Steering wheel molding modification
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Joined: Dec 2008
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From: OC, Ca. - aber immer in Deutschland
I realize this modification is not for everyone, but I had fun doing it and I thought I would share...
I am sure most of you have noticed that over most of the black plastic trim on the inside of these cars is a sort of rubberized coating that gives it a matte finish. This is pretty good looking, as long as it is not wearing off in places. Whoever owned my par previously must have been forcing the controls in sloppy, fat fingered gouges because it seemed like where every control or button met with the black trim, up to one inch of this rubberized coating was worn off.
The first day I took this car home I took the dash apart and was able to use Windex and a microfiber rag to remove the coating off of the center trim, from the HVAC controls down to where it all meets the center console. I even took the bezel that surrounded my auto-shifter off and cleaned that up too,m I was very happy with the results. The black plasit underneath it all is consistent and has a nice finish.
It was still bothering me that some of the trim on the steering wheel was suffering from the same problems - the areas just around the volume button and the side trim below it had scratches like small animals were trapped in the car. So tonight I decided to do something about it.
I am developing a small grudge about how expensive parts for these vehicles are. So after declining an offer to buy the silver steering wheel bezels for $80, I thought to myself, can't I just paint them myself? I have had really good luck with projects involving paint in the past, so I decided to go at it. My plan was to match the finish to the semi-matte rings around the gauges - I thought it would be uniform and subtle. I also decided that I would not only do the lower side moldings, but I would disassemble the steering wheel button assemblies and finish them too.
I took the airbag off, unbolted the bracket that houses the bezels and the buttons and took them inside for inspection/experimentation.
When I started removing the rubberized coating, I was not too happy with what was being uncovered. It looked almost like an anodized platinum-ish, swirly metal surface.
I kept at it and figured I could just sand it down real well, prime it and the paint should stick. Once I got all the rubber coating off one of the trim pieces, I thought, "Hmm, I wonder how this would look polished?"
I took some 2000 grit sandpaper to everything to make sure they were all consistently finished.
Then I got some microfiber, some Mother metal polish and gave it a whirl. Almost immediately the cloudy and inconsistent color variations began to fade to a surprisingly attractive platinum look. I gave it 3 rounds of metal polish, then gave it 3 rounds of plastic polish, and I was intrigued by the results.
I do not know if I will keep it this way, but I figure since it is so easy to take the parts off my car, why not bolt it all back together and test drive it for a few days.
If you are planning to ever take apart your steering wheel button assemblies, here is what you do;
See pictures for reference -
- Take off the 4 tiny silver phillips screws from the back side of the assembly.
- Carefully remove the backing that contains the electronics, careful not to lose the two plastic cylinders that allow the rocking switch (volume or track selectors, depending on what side you are working on) to make contact with the control board.
- The rocker button comes out by taking a thin standard screwdriver and pulling the sides off the retaining pieces.
- The two small buttons seemed like a mystery to remove at first - I figured they would just fall out. Over-engineering has its advantages I suppose. What you need to do is take a small standard screwdriver or a thick feeler gauge and from the back side of the assembly stick it between the button and the channel that the button articulates in. The button on is actually two pieces and the top part that your finger touches will pop out one way and the backing to the button will fall out the other way.
Here are some pictures of my adventure, all the way from me sitting in my living room wondering if I would be ordering all this new from BMW tomorrow - to the point where I got it all put back into my car. The jury is still out as to if I like it or not. I will need to see it in the daylight. I do not believe the pictures give the finished product enough justice because it looks so contrasted against the flat finish of the steering wheel and the airbag. In life the difference is not so extreme.
Enjoy!
I am sure most of you have noticed that over most of the black plastic trim on the inside of these cars is a sort of rubberized coating that gives it a matte finish. This is pretty good looking, as long as it is not wearing off in places. Whoever owned my par previously must have been forcing the controls in sloppy, fat fingered gouges because it seemed like where every control or button met with the black trim, up to one inch of this rubberized coating was worn off.
The first day I took this car home I took the dash apart and was able to use Windex and a microfiber rag to remove the coating off of the center trim, from the HVAC controls down to where it all meets the center console. I even took the bezel that surrounded my auto-shifter off and cleaned that up too,m I was very happy with the results. The black plasit underneath it all is consistent and has a nice finish.
It was still bothering me that some of the trim on the steering wheel was suffering from the same problems - the areas just around the volume button and the side trim below it had scratches like small animals were trapped in the car. So tonight I decided to do something about it.
I am developing a small grudge about how expensive parts for these vehicles are. So after declining an offer to buy the silver steering wheel bezels for $80, I thought to myself, can't I just paint them myself? I have had really good luck with projects involving paint in the past, so I decided to go at it. My plan was to match the finish to the semi-matte rings around the gauges - I thought it would be uniform and subtle. I also decided that I would not only do the lower side moldings, but I would disassemble the steering wheel button assemblies and finish them too.
