Yet even more M Wheel Installation Tips.
 

First, I would like to thank each and everyone of you gearheads hanging out in here for giving me the confidence to disassemble a steering wheel on a $60k vehicle. :thumbup:

There are few points that I would like to add for the novice modder like myself..... when attempting to remove the sport wheel and swapping it for the M3, or M5 wheel.

1. Make sure you disconnect the battery, I was thinking of just popping the airbag fuse but after careful consideration....it was just not worth it.
2. Before you even think about this project make sure that you have two types of Torx bits avail to you. The screw driver kind and also the type that you can use on a 1/4 ractchet set. I cannot say this enough. I had both types and it it saved my booty tonight and here is why....
2.a Start you MOD at a reasonable time. In my infinate wisdom I walk by the rig in the garage at 10:30pm after walking Neo and I said what the hell...lets put this bad boy on. by 11:05pm I had the SPORT wheel off, after some trickyness just like PEP advised.
2.b When you take your new wheel out of the box you will notice there is only one wire sticking out in the middle and there are like 4 in the old one. Take the old harness out of the wheel and install it in the new wheel. I was not expecting that, I was thinking it was going to be plug and play. It was remove/install play.
3. Ok..so I am hitting the home stretch right on time it was 11:20pm, right on time. I take both hands and put them at 10 and 2 on the airbag to reseat and pop it back into the wheel. So I think here goes nothing..Pop Pop~!, Ok the bag would not seat in the wheel correctly at all! :mad:

Talk about dissapointed. :swear: :swear: :swear:

I came back to the pc and re-read the instructions and it said that sometimes you might have to hold the clips and seat at the same time. Well since I have only two hands I improvised with vise grips, screw drivers, and two old socks.....the socks were to protect the M wheel...so anyway with the clips wide open the airbag would still not seat all the way into the wheel.

It was at that moment I realized what I needed to do. In the old wheel lies the seat tray....in the wheel is a steel tray held to the wheel by three bolts. My airbag fit perfectly in the "old tray" that came out of the Sport wheel. There are three torx bits staring up at you. You will need to use a ratchet set to break the locktight locks and then simple put your old tray in your new wheel! :thumbup:

By taking the extra five minutes to switch out the seating trays for the airbags from inside the wheel you can potentially save yourself time and aggrevation trying to get your airbag to fit in a brand new tray. With really tight or loose trys

Okay...so everything is done...nice wheel...I checked all of my connections but I have two lights on the dash now....the brake indicator and the airbag one....now I have not driven anywhere as of yet. I will know tommorow if something is really up......I will upload pics of eveything tomorrow too!

Good mini-writeup. Some handy tips in there. Did you leave the battery disconnected overnight?

airbag carry-over !!!!
 

I have been watching with interest all the talk of the M wheel mod, I have just taken delivery of my new X5 ( 2nd one after we loved the first for nearly 4 years ).This time we had the sports pack on a 3.0 but my sports wheel has a diferent shape air bag or is this just a cover.It is not round like the ones I see in the pictures.Any ideas anyone.

Will it work on 2005 x5 3.0 no SPORT PKG?

Are you certain it is a sports package on the new rig....as far as I can tell...the square set up in non-sport so then you need a new airbag from a sport model before you can attempted this.

No....I put every thing back together.
 

Since I did not know how long the flash memory can hold in the radio with no power I put the battery back together right away.

Roc,

Lets see some pics of the new wheel. A pic is worth a thousand words. And...I promise not to make fun of the chrome... :)
Philip

Pic
 

Yeah I will take some when I come back from the Gym...have to meet the inlaws for lunch today...run n gun!

Oh no...not the inlaws. Come down here and hide out for a while. I hope your inlaws are more tolerable than mine.

It is a funny story but I did the same install Friday night starting at 1030 PM.
I have worked on cars for years and have done most eveything to them but I did feel uncomfortable holding an explosive devise that could take my head off if discharged! I hope I am making everyone paranoid. Do take your spare tire out (better to learn how to do this before you have to). My terminal ground was near the air compressor tank but I did not need to move it. Disconnect the negative terminal and wrap it with a towl then a plastic bag and another towl :wow: I do not want this ground to get a jump from anything while I am holding a package of C4 like material!

The install went great and when I pushed the bag in only one side kicked in then I used the screw driver to pop the other side. Done by 1135 PM

Great mod and great write up by X5world :thumbup:

Yes it is def the sports package, with the 3 spoke wheel but the airbag is not completely round like it apears to be on the pictures people have posted of the M wheels.Maybe this mod will not work with the 2005 x5 sports wheel without having to buy a new airbak as-well.

Ideas ! ! ! !

Steve

Steps I took to install the new "M" wheel.

