awiner

Good news Ed. You should have your wheel in the next week or so. If you need any help with installation instructions, PM me.

EDWARD CONROY

Thanks, Adam. He said about a month, but whenever it comes in is fine. Just trying to get through the next 5-6 weeks of winter here in the northeast and then look forward to really detailing the car.

jambee888

Here's an update from Autowerks:

I was told that the steering wheels were in a crate that was supposed to have been delivered last Monday, Feb. 23. Fedex International mis-routed the crate to Paris, France... so they're working with Fedex to get it down to California as soon as possible.

EDWARD CONROY

My wheel is "in country" as we used to say in Nam, so it won't be long.

EDWARD CONROY

Mike left a message saying customs scratched my steering wheel and they had to send it back. He expects another one to come in this coming week which he'll then send me. I have not heard a bad word about Autowerks so I shall trust in the fact that they are trying to do right by me and all will work out fine.

JamE55

I know i'm late but on the steering wheel. The wood part do you know if you can get that in a silver carbon fiber version?

thanks

awiner

Yes James. It does come in Silver CF !

JamE55

Calling Autowerks now! Thanks Adam! I may need your help with the install though you can help me out with that can you..?

awiner

Yup for sure. Come over, Ill do it for you.

IluvS500

that steering wheel is too tight

EDWARD CONROY

Autowerks left a message that the new steering wheel came in and is being shipped. Just in time for nice weather.

EDWARD CONROY

Well, there was quite a delay with my first wheel coming in scratched and having to be sent back to Germany. But it was finally delivered last week and installed yesterday. My wife and I are extremely pleased with it. We got the burl walnut to match our trim. Looks and feels great. Thanks, Adam, for the inspiration to order it.

awiner

Glad to hear you finally got it installed and are enjoying it !

Dan Wang

FYI:

All of these steering wheels use an OE wheel and a company called Victor completely redesigns the grips of the steering wheels and inlays them with wood, CF, etc. I know an importer here in So Cal that gets it from them directly. I think the minimum order is 20 wheels and cores are required for them to work on.

Dan

awiner

Dan, while Victor is a big after market steering wheel co., which does some OE work as well, these wheel are made by a firm in Germany named MP Designs. http://mp-autodes********/index.htm

hmp10

Don't try to put a Renntech steering wheel on an SL55. All SL55's come with a black steering wheel, regardless of interior color. (And they get mighty hot in the sun with the top down.)

I paid Renntech $1700 for a light ash / burl walnut wheel. Renntech advised me that I would have to pull the airbag out of my existing wheel to install in the new wheel and that I would have to send them the existing wheel. (They build their wheels on the OEM carcasses.)

What Renntech did not advise me was that I also would have to pull the audio and menu switches off the old wheel as well as the large center cap off the old wheel. Big problem. These items are black. Renntech does not supply them with the wheel, and Mercedes charges well north of $1000 for the parts.

At the time I placed the order, I told the salesman that my existing wheel was black. Also, Renntech claims to specialize in modifying SL55's. So why, when he was telling me I had to use the airbag from my existing wheel, didn't he also tell me I had either to use other black components or to purchase them from Mercedes.

Renntech is refusing to take their wheel back, saying it was a special order item.

My choices are to spend more than $1000 extra to complete the wheel swap (pegging it close to $3000 with labor), or to write off the $1700 I've already paid. CAVEAT EMPTOR when dealing with Renntech. They won't accept any responsiblity if something does not work on your car.

I1 ULOOZ

nice wheel!

smgC32

hmp10, I don't see the problem here. You bought an aftermarket core that was reworked to provide more a aggressive ergonomic grip and a sportier look. No aftermarket manufacturer provides the air bag or control switches with their steering wheels. You reuse what came stock with your car. In your example, your airbag and control buttons came in black with your car. You elected to switch I assume to light ash leather in order to match the interior leather. The control buttons and airbag will still be black, providing a contrast that you obviously don't care for. Their steering wheel is not defective and if it was they would provide warrenty repair/replacement. Can you order a light ash airbag and light ash control buttons from another model that will fit the 55? Same wheel as in the SL500? Sorry to hear of your disappointment. Should have installed a MOMO wheel instead!

hmp10

I was aware that I had to provide the airbag unit myself. But that was the only thing Renntech told me I had to transfer from the old wheel . . . and I asked them that question specifically. They did not tell me that the airbag was integrated with the center cover. (One might argue that I should have known that. But how many car owners know those kinds of details about car parts? That's why "specialist" high-end sellers should answer questions fully and correctly when asked. This wasn't a kid at a Wal-Mart counter I was talking to.)

