RAID steering wheel pics + brief writeup

[JCK]

First, let's start with a before pic:



My previous car being a '94 325is with the humongous 4-spoke steering wheel, when I first drove the roady, the M3 3-spoke wheel was one of my favorite parts. That soon got old, and I realized that such a small, compact car should really have a smaller, more substantial (thick) wheel. This came to a tee when I sat in Chris's (Preppy) new MZ4 coupe, which has a fantastic stock wheel. very small in diameter, and thick around the rim. I knew I had to have something like it.

Enter the RAID silberpfeil Type 1 leather steering wheel. After waiting three weeks after ordering it from Germany, it came on thursday, and I installed it yesterday. here's the stock photo of it:



Install wasn't too bad. There were some issues with the hub-adapter that they make for our cars. The main resource I used for the install was this post on zroadster.net, from a guy who installed it on his rhd Z3. The writeup is very extensive, and does a great job. The only hurdles as far as the writeup was concerned, was that it was sometimes hard to figure out what he meant by certain words (he called the adapter a "boss," and the slip ring a "connector unit.") Otherwise, it was a lifesaver.

The only problem I ran into was that on the adapter they give you, for whatever reason, several of the holes were not threaded. Seemed like some sort of manufacturing flaw. These included some pretty important holes, including the three to which the slip ring is screwd in, and each hole meant for the ground wires (for the airbag and for the horn). Not realizing this, I ended up getting one of the screws cross threaded into the one of the ground wire holes. The solution I came up with was to find a smaller screw (I also had to shorten it), and ground both airbag and horn in the same location.

After working around these little bugs, it was pretty much problem free. Upon installing the RAID wheel and its airbag, it was impossible to tighten the T30 torx screws at the bag of the RAID wheel. So I had to reconnect the wires, and reconnect the battery, and turn the wheel 90 degrees, so I could access the holes from underneath the steering column.

The horn worked on the first try, and no airbag light

So here's the after:



This gives you a good idea of the thickness:



It really is a huge improvement. I really love it, as evidenced by the fact that I'm taking the time to do this writeup Zoran has the same wheel, and I remember him raving about it, and he was right.

[robrez]

Now I really hate my oem steering wheel That thing looks fantastic. and I'm sure it feels even better than it looks

[BenH]

[thebionicman]

Does anyone know if this will work on the cars with the dual stage air bags?

[JCK]

Does anyone know if this will work on the cars with the dual stage air bags?

I'm pretty sure it won't, after seeing pictures of the wiring in the dual stage airbags.

[JoeZ]

Dude, your car is sex.

[Mister X]

I bet that wheel feels fantastic. I just wish there was some type of emblem in the center.

[///MDex]

Hot. Congrats.

[BimmerBoyZ3]

Any plans for your old wheel?

[JCK]

Dude, your car is sex.

Dude, so is yours.

I bet that wheel feels fantastic. I just wish there was some type of emblem in the center.

Thanks man, yea I hear that a lot. For right now, I really like the way it looks, although I've been thinking about getting the airbag covered in leather, with the M Roadster logo embroidered in the center (like on the tach).

Any plans for your old wheel?

Probably sell it.

[Terry F.]

Major improvement!!! How does it feel? Does it seem like good quality leather? May I ask how much $?

Thanks,
Terry

[JCK]

the leather seems to be very high quality. It feels so nice to drive.

it was ~630 shipped.

[Terry F.]

That's with a new airbag, right? If so, that price isn't too bad. Regardless, it looks very good and that's all that matters.

Terry

[JCK]

yep, including airbag.

[BimmerBoyZ3]

Dude, so is yours.

Thanks man, yea I hear that a lot. For right now, I really like the way it looks, although I've been thinking about getting the airbag covered in leather, with the M Roadster logo embroidered in the center (like on the tach).


Probably sell it.

How much? Deal for a fellow silver hardtop Z3 roady bimmerforum fellow?

[98Z3]

looks good man, glad the writeup helped ya!