Replaced!
Easy task, here is the link I used for guidance and everything worked as described.
Lower steering wheel trim removal - Bimmerfest - BMW Forums
My tips are:
Use allen wenches on both sides at the same time and watch the youtube vid above and the airbag will gingerly pop/pull out. The airbag will kind of pop out but you have to grab on to the edges and help it along. I did not fully disconnect the airbag cause it was scary. After unscrewing the three screws behind the wheel trim, I just pulled out the buttons and lower trim (these items are all fastened together). You have to pull it out, straight out, there are plastic dowells that secure everything to allign with the screws. Once that is done you have to unscrew the buttons from the lower trim. Then, of course you throw all this in reverese and reinstall.
YOU WILL most likely get a 4x4 malfunction error when you reconnect the battery and turn on the car. No biggie, this went right away. This also happened to me when I replaced all the brakes on my old x3.
Anyways, I also took the time to fully clean and condition all the leather which is usually covered by the buttons and trim. I also fully cleaned/conditioned the lower leather trim. One other thing I did was take my Mr Clean magic eraser GENTLY to that lower trim, that did a good job of taking that finish back to matte and it took to the leather conditioner well.
So thats it, I got new buttons, they look much better. Now all I have to do is get my transmission fixed (I have the hard shift into first when stopping issue). We already tried a reprogram, so maybe they will throw in a new transmission.
08-15-2011, 06:25 AM
Threaded Mode
