E89 Steering Wheel Upgrade - Pics

Z4Mattt · Post by **Z4Mattt** » Thu Feb 11, 2021 11:44 am

I see lots of E85/E86 interior change pics but not so many for E89s...so I thought I'd post pics of the recent steering wheel re-trim I had done. I'm super happy with it and think it modernises the interior quite a lot.

Original wheel:

In progress...

New wheel:

Nice golden hour shot of the cabin with new wheel:

Zoomed in a little:

I was a bit worried that the blue centre stripe and M-stitching would be a bit much, but they're both relatively subtle and in my opinion make the whole thing more special. Plus they match the BMW & M badges (& my Z is Deep Sea Blue exterior).

The mods I went for were:
- Black Alcantara on both sides
- Smooth leather top & bottom, with 'BMW' blue centre stripe
- Flat bottom mod
- M-stitching
- Horizontal transition leather -> Alcantara (see original wheel, transition is more vertical)

Had it done by Royal Steering Wheels - re-trim starts at about £160 but mine was closer to £230 with all the extras. I still think that's really reasonable. They're quite slow to reply by email but otherwise had a great experience with them.

Post your thoughts/own steering wheel mods!

mr.tourette · Post by **mr.tourette** » Thu Feb 11, 2021 11:51 am

yep, Royals mod is always money well spent.. your wheel looks a treat

I went for the more simple look with the usual nappa and perf leaher combo and a blue stitch to tally up with my dsb paint, extremely happy with it

BeardyJon · Post by **BeardyJon** » Thu Feb 11, 2021 11:53 am

Every single Royals re-trim I see looks soooo good. If my SW wasn't already in really good condition I'd make the jump and get mine done too. Maybe in the next year I'll finally break. I've been considering a heated SW retro-fit too so maybe I'll kill 2 birds with one stone. (Everyone on this forum will say its not worth the cash, but I like to be ridiculous and drive roof down regardless of temp - I went out roofless in the snow the other day

so a heated steering wheel would make the experience even better).

R.E92 · Post by **R.E92** » Thu Feb 11, 2021 12:33 pm

Just while we're on the topic of Royal. Has anyone noticed a change of materials recently?

I had my Z4 wheel done 4 years ago and it had quite a strong leather smell and the leather felt like top quality stuff. I recently had my 335i wheel retrimmed and it has a more chemical smell to it and feels more matte. It's certainly not bad and the quality of work is still top-notch but it got me wondering if they had swapped over to synthetic leather without mentioning it. I did ask them directly but they were vague.

BeardyJon · Post by **BeardyJon** » Thu Feb 11, 2021 12:38 pm

The scandal if they're using pleather and telling everyone it's leather...

jamesgarbett · Post by **jamesgarbett** » Thu Feb 11, 2021 1:08 pm

They both look great
I really fancy a heated suede/alcantara wheel especially with the flat bottom
Do they send you a wheel to use whilst yours is away!?

mr.tourette · Post by **mr.tourette** » Thu Feb 11, 2021 1:48 pm

They always advertise the material used as Nappa leather and I can't imagine with their reputation they'd use anything but what they say. Have to say mine looks, feels and smells like real leather

mr.tourette · Post by **mr.tourette** » Thu Feb 11, 2021 1:50 pm

jamesgarbett wrote: ↑Thu Feb 11, 2021 1:08 pm They both look great
I really fancy a heated suede/alcantara wheel especially with the flat bottom
Do they send you a wheel to use whilst yours is away!?

They have certain wheels in stock that you can have made up to your spec then send your wheel back once you have fitted your new one, you need to pay a £100 deposit for that service which is refunded when you send your wheel back. If they don't have a spare its a. case of sending in and waiting for it back

Zed Baron · Post by **Zed Baron** » Thu Feb 11, 2021 2:31 pm

still happy with mine, a good investment.

R.E92 · Post by **R.E92** » Thu Feb 11, 2021 3:49 pm

Zed Baron wrote: ↑Thu Feb 11, 2021 2:31 pm still happy with mine, a good investment.

Looks great with black stitching and no bling. I went with tricolour for both of mine but I think I prefer yours.

Pondrew · Post by **Pondrew** » Thu Feb 11, 2021 6:57 pm

Z4Mattt wrote: ↑Thu Feb 11, 2021 11:44 am I'm super happy with it and think it modernises the interior quite a lot.

That looks really good. Are you not concerned the Alcantara will get grubby quickly? If so how can it be cleaned without ruining it?
I have a white leather SW on my Volvo (stupid idea that was) and it gets absolutely filthy very quickly.

Boltz · Post by **Boltz** » Thu Feb 11, 2021 7:05 pm

OP that looks superb.... I feel another raid on my wallet is imminent

Boltz · Post by **Boltz** » Thu Feb 11, 2021 7:06 pm

They all look good

Z4Mattt · Post by **Z4Mattt** » Thu Feb 11, 2021 7:07 pm

That looks really good. Are you not concerned the Alcantara will get grubby quickly? If so how can it be cleaned without ruining it?
I have a white leather SW on my Volvo (stupid idea that was) and it gets absolutely filthy very quickly.

I'm definitely a bit more conscious of how clean my hands are...but I think Alcantara gets a bad rep on the cleaning front. It can be maintained with no more than baby wipes & a microfibre cloth (+ a soft wire brush, ideally), perhaps once every month or two depending on how often you drive.

Personally my Z is a bit of a weekend car so I'm happy with the occasional upkeep. I think if I used it much more regularly I might have stuck to leather.

If I remember i'll post my thoughts on upkeep in a few months' time...

Pondrew · Post by **Pondrew** » Thu Feb 11, 2021 7:12 pm

Z4Mattt wrote: ↑Thu Feb 11, 2021 7:07 pm If I remember i'll post my thoughts on upkeep in a few months' time...

I'm sure we will remind you!

I got a set of three "tootbrush" style wire brushes recently from Screwfix (£2.99), there is a really hard nylon one in there; that may be good.

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