Hi,

the leather of the steering wheel has started bleeding the paint in it. when my hands get wet (sweat, rain, etc) or if I clean it with sth like the meguires leather wipes, is bleeds and stains my hands.
I know it is not dirt because it does not come off that easy.
has anyone faces this ?

I asked the stealership if the warranty covers (04 CPO) and he said it is trim and not covered. I am amazed since this seems like not a cosmetic issue but more of a manufacturing defect.....

any ideas or suggestions ?

 

Its a pretty common issue, unfortunately. My answer to this will eventually be a re-upholstered in alcantara steering wheel rim. A guy near me quoted something like 250 bucks, so its not that crazy expensive.

FYI some people had luck having it replaced under warranty, so you should definitely try. My dealer was extremely adamant about not replacing this for me, and I didn't push it, because they were doing a whole bunch of other stuff on "good will" for me at the time.

 

Thanks for the reply. my dealer is also very adamant. He said his detail guy cleaned it but basically he wear it out even more. The quoted me that the new wheel is 800 or so with labor included.

 

You better upholstered it to have protection and not wearing it out more.

 

Sounds like the leather (surface) is deteriorating - perhaps from lack of preventative care, excessive heat/sun exposure, etc. Best you could hope for at this stage is slowing the process by cleaning and treating with good leather preservative. Several brand names out there from the standard fare (Meguiar's, etc) to the specialized products sold by or to detail/specialty shops.

On my 'old' '94 BMW the wheel started to get funky so I gave it a good and thorough cleaning with Lexol leather cleaner [3 applications - wiped down with a terry towel], used a paste black shoe dye/polish [2-3 coats ... wiped down and buffed thoroughly with terry towel] to return the black finish, and finished off with Lexol conditioner. Retreated monthly with Lexol and it never transferred color and stopped further cracking.

 

I did the same thing with the faded seats on my M3 convertible and it worked great. Didn't use the paste but the liquid and it matched perfectly. Just make sure to let it dry and buff the hell out of it with a few drops of water.