I decided after consulting with a BMW mechanic to do the fuse option. That goes against my earlier post, but felt more confident after talking to him.

Remove old wheel

• remove #44 fuse in glove box
• stick small to medium screw driver in the slots behind the wheel and compress the spring clip
• Airbag slides out with a little bit of pulling
• remove wire connectors from airbag
• remove 2 wires from steering hub
• remove 16mm bolt from steering wheel - notice the wheel allignment marker
• remove wheel

Install new wheel

• placed new wheel on steering column - line the markers up
• tightened 16mm bolt to 68lbs
• inserted wire harness into steering hub
• plugged 2 wires into airbag
• used a little force to push the airbag in....dont be afraid...push the thing in
• installed 5 amp fuse back into #44 socket
• loved the look and feel of the new wheel.

http://xoutpost.com/gallery/files/1/4/X5MWheels.jpg

I didn't disconnect the battery to replace the M steering wheel. Just make sure that the airbag fuse is removed and you don't put the key in the ignition.

Roc3b - Those 2 lights should disappear if you drive around for a good few minutes.
Pepatrick - nice pic of the M steering wheel. Thanks.

Raising this thread from the dead.. looking for a little more insight on the removal of the non-sport 4-spoke steering wheel. I obviously won't have an old "mounting tray" from a previous 3-spoke wheel, will this present a problem when installing the M wheel and new round-airbag?

TIA.

Mounting Tray
 

I have no idea why I could not get the round airbag to seat in the new tray.....after screwing with it for 30 mins I said the hell with it and changed out the trays, just like that the airbag popped in and sat the way it was suppose to....all I can tell you is that I was none to happy when it was not seating....but I kept at it and got it resolved....your best bet is to spend the extra loot and buy a sport wheel and bag together.

I found a new bag on ebay for $500, so I couldn't pass that up. I will try and do it without the sport wheel tray and see what happens. I'd rather test it out, see it not work and then shell out the extra money.

Where does the 27-torx bit come into use?

I just did the replacement of the M steering wheel on my X. It was easy, easy, easy!! Did it in about 1/2 hr. I know which end of a wrench is which but I am no mechanic. Small screwdriver to release the airbag clips. You will need someone to hold the wheel for loostening and tightening the center bolt. I did not experience any problems getting the airbag to seat back into the carrier, it just popped right back in.

I could not have done it without that great "How To" article!! Thank you for doing that!!!!

AGAIN! This M-steering wheel install is raised from hell! Seems that nobody had trouble replacing their M s-wheels. I'm next in-line. Probably in a couple of weekends. The previous owner must've had a lot of sharp rings, wheel is all scratched up. Thanks a lot for the posts. It will really help me... I'll show pictures after install.

you should be careful with the airbag light. Mine came on after installing my new wheel and i couldnt get it to go away. long story short, dealership charged me 400 for a new slip ring..

BMW M3 SMG paddle shifter wheel mod Procedures
 

Does anyone have a complete DIY procedures with pictures for the m3 SMG paddle shifter steering wheel install on a x5 E53? The links seem out-dated and I am unable to find the complete procedure.:dunno:

I did the install in 25 minutes. Super easy with OP directions. Thank you very much.

airbag light is almost always caused from snapping the slip ring wiring.
When a steering wheel is taken OFF a car (slip ring left on steering column) the wheels should be straight. This ensures the slip ring wiring is centered and therefore when the new wheel is installed, it will be correct positioning.
I believe the slip ring will rotate 3.25 times each way from centre position.
Problem comes from when a slip ring is mostly wound one way (steering wheel was turned to one side when removed and then re-installed) it can easily over extend when new wheel is rotating and snap the wires and sets off the airbag warning light.
a new slip needs to be installed.

so moral of story, is to always set wheels to straight ahead when doing a steering wheel removal.

what makes the M wheel better than the standard sport wheel in your opinion.

is it the flush look of the centre boss, is it smaller in diameter???

what is is you like??

smaller diameter, fatter wheel and bumps at 10 and 2 on the wheel are comfortable

dont know about that, are you saying that the M3 wheel is smaller in dia that the 3 spoke sport wheel in my X, by looking at the pics i would have thought they were the same size

what is the dia of the M3 wheel??

Thanks

EM

Bigwave, I believe the M3 wheel is 350mm in diameter yet the non sport wheels are 370mm diameter.

got it i went out and measured my steering wheel and its O.D. is 380mm

going to try this tonight with an 2001 M5 steering wheel on my 04 4.4...we shall see

GL. I did this a while ago. Somehow my slip ring got destroyed in the process :(

Euro X5 E53 sport wheel
 

I have a Euro (came from a German X5, built in April 2001) X5 sport wheel surplus to my needs - should someone what to upgrade their X5.