G20 steering wheel and heated steering wheel retrofit

[Saltkjelen]

Almost successfully retrofitted G20 steering wheel and heated option as well. I've been looking for retrofitting heating element in the OEM steering wheel for a while, but that was not a easy part. Therefore I considered about retrofitting the F30 steering wheel as that should be almost pretty plug and play, but I didn't like how it was integrated to the steering column itself. Therefore I had an idea about retrofitting G20 steering wheel as the center of the wheel was almost likely big as the i3 and it had the steering wheel heating button on it as well.

Well, I ordered parts and started the retrofit. I went for airbag from an ICE G20 as I got rid of the ugly blue surroundings around the BMW emblem. To be clear; the steering wheel itself is not plug and play and requires modifications to work with the car.

My car was not equipped with TJA (Traffic Jam Assist) and missed A83*4B socket in the SZL (this is the "optional" socket for cars with TJA, heated steering wheel etc.). Therefore I had to replace the SZL and coil spring and run some wires to the Power Distribution Box and BDC. As I'm going to retrofit soft close doors and passenger central door locking switch as well, I ran wires for these retrofit in the procedure.

Part 1 (to be continued)

 

[Saltkjelen]

Got some professional assist to locate the BDC.







..to be continued.

 

[Saltkjelen]

And heated steering wheel are done. I haven't figured out how to get the steering wheel heated button working, so I went for the steering column switch instead for now. Have to see if I manage it to work or just replace the steering wheel cover with the one attached in photo..

 

[tongsli]

wow. congrats

 

[Simoni3]

Cool project, my car has TJA, so possibly simpler, I just wear gloves

 

[Saltkjelen]

Cool project, my car has TJA, so possibly simpler, I just wear gloves

Yes, TJA-cars will be simpler.

Here is the final result without the steering wheel heated button. Everything works fine now.

 

[tliet]

Really cool project! I ended up here when searching on the web for 'i3 heated steering wheel' as I believe that is one massive oversight from BMW. They should have introduced that on the 2018 refresh.

This is most definitely not a plug-and-play type of project though! Congrats with the successful outcome.

 

[Saltkjelen]

Really cool project! I ended up here when searching on the web for 'i3 heated steering wheel' as I believe that is one massive oversight from BMW. They should have introduced that on the 2018 refresh.

This is most definitely not a plug-and-play type of project though! Congrats with the successful outcome.

Thanks. I agree. BMW should have added the heated steering wheel option due to its LCI, but the heating steering wheel option itself is actually quite easy to retrofit if you choose the F-series steering wheel. There is no additional wiring needed if you have TJA from the factory, just heating switch, new steering wheel (and airbag) and coding.

 

[PetriK]

If the i3s has as such steering wheel/equipments in the pic below

https://ovoko.fi/osat/evm216-2261j011-bmw-i3-ohjauspyora#gallery-1

Does it need a G20 steering wheel as this

https://ovoko.fi/osat/ddr83-32308746689-bmw-3-g20-g21-ohjauspyora#gallery-1

and will all the buttons work?

Maybe you could use the button on the steering wheel if you hide a relay inside a steering column or the wheel and wire the button to control the relay.

 

[SDX]

Thanks. I agree. BMW should have added the heated steering wheel option due to its LCI, but the heating steering wheel option itself is actually quite easy to retrofit if you choose the F-series steering wheel. There is no additional wiring needed if you have TJA from the factory, just heating switch, new steering wheel (and airbag) and coding.

Superb project, glad that everything worked out!

Just to clarify: Did you need to re-programm the G20 steering wheel buttons to make it work? Basically what is the difficulty using G series steering wheel instead of F series?

Also TJA - means "adaptive cruise control"? As I understood all connectors are there to just plug in any F-series heated steering wheel and a button on the column for heating? Sounds too good to be true.

And is it also possible to get lane departure warning working on an i3???

 

[mojo]

Also TJA - means "adaptive cruise control"?

And is it also possible to get lane departure warning working on an i3???

The first post in this thread says what TJA is: It stands for Traffic Jam Assist. It doesn't mean "adaptive cruise control".

There is no lane departure warning on the i3.

 

[SDX]

TJA is: It stands for Traffic Jam Assist.

Well I read that. Could you please point out any i3 configurator, brochure or anything that mentions TJA as a possible equipment? The closest thing I know is Adaptive cruise control, and if TJA is not ACC, then how do i find this TJA on any i3?

 

[alohart]

Well I read that. Could you please point out any i3 configurator, brochure or anything that mentions TJA as a possible equipment? The closest thing I know is Adaptive cruise control, and if TJA is not ACC, then how do i find this TJA on any i3?

TJA wasn't available in all markets (e.g., the U.S.). ACC controls speed but not steering like TJA. A 3rd-party addition mimics BMW's TJA on i3's without steering wheels that can detect a driver's hands gripping the wheel. i3's without factory TJA do not have the necessary steering wheel. Have I got that right?

 

[mojo]

Unfortunately the exact details vary depending on what year the car is, what options the car has and, possibly, in which territory/country the car was sold. As you say, it does autonomous steering, but only on specific types of road and below a certain speed limit - those rules may vary by country.

It seems that in some countries, for some model years, it was bundled within the Driving Assistant Plus paid-for option. On my car (2021, UK spec) it wasn't - my car has the Driving Assistant Plus option and ACC, but it doesn't have TJA.

In cases where it isn't bundled in within another option, you should (in theory) be able to identify it as option 5AR in the car's specification (as shown on many of the online BMW VIN decoders).

The other key giveaway is that there is a specific button on the steering wheel, in place of the ACC "Increase distance to car in front" button, to invoke TJA.

I suspect that in some territories, BMW abandoned TJA in the last few years of production, because my car's printed Owner's Manual does not make any reference to it at all.

And a warning: in some territories, insurance companies will not be at all forgiving if you retro-fit TJA and don't tell them. If you do and are involved in an accident that requires a post-accident investigation, the car's data recorder may reveal information that you might prefer the insurance did not see (but you won't have any choice about that).