DIY - Steering wheel trim paint process w/pics
 

Tonight I decided im gonna start prepping and priming my ugly steering wheel trim, finishing up tomorrow with the painting process.
Ofcourse some folks think buying a new one for 60$ and not having to deal with the painting process is easier but eventually down the road you'll have to deal with the peeling rubber and then you have to replace it once again.
I've used this technique on my E39 steering wheel and I can tell you its a durable finish.
So here it goes...
Unhook your battery,take your airbag out and unscrew the 5 torx screws in the back of the steering wheel.You'll also have 2 torx same size in the back of the steering wheel controls...unscrew those too..now the trim is out.

http://i1196.photobucket.com/albums/...ps37b2afc2.jpg
http://i1196.photobucket.com/albums/...ps680b0480.jpg
http://i1196.photobucket.com/albums/...ps7ce714b2.jpg
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I've started by using a product called Smart Strip.Its about 20$ for a quart at Sherwin Williams...you can use it for other projects around the house and for this particular rubber covered trim was the best solution.(sanding would have been messy and time consuming)

http://i1196.photobucket.com/albums/...pscfbef175.jpg

Apply it with a brush and let it sit for 15 min.

http://i1196.photobucket.com/albums/...psb183796a.jpg

After that, youll notice how it starts to shrink.Wipe it off with a rag.Wash with water.

http://i1196.photobucket.com/albums/...psa8c95ff0.jpg
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Make sure you dry it out completely after you wash it(i used a hair blower)
Light sand with a 600Grit sand paper.

http://i1196.photobucket.com/albums/...ps2e95a6ec.jpg

Make sure you get all the edges too for a clean looking paint job.

I used this primer to fill in the fine nicks/scratches and it is great at doing that.

http://i1196.photobucket.com/albums/...ps976d186e.jpg

Spray 2-3 light coats of primer with 5 minutes dry time in between them.

http://i1196.photobucket.com/albums/...ps5c8d8298.jpg

The rest of the process coming tomorrow after the primer is completely cured.

:popcorn:

Subscribed. Many people do a rush paint job, I can tell you know what you're doing because of the prep!

Properly stripped old painted, sanded clean surface, and a couple coats of primer? Your finish when done will outlast the car!

Thanks RB, mainly it has to do with the fact that I'm actually a painter.. and if the prep work isn't done properly, the rest can be art but will not last...

On my to-do-list. Thanks!

Sorry didn't post pics of the rest of the process I was really busy .The trim is all done waiting to be installed
Will be posting pics tonight or tomorrow morning the latest!

Amen to that. Too many rush jobs I've seen over the years, I'm not a painter by trade, but everytime my wife wants to paint something, I tell her to give herself 3x as much time as she thinks it will take to complete, and not to even worry about painting itself, as that takes 10% of the actual time lol.

okay, now I tried this too, and whilst i was able to sand down fine, i could not for the life of me get the spray on correctly, i went through.... wait for it 5 cans of spray paint!

each time i got imperfections, damn dust particles settling or tiny fibres, so i hosed down the area,no joy, did it indoors in the spare bedroom and the whole place was coated by 'soot' still no go, got so fed up i that i accepted defeat and bought a new piece of trim....spent a good 7-8 hours on the failed attempts....jeez

Looks great. Will this work on the sport wheel also?

Mine is worse than this, I hate it.

http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b2...psf6e1160e.jpg

That sport wheel has the OEM Cosmoschwarz Metallic lower trim section.

I was using that for the style I meant. Mine is not metal.
http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b2...ps93bbfdc0.jpg

+1 haha

Ok guys here is the second part of the DIY..I've sanded down the primer with 1000 grit sand paper(600 works too) and sprayed 4 light coats of flat black paint.I've used the same brand paint as the primer(you can find them at o'reilly's )but realized this particular dupli-color black had some brown in it which didn't go quite well with the rest of the flat black trim in the car(around the radio and HVAC unit)

I then switched to this flat black spray paint from Home Depot.
http://i1196.photobucket.com/albums/...ps922273c9.jpg

Here is how it turned out :

http://i1196.photobucket.com/albums/...ps7afcb674.jpg

And here it is installed .In the second picture you'll notice an M sticker on the trim-not everyone's cup of tea but i kind of like it there..reminds me of my sport E39 steering wheel.

http://i1196.photobucket.com/albums/...ps0378ae67.jpg
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Omodos, the key is to be patient and have lots of light on the subject you are trying to spray so you can see if you sprayed enough or too much.Too little will give you orange peel while too much runs and sags...Also set a sheet of plastic under it and make sure youre not walking around while the paint is drying...just leave the room...even tiny particles from you walking around the room will settle on the wet paint and ruin the job.Outdoors is worse..there will always be something in the air so indoors work best.

Maybe when this new one of yours will worn out you'll give it another try and im sure the outcome will be better than your previous experience.

E30Cabrio- yes it will work on your wheel too but it's a pain that's for sure.I've done it on my E39.
For me, matching the bottom part perfectly with the top part was unsuccessful..After a few cans of flat black of different brands i gave up and took the top part out too...disassembled the buttons one by one which if you dont have patience, you'll ruin the entire thing or at least break some tabs on some of them and ofcourse you cant buy them separately...
Not saying its not possible, its just a lot more work vs the trim on my x5 where the controls are held together in a housing vs the old model trim where the buttons snap in the trim itself.
You might wanna try this rust-oleum flat black from HD first on your lower trim and see how you like it..Best of luck.

It looks great!

Thanks for the tip, I really hate the scratching, maybe I'll try silver which I have seen on wheels on eBay.

Thanks!

Fwiw the silver trim pieces are more readily found on eBay UK or eBay Germany for affordable prices. About 65 bucks give or tske

Thanks, I'll look.

EDIT

Found an e39 M5 wheel w/o airbag or switches for 49 pounds. Asked if they will ship here.

EDIT AGAIN, the BP is down to 1.67! sweet.

Thanks!

That would be an awesome find! Is it a facelift E39 wheel aka you can reuse your airbag and swap your switches over? As long as it has lower trim you're good!

49 gbp is nothing for that! Also if you search German eBay, I would search for "e46 or e39 lenkrad" as it's more likely to find pre facelift wheels for those cars than e53.

I got my steering wheel from eBay Germany for 250 shipped and I kept my old wheel.
http://img.tapatalk.com/d/14/02/28/ujyhaqed.jpg

That is a great wheel congrats on the score!

FYI: most of the pre-facelift wheel for E39 is single staged, which can NOT be used on an X5. Moreover, they look like this
http://i63.photobucket.com/albums/h1...ps11c6c4c1.jpg
Some of them are dual staged on the facelift 01 E39s and some early M5s too, but I'm sure you don't want that.
You want the 02-03 E39 sport steering wheel.

whooops I should have explained better, yes Tam you are right and that's what I meant! when i said pre-facelift I was pertaining to E53, and that would be for late production E39. :thumbup:

Sorry for the threadjack op.

The one I am looking at currently has no airbag & mine will fit.

I don't like those wheels with the bigger airbag and as I am cheap am trying to get one that will accept my bag & switches to not have to buy them again.

Thanks!

The wheel sold :(
BMW E39 E46 E38 E53 M SPORT Steering Wheel | eBay

four.8is, very nicely done and photographed. I'm getting that annoying plastic peel and need to add this to my DIY list. I'm thinking this will hold up much better than the vinyl application alternative, and I plan to keep the E53 for awhile ....