Sport steering wheel upgrade
 

I've been reading on getting a new steering wheel for the past few weeks and I just wanted some clarifications from members on here who have done the retrofit. I currently have the gigantic, 4 spoke non-sport wheel with heat and am looking at a new wheel.

1. Sport steering, comes heated - thicker than the non-sport I have now. Comes with 4.8is
2. M-tech steering, doesn't come heated - even thicker than the sport steering with supposedly, much better nappal leather

I was torn between these 2 wheels until I found this thread.

What steering wheel can be retrofit onto a 2006 X3? - Bimmerfest - BMW Forums

This guy has found a M-sport wheel WITH the heated function. I was wondering if this is a direct replacement for my 4-spoke wheel? I know I will have to get a round air bag for this one.

The part # for this M-sport wheel is: 32303452720

I found it on the ECS website, Home Page > Search > 32303452720 > ES#254676 M SPORTS STRNG WHL,A - 32303452720

Any help will be much appreciated :thumbup:

whatever ur decision is let me know how it fits, because I'm also thinking about upgrading mines

Don't need to do the upgrade on my X5 as it came with the Sport package. However in addition to the airbag and steering wheel you may have to change the clockspring.

Help us help you better...you might get more specific and less confusing or incorrect information if you identified your vehicle. :)

Giving us your model/model year/build date (preferably in a signature) goes a long way in getting answers/suggestions/replies that are geared specifically to your vehicle...especially when there is a mid production change.

I have a 05, 3.0 w/o sport. So i have the 4 spoke gigantic steering wheel.. I was just wondering if anybody has actually retrofited that steering wheel I posted, since I have read that most M-sport steering wheels (the one that looks like the 4.8is wheel) has no heat, but the one I found in the thread does have heat. I researched a bit, and it says it uses a 2 stage airbag and its from 06+ x3, so I really don't know if it works on our x5s.

From a 10/2004 build date up...BMW offered a heated sport steering wheel. If you look up that wheel's part number, you can run a part nbr cross reference to see what other BMWs used the same part nbr .

Are you familiar with realoem.com? Here's a direct link to the sport steering wheel for your build date...copy the 11 digit part nbr (should be 2nd nbr listed for #1) for the heated wheel then do a part nbr cross reference to see if the X3 uses it...and if it does...realoem will give you the buil date range of the X3 models that can use that same wheel. This way you don't have to guess about compatibility: RealOEM.com * BMW E53 X5 4.4i Sport st.whl.airbag-smart /Multifunction

I upgraded to a heated sport wheel from a MY 2006 on my old 2001 E53.

Followed these instructions, worked perfectly.
http://www.bmwmotorsports.org/pdf/e5...20retrofit.pdf

Yes, I am thinking of a heated sport steering if the one I linked doesn't work. The one I have linked is the Heated M-Sport wheel. From what I have read, the M-sport wheel is a lot thicker and has a smaller diameter than the standard Sport wheel. I know the earlier M-sport wheel, which looks exactly the same, has no heat, but in the thread I found via google, the person was able to source a newer "year wise" M-sport wheel from Europe which HAS the heated function. So really, the question was not looking for a DIY, but if this "newer" M-sport HEated steering wheel will actually fit our cars.