SqerrNipz adventures in heated-steering-wheel-land

[SqerrNipz]

So, a seed was planted in my mind a few months back, when Rob (Usel) dropped my lovely new m-sport seats off and we got talking randomly about how the Z4 desperately needs a heated steering wheel along with heated seats. I set myself a little project to see if I could get a near-factory looking heated steering wheel in my Z4.

That evening I perused ebay and ordered some heated steering wheel pads - these ones…

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/304815076471?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-127632-2357-0&ssspo=85Dn4utpSVq&sssrc=2349624&ssuid=clSSYJBtT4i&var=&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY

I then started working out how I could get everything to work. i decided on applying the heated pads to a base steering wheel and then using one of the leather steering wheel covers to hide everything. It’s taken a long time (mainly because I have the attention span of a 5 year old) but finally got it finished today. A few pics below with a bit of explanation for each one…



Rob (Usel) came up with the idea of using a clock spring with extra connections to power the wheel. My Z4 has neither MFSW or paddle-shift so Rob very kindly sent me a spare clock spring he had with the connections for these, which I could utilise to supply power through to the steering wheel.



Contact adhesive applied to wheel and heat pads. Ended up a little lumpy-bumpy in places, but the contact adhesive was very difficult to work with, especially with the heat pads being fibrous material. Meant there was no room for adjustments. I was hopeful the steering wheel cover would hide much of it!





A quick test and heated up perfectly. Showed around 35 degrees on my infared thermometer, which from a bit of googling seems about spot on. The kit I bought has 6 settings and this was on about setting 3 I believe. Note: You don’t have to use jars of honey and peanut butter as ‘terminal weights’ unless you’re an electrical expert like me… :?







Ordered a steering wheel cover from PhatMods. Full leather and I went for perforated leather on the grips. Blue thread to match my Z4. It’s fair to say I won’t be packing in my day job to become a seamstress, but turned out pretty well. Took about 3 hours in total, with a few ‘rage breaks’, me managing to somehow tie a perfect knot in the thread without trying and the fecking cat attacking the thread at every opportunity…



Another quick test and all seemed well.







Fitting it all in the car took a while :| Was a ballache routing everything through. Several youtube and forum searches finally gave me all the info I needed. Used a piggyback fuse to power the positive and a handy nut behind the glovebox to earth it. Added the switch just in front of the ignition so you almost wouldn’t know it was there, which was what I wanted!

Project complete! Is it perfect? No. Would I do it again? Probably not. But I’m really chuffed how it turned out and can’t wait until winter to feel the full effects. I realise I’ve finished it at completely the wrong time of year! :lol: Hopefully it might help some others who have similar ideas.

Big thanks to Rob (Usel) for his help and advice, plus thinking of/donating the clock spring, which was key to making it all work.

Cheers for having a look,
Tony

 

[AveZ4coop]

A very informative and humorous thread. Made me chuckle. Well done for persevering with this and getting it to work.

 

[Usel]

You did a really good job of this

Very impressed......... Will be a job i will tackle later in the year

 

[SqerrNipz]

A very informative and humorous thread. Made me chuckle. Well done for persevering with this and getting it to work.

Thank you, it was a bit of a challenge! I could have cried when I turned the switch for the first time and... nothing Turned out to be a faulty piggyback fuse adapter. Fortunately I managed to find another one in my 'spare wire box' and all was well. Glad it gave somebody a chuckle

 

[SqerrNipz]

You did a really good job of this

Very impressed......... Will be a job i will tackle later in the year

Can't wait to see your version

 

[bigwinn]

I’ve often thought that this should be possible as a retrofit as you have done

Thanks for proving the concept

Great job

 

[Usel]

I’ve often thought that this should be possible as a retrofit as you have done

Thanks for proving the concept

Great job

The X3 of the same era used the same slip ring and that had a heated steering wheel option. That was the inspiration that made this project possible.

If your someone that likes to drive at night with the top down or in winter then this is a much needed mod, well it is for me with my hands not being as young as they used to be.

 

[Zulu4]

Good effort

 

[Special Kay]

I love the fact you have installed a heated steering wheel. Congrats I think its great . Just a curious question from a man that struggles with wiring a plug. Could you have somehow used the existing heated seats switch to control the temperature and turn it on/off? or does it not that way? Apologies if my question is extremely basic or just plain dumb

 

[Usel]

I love the fact you have installed a heated steering wheel. Congrats I think its great . Just a curious question from a man that struggles with wiring a plug. Could you have somehow used the existing heated seats switch to control the temperature and turn it on/off? or does it not that way? Apologies if my question is extremely basic or just plain dumb

Yes and no.

Yes if you bypass all the electronics from the steering wheel heat pad so just have a positive and negative wire coming from the heat pad. The heat pad would need to be tested directly onto a 12v battery to see if it can handle a full 12v power feed and not burn out and melt or catch fire to stuff.
You then may have a problem that your bottom is warm and heated seat control unit turns off the seat but you still have cold hands because the seat has the thermal control sensor.

No if you want to use the electronics and regulate the steering wheel independently.

 

[Special Kay]

Thank you for the explanation.

 

[SqerrNipz]

I’ve often thought that this should be possible as a retrofit as you have done

Thanks for proving the concept

Great job

Ta mate and thanks for the donor wheel at a decent price

 

[bigwinn]

I’ve often thought that this should be possible as a retrofit as