I took the airbag off, unbolted the bracket that houses the bezels and the buttons and took them inside for inspection/experimentation.
When I started removing the rubberized coating, I was not too happy with what was being uncovered. It looked almost like an anodized platinum-ish, swirly metal surface.
I kept at it and figured I could just sand it down real well, prime it and the paint should stick. Once I got all the rubber coating off one of the trim pieces, I thought, "Hmm, I wonder how this would look polished?"
I took some 2000 grit sandpaper to everything to make sure they were all consistently finished.
Then I got some microfiber, some Mother metal polish and gave it a whirl. Almost immediately the cloudy and inconsistent color variations began to fade to a surprisingly attractive platinum look. I gave it 3 rounds of metal polish, then gave it 3 rounds of plastic polish, and I was intrigued by the results.
I do not know if I will keep it this way, but I figure since it is so easy to take the parts off my car, why not bolt it all back together and test drive it for a few days.
If you are planning to ever take apart your steering wheel button assemblies, here is what you do;
See pictures for reference -
- Take off the 4 tiny silver phillips screws from the back side of the assembly.
- Carefully remove the backing that contains the electronics, careful not to lose the two plastic cylinders that allow the rocking switch (volume or track selectors, depending on what side you are working on) to make contact with the control board.
- The rocker button comes out by taking a thin standard screwdriver and pulling the sides off the retaining pieces.
- The two small buttons seemed like a mystery to remove at first - I figured they would just fall out. Over-engineering has its advantages I suppose. What you need to do is take a small standard screwdriver or a thick feeler gauge and from the back side of the assembly stick it between the button and the channel that the button articulates in. The button on is actually two pieces and the top part that your finger touches will pop out one way and the backing to the button will fall out the other way.
Here are some pictures of my adventure, all the way from me sitting in my living room wondering if I would be ordering all this new from BMW tomorrow - to the point where I got it all put back into my car. The jury is still out as to if I like it or not. I will need to see it in the daylight. I do not believe the pictures give the finished product enough justice because it looks so contrasted against the flat finish of the steering wheel and the airbag. In life the difference is not so extreme.
Enjoy!
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Joined: Dec 2007
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From: The State of Southern NJ!
That is a great no-cost mod that enhances and complements the appearance of the steering wheel! Nicely detailed project that might apply to other painted / plastic plastic parts that begin to show their age.
Well done.
One additional step you might have taken while it was apart would have been a thorough cleaning and treatment of the center wheel hub - it now looks dingy compared to the high gloss trim pieces.
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Joined: Feb 2009
Posts: 1
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Could you please post the pics again? Or send the link
Thanks
Thanks
Originally Posted by iCharles' post='759605' date='Jan 5 2009, 02:59 AM
I realize this modification is not for everyone, but I had fun doing it and I thought I would share...
I am sure most of you have noticed that over most of the black plastic trim on the inside of these cars is a sort of rubberized coating that gives it a matte finish. This is pretty good looking, as long as it is not wearing off in places. Whoever owned my par previously must have been forcing the controls in sloppy, fat fingered gouges because it seemed like where every control or button met with the black trim, up to one inch of this rubberized coating was worn off.
The first day I took this car home I took the dash apart and was able to use Windex and a microfiber rag to remove the coating off of the center trim, from the HVAC controls down to where it all meets the center console. I even took the bezel that surrounded my auto-shifter off and cleaned that up too,m I was very happy with the results. The black plasit underneath it all is consistent and has a nice finish.
It was still bothering me that some of the trim on the steering wheel was suffering from the same problems - the areas just around the volume button and the side trim below it had scratches like small animals were trapped in the car. So tonight I decided to do something about it.
I am developing a small grudge about how expensive parts for these vehicles are. So after declining an offer to buy the silver steering wheel bezels for $80, I thought to myself, can't I just paint them myself? I have had really good luck with projects involving paint in the past, so I decided to go at it. My plan was to match the finish to the semi-matte rings around the gauges - I thought it would be uniform and subtle. I also decided that I would not only do the lower side moldings, but I would disassemble the steering wheel button assemblies and finish them too.
I took the airbag off, unbolted the bracket that houses the bezels and the buttons and took them inside for inspection/experimentation.
When I started removing the rubberized coating, I was not too happy with what was being uncovered. It looked almost like an anodized platinum-ish, swirly metal surface.
I kept at it and figured I could just sand it down real well, prime it and the paint should stick. Once I got all the rubber coating off one of the trim pieces, I thought, "Hmm, I wonder how this would look polished?"
I took some 2000 grit sandpaper to everything to make sure they were all consistently finished.
Then I got some microfiber, some Mother metal polish and gave it a whirl. Almost immediately the cloudy and inconsistent color variations began to fade to a surprisingly attractive platinum look. I gave it 3 rounds of metal polish, then gave it 3 rounds of plastic polish, and I was intrigued by the results.
