wood steering wheel

[shaggy982]

i found a place where i can get a wooden steering wheel for about $340 which seems to be the best price i found. my question was whether or not installing the steering wheel could be done by myself or if it's recommended for me to go to the dealership. if anyone has instructions on how to take off my current steering wheel, remove the air bag, install the airbag in the new steering wheel and attach that i'd be greatly appreciative

To remove this ad, register today or login if you already are registered!

[mercsd]

Oh NO man dont you try that one!!!

Unless you are an auto guy with understanding of the SRS system, I wouldn't touch the airbag system with a barge pole.

Go to an authorised workshop and sleep well at night. Plus you get installation warranty as well.

[Crankin]

Shaggy, where did you find the wheel?
Thanks

[gothebenz]

I found this on benzworld

"OK I finally got brave and tried (successfully) removing the wheel to upgrade to a wood/leather wheel on my 2000 S500 (got the wheel on E-Bay.) I think for later models there may be more warnings after disconnecting battery, ask your dealer what happens if battery is disconnected on your car. First I disconnected battery and made sure that ignition was turned OFF and key was NOT in ignition. Left battery disconnected for about 30 min. Purchased a set of Torx "L" shaped wrenches as a set at Autozone for $6.99, as a regular screwdriver type torx wrench is too long to fit behind wheel. Also purchased a "hex" head socket in size 10mm to remove the nut holding the wheel once airbag is removed. This socket looks like a 10mm allen wrench that was cut off and fitted into a 3/8" drive socket. Torx size 30 is the one that fits the airbag removal screws. Removed both airbag screws (access from holes behind the steering wheel,) once the airbag is off there is a bright yellow clip with 2 wires at the center of the airbag, note the position the clip is facing so that it is re-installed the same way, and pull it straight out. There is also a connector that attaches to a circuit board for the radio and phone knobs, that just pulls off easily. Set the airbag aside. The 10mm nut holding on the wheel is on REALLY tight, had to use a breaker bar and a long pipe wedged in the old wheel to hold it from turning in order to get it off. An impact wrench would have worked well here I think but I didn't have one available. Note the steering wheel position before removing the nut and put the new one on in the same position. Once the nut is off, the wheel just pulls right off the shaft, be careful to feed the wires for the airbag and radio/phone knobs through the hole in the back of the wheel. Installation is the reverse, feed wires through hole, align and put on wheel, install nut. I wrapped the pipe in a towel and used it to hold the wheel from moving to re-install the nut as it has to be pretty tight. Then re-install both clips on the airbag assy and install it with the 2 screws. Once it was all back installed, after starting the car I got "ABS" "ESP" and "AIRMATIC" warnings and "VISIT WORKSHOP". Turning the steering wheel all the way to the left and then all the way to the right a couple of times cleared the warnings. Also had to re-sync all 4 windows to make the automatic function work (lower all the way and hold switch 3 seconds, then raise all the way and hold switch 3 seconds.) I also reset the sunroof the same way. I did not lose the radio stations I had set, and the clock reset itself to the satellite signal in about 5 minutes. All in all not too bad, total cost about $15 in tools from Autozone and about 15 minutes of time."

I did it myself from thses instructions and it was pretty simple. The most important thing to do is DISCONNECT THE BATTERY, I did BOTH terminals! A couple of side things to remember is to extend the power steering wheel closest to you BEFORE you disconnect the battery and center the wheel. Also when you replace the steering wheel there are a couple of wider grooves inside the steering wheel and on the column where the steering wheel is attached that lets you know the wheel is aligned on the colunm correctly. Just look for the marks. This is NOT an indorsement to do this yourself, just telling you what I did.

[gothebenz]

BTW it is a 2000 S430 with calyptus trim and so is the trim on the steering wheel. What the dealer told you calyptus was not available, shame on them. Got it from www.bergwerks.com see http://www.bergwerks.com/steering_wheels.jsp It is also available at www.performanceproducts.com http://www.performanceproducts.com/P...producttype=20

[shaggy982]

thanks gothebenz. that was very helpful.