Replacing Steering Wheel

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armozo

Member
Joined
Jan 1, 2019
Messages
14
Hi guys, does anyone of you have access to the factory service manual? I’m wondering how to go about and replace my steering wheel. I want to make sure not to trigger the airbag.

Thanks in advace.
 
https://www.NewTIS.info has a lot of BMW's TIS on the internet. There's also the technical training manuals, which describe several system in detail also.

Here's what you're looking for:

https://www.newtis.info/tisv2/a/en/i01-i3-hat/repair-manuals/32-steering-wheel-alignment/32-33-steering-wheel/1VnXjTfWMq

Several parts of the repair procedure documents in BMW TIS expect that you did preliminary work, though it usually will link to the guide on how to do said preliminary work. In this case, the first step is a link to removing the airbag assembly. It also will have links to other helpful documents, e.g. tightening torque on the fasteners.


You may need a steering wheel puller for the final step. The instructions didn't specify. If the wheel comes off easy enough, you won't need one.
 
Hey, TheMK thank you for the links.
I followed some of the instructions and it looks like that I have to let the car fall asleep, disconnect the 12 volt negative terminal before attempting to remove the airbag.

Thanks again.
 
In instructions for changing out the 12 volt battery, it says to first isolate the high voltage system before disconnecting the battery, by pulling the HV disconnect, under the right side Frunk panel.
 
Hi, you are right I just saw that. I wonder if I need to clear any codes when I reconnect? Cheers
 
The car will likely store a code in fault memory, but it's nothing to worry about. Once the safety switch is reconnected the car will start right back up.
 
armozo said:
Same kind, OEM.

How did the removal/re-installation go? Did you need a steering wheel puller, or did it kind of come off once you removed the bolts.
 
Hi all, I got it done. Wow!!! It was extremely hard to remove the airbag. The left side popped free fast, the right side took one hour to pry away. This tutorial helped https://www.bimmerfest.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=575818&d=1473573872

Removing the steering wheel was easy. I removed a 16mm bolt and pulled it out. Putting it back was easy, there is only one way to put it back, the splines are keyed. Torqued it back 40 foot pounds.

Putting back the airbag was difficult in the sense that alignment is a must. I misaligned it the first go around and the horn was stuck on :). Perhaps a rookie mistake.

Anyway it is all done and looks amazing. I hope this helps someone.
 
Thanks. I'd like to eventually replace my i3's steering wheel. Either one from another BMW model, or the Tera black leather wheel. I guess I should start looking at parts diagrams and see what's available to swap in. I really liked the M-sport steering wheel that I used when I got to drive an M760Li.
 
This is awesome, thanks for posting.

I changed the OEM steering wheel twice in my two previous 330i E90 cars. I installed a M-Sport leather wheel with tri-color stich which I ordered from eBay and shipped from Europe. The steering wheel was fantastic. I'm hoping to find one that I can retrofit to the i3. The OEM wheel is too thin (IMO).
 
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