After much consideration I finally pulled off the steering wheel on my M5 and had it re-covered. After seeing how easy and relatively cheap it was I now wonder why I considered it for so long.

I stained the leather on the wheel with white paint and it drove me crazy to look at it every day. So I got a price for a new wheel from the dealer (about $600 installed) and I called around and found a leather upholstery place here in Miami that does custom work. They quoted me $335 over the phone for a simple re-covering of the wheel, but that would not have changed much for my eyes. So I went in and talked to the guy, Fred, about doing something special. We talked about Alcantarra and different leathers. I told him it needed to have the M-stiching colors and pattern. I told him I wanted it just a bit thicker and I asked him if it could be ready in one day turnaround. The answer to all my comments was "no problem". He did the work for $385. For something that connects you to the car and you touch at all times while driving this was one of the best mods ever for a small investment. He did mention the Alcantara could wear a little more than the leather, but in a couple of years I can always have it redone. I picked the materials and basically told him how I wanted the design. Below are the photos.

By the way, removing the wheel is a piece of cake. 10 minutes max. I disconnected the negative battery terminal and didn't even lose my radio setting. I did it with the help of a DIY on this forum.

Sorry for the quality of the photos, my phone is the only thing I had handy at work.

BTW, I have another thread going about the roundel being dented. It used to be convex until I dented it. So I pushed it in all the way and it looks pretty good now, much better than before. So now instead of having a convex roundel I have a concave roundel. Free and easy fix to the dented roundel issue.

 

WOW - That looks phenomenal!

Do you happen to have the heated steering wheel - probably not since you're in Miami. If you did, I wonder how the extra material and thickness would hamper heating one in the winter time for those living in cold climates.

 

Nope, not heated. That would have made it tougher I think. I do have heated seats (in Miami), but have never used them.

 

Great looking steering wheel. Good job.

 

Hmm... it doesn't look like your hands will ever be on the alcantara. Looks good, but I'm not sure the new material will do you much good where you had it installed.

 

what's the name/phone # of the place? I don't need it now, my wheel is practically new, but surely with all the cars we own with leather in them I'm sure I'll need them at some point.

 

In racing you want your hands at 9 and 3, so no, you wouldn't get much use from the Alcantara there. But I don't track my M5, it's my daily driver. In daily driving I use the tops and bottom of the wheel all the time for U-turns, parking, tight turns. And the contrast is feels really gives you a good idea of where you are when the wheel is spinning back from a tight turn. Also, the Alcantara wears more than the perforated leather, so I didn't want it at 9 & 3 just because it would probably wear faster in those ares. I put some thought into it. And I don't hook the wheel, that's one of the first lessons in racing school. Don't be a hooker!

 

that is beautiful. I have always been disappointed with the thickness of the stock wheel, and didn't want to tackle trying to retrofit a newer wheel. This may be a really good option if I can find someone local.

 

Nice!

 

I think that looks great. Thanks for sharing.