I do not know if I will keep it this way, but I figure since it is so easy to take the parts off my car, why not bolt it all back together and test drive it for a few days.
If you are planning to ever take apart your steering wheel button assemblies, here is what you do;
See pictures for reference -
- Take off the 4 tiny silver phillips screws from the back side of the assembly.
- Carefully remove the backing that contains the electronics, careful not to lose the two plastic cylinders that allow the rocking switch (volume or track selectors, depending on what side you are working on) to make contact with the control board.
- The rocker button comes out by taking a thin standard screwdriver and pulling the sides off the retaining pieces.
- The two small buttons seemed like a mystery to remove at first - I figured they would just fall out. Over-engineering has its advantages I suppose. What you need to do is take a small standard screwdriver or a thick feeler gauge and from the back side of the assembly stick it between the button and the channel that the button articulates in. The button on is actually two pieces and the top part that your finger touches will pop out one way and the backing to the button will fall out the other way.
Here are some pictures of my adventure, all the way from me sitting in my living room wondering if I would be ordering all this new from BMW tomorrow - to the point where I got it all put back into my car. The jury is still out as to if I like it or not. I will need to see it in the daylight. I do not believe the pictures give the finished product enough justice because it looks so contrasted against the flat finish of the steering wheel and the airbag. In life the difference is not so extreme.
Enjoy!
I am sure most of you have noticed that over most of the black plastic trim on the inside of these cars is a sort of rubberized coating that gives it a matte finish. This is pretty good looking, as long as it is not wearing off in places. Whoever owned my par previously must have been forcing the controls in sloppy, fat fingered gouges because it seemed like where every control or button met with the black trim, up to one inch of this rubberized coating was worn off.
The first day I took this car home I took the dash apart and was able to use Windex and a microfiber rag to remove the coating off of the center trim, from the HVAC controls down to where it all meets the center console. I even took the bezel that surrounded my auto-shifter off and cleaned that up too,m I was very happy with the results. The black plasit underneath it all is consistent and has a nice finish.
It was still bothering me that some of the trim on the steering wheel was suffering from the same problems - the areas just around the volume button and the side trim below it had scratches like small animals were trapped in the car. So tonight I decided to do something about it.
I am developing a small grudge about how expensive parts for these vehicles are. So after declining an offer to buy the silver steering wheel bezels for $80, I thought to myself, can't I just paint them myself? I have had really good luck with projects involving paint in the past, so I decided to go at it. My plan was to match the finish to the semi-matte rings around the gauges - I thought it would be uniform and subtle. I also decided that I would not only do the lower side moldings, but I would disassemble the steering wheel button assemblies and finish them too.
I took the airbag off, unbolted the bracket that houses the bezels and the buttons and took them inside for inspection/experimentation.
When I started removing the rubberized coating, I was not too happy with what was being uncovered. It looked almost like an anodized platinum-ish, swirly metal surface.
I kept at it and figured I could just sand it down real well, prime it and the paint should stick. Once I got all the rubber coating off one of the trim pieces, I thought, "Hmm, I wonder how this would look polished?"
I took some 2000 grit sandpaper to everything to make sure they were all consistently finished.
Then I got some microfiber, some Mother metal polish and gave it a whirl. Almost immediately the cloudy and inconsistent color variations began to fade to a surprisingly attractive platinum look. I gave it 3 rounds of metal polish, then gave it 3 rounds of plastic polish, and I was intrigued by the results.
I do not know if I will keep it this way, but I figure since it is so easy to take the parts off my car, why not bolt it all back together and test drive it for a few days.
If you are planning to ever take apart your steering wheel button assemblies, here is what you do;
See pictures for reference -
- Take off the 4 tiny silver phillips screws from the back side of the assembly.
- Carefully remove the backing that contains the electronics, careful not to lose the two plastic cylinders that allow the rocking switch (volume or track selectors, depending on what side you are working on) to make contact with the control board.
- The rocker button comes out by taking a thin standard screwdriver and pulling the sides off the retaining pieces.
- The two small buttons seemed like a mystery to remove at first - I figured they would just fall out. Over-engineering has its advantages I suppose. What you need to do is take a small standard screwdriver or a thick feeler gauge and from the back side of the assembly stick it between the button and the channel that the button articulates in. The button on is actually two pieces and the top part that your finger touches will pop out one way and the backing to the button will fall out the other way.
Here are some pictures of my adventure, all the way from me sitting in my living room wondering if I would be ordering all this new from BMW tomorrow - to the point where I got it all put back into my car. The jury is still out as to if I like it or not. I will need to see it in the daylight. I do not believe the pictures give the finished product enough justice because it looks so contrasted against the flat finish of the steering wheel and the airbag. In life the difference is not so extreme.
Enjoy!
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