fresh wires, and realized how obvious it would have been if I had the new part sitting there for reference while doing the work

    Also gave me a great opportunity to take the wheel inside and clean it up really well with Griot's interior cleaner and condition it with their leather care. Unfortunately at 146k my M-color stitching has just started to come undone.

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