drhyed

I guess I will count this as my introduction as well, picked up a 07 with 27k about 2 weeks ago. Already added a neo prolink (wife was horrified I had the car "tore apart" within 20 min of getting it home and overly impressed I had it back together within 45min) next up was window tint and plasti-coated the grill (not every ones choice but dam I am so happy with the results!




Anyway the Steering Wheel on the car is a disappointment. Ive done some searching and I havent seen this complaint voiced by many other people. I am looking at doing a alcantara or micro suede cover over the factory leather to increase the thickness of the wheel and improve the feel. Ive read it will "wear" quicker and if I go with micro suede it requires some maintenance and im fine with both issues. I would be open to a perforated grippy leather as a alternative. I like the grey color of alcantara or a black micro suede with white stitching to match the seats. Has any one tackled this mod before or have any suggestions of a good upholstery shop? Im hoping to get this and the new shifter (with suede V2 ****) knocked out by christmas. Then by spring the real modding can begin!


Thanks
Jay

wcryan

iTrader: (2)

welcome. Yes plasti-dip is the way to go these days. Have fun in mod-hell

04Vguy

iTrader: (3)

ive got plasti dipped wheels and both grills on mine love that crap. murdered out on a budget haha. like wcryan said welcome to mod-hell. itll def become your new 'itis.

liqidvenom

iTrader: (2)

yeah the steering wheel for such a performance based car is **** poor.

6 SPEED Z

I used wheelskins.com, custom two tone, stiches up real nice and gives it a better feel.

shadyLS6

indeeed... I was told about a corp. in texas who does alot of work for the BMW crowd. [Liq, this guy did Arturo's wheel] He takes apart your stock wheel and rebuilds it thicker with your choice of materials.

http://www.dallassteeringwheel.com/


/\ CTS wheel

liqidvenom

iTrader: (2)

that looks solid right there

drhyed

Great info! That's exactly what I had in mind.


Thanks!
Jay

wcryan

iTrader: (2)

wow, that thing looks good

UnsafeAtAnySpd

Any idea of cost?

wcryan

iTrader: (2)

probably more than anyone would want to spend on a steering wheel. haha

UnsafeAtAnySpd

That's what I was thinking.

liqidvenom

iTrader: (2)

when people cheap out on headers people say they should spend 2x the price since its a V...

To get a proper steering wheel in a "performance car" people now act like this car isnt worth enough to spend the money for it.

wcryan

iTrader: (2)

no.............. It's because it's a steering wheel. That's why

so at ur next meet, or when someone asks you about your car at the gas station. What are you gonna say? "Oh, yeah... It's stock; but checkout this badass steering wheel I put in it!"

liqidvenom

iTrader: (2)

so if i only had sway bars done i need to jack up the car to show it to people for what i do to my car to be worth it?

And actually the guy Will mentioned didnt have many mods when we first met him and his steering wheel he had done really improved the driving feel of his m3.

our steering wheel, seats and shifter feel are all pretty poor for a performance vehicle to have.

wcryan

iTrader: (2)

No, just have them bend down and look under

I'm just twistin ur nips

aurora40

iTrader: (1)

All I can say is, don't port your heads...

I guess I don't follow the complaints, though. The wheel is round, and wrapped in leather. Plus you can turn the traction control off from it. What are the characteristics of a "performance" steering wheel, that the stock one is missing? I can see some people want something better/more custom looking. That's true of any factory part in any car. But in terms of it being a let-down? What's wrong with it?

shadyLS6

The leather on the wheel is really fragile in my experience. mine has alot of damage for only being 50k on it. I never noticed it until it was pointed out to me but the wheel in this car is excessively large. Larger wheels turn slower..

but your right its a pretty subjective thing to say "performace" steering wheel. haha. after driving a few BMWz, even a new GTI, i realized the difference in how the steering wheel effects the feel of a performance car..

liqidvenom

iTrader: (2)

no wonder i enjoyed it so much
its hard to say. the thickness, feel, diameter all play into how you feel confident about the wheel passing feedback to you. Like Will said, a gti/r32, new m3, c63, maybe the new cts-v ( i cant remember), any of the new srt8 vehicles... give those wheels a try and then go back and feel the one in our car.

its like how people always complain about the seats in the c6 zo6 and you never notice how bad they are until you try another car doing the same thing.

Big Bu Bu

iTrader: (4)

Da troof! The steering wheel, seat and pedals is where you connect with the car. The rest of the **** is just along for the ride. Spend what you need to make those things your happy place.