When I called back to tell them of this issue, I was referred to a guy named Uwe, who said he would call Germany to see how they would resolve the problem. He said he was not aware that my existing wheel had black parts. (Odd, since all SL55's come only with the black wheel, and Renntech claims to be a specialist in upgrading them.) The salesman, Bob Brady, later e-mailed me to tell me they would not take the wheel back. He, too, said Renntech had never encountered the issue of non-matching components. In fact, his quote was "well, I guess there's a first time for everything."

I did inquire about ordering the light ash components from Mercedes, but they cost almost $1500. So that makes the conversion a $3000+ job. It is what it is . . . but customers at least ought to know the size of the bagel they're biting into.

t-bone

I am curious.

Why did you not know that you would use your existing airbag cover?

Did you assume that you would remove the airbag out of the center cover and transfer it into another one? If this is what you were thinking then I can understand your confusion.

Unfortunately for you, I think most people would not have made the same assumption as you. This is probably why Renntech never told you or asked you more.

smgC32

I you haven't picked up your parts yet, you may want to try some of the MB wreck yards and pick up the control switches cheap in your desired color. Unfortunately, most wrecked cars will have exploded their airbag, so you are out of luck there and will have to pay over $900 for the airbag. Sorry to hear of you situation. It is never easy or cheap to mod a car to your liking!

hmp10

Well, T-Bone, the conversation went something like this:

Q: "What will I need to transfer from my old wheel?"

A: "The airbag."

Q: "Anything else?"

A: "No. The installer will remove the airbag from your old wheel and put it in our wheel. You need to hang onto the box we send you the new wheel in and use it to return your old wheel to us."

I assumed that "airbag" meant the airbag itself (along with its motion sensor switch). I did not assume that "airbag" also meant the whole center section of the wheel, including the audio and menu buttons. Even if the salesman thought I would understand that "airbag" included the cover, I think it's a stretch that I would be expected to understand "airbag" also meant the audio and menu buttons.

I am not saying that Renntech was dishonest. I am just trying to warn people that when they undertake making modifications to a car, the burden is really on them to get informed on all the technical arcania beforehand. It's a mistake to rely on a shop even as reputable as Renntech to convey anything more than shorthand information to you. I made that mistake, I'm not fighting with Renntech about it, and I'm just trying to help others avoid my own naivetee.

And thanks, smg32c, for the suggestion to scout out wreckage yards. I did an internet search through several nation-wide salvage databases and did not find a single steering wheel available. And you're probably right . . . any car that wound up in a salvage yard probably had a discharged airbag, anyway.

BooBoo

Just my 2 cents from a third point of view...

1) Hmp10 ordered the wrong leather color (ash) to begin with, knowing that the original steering wheel leather is black.

2) RENNTech was accurate about transferring the airbag.

3) If you go to a MB parts department, they will sell you the airbag module, including the center core and the buttons as one complete assembly.

The cheapest alternative is to order a new wheel with the right color combination. That's a $1,600 fix as opposed to replacing your airbag units.

Maybe you should have Ordered it from where t-bone and others ordered theirs.

hmp10

I wanted light ash because the black wheel gets too hot when the top is down in bright sunshine. That was the whole point of the changeover.

I did check with Mercedes Parts. The buttons are sold separately from the airbag, they are priced separately, and they carry different parts numbers. They are NOT considered part of the airbag or the airbag assembly by Mercedes.

This confusion is just another example of why it would have been helpful had Renntech been more explicit . . . or had I been far more specific in my inquiry. "Airbag" apparently means a lot of different things to a lot of different people.

awiner

Just wanted to add that these steering wheels are now down to about $1100.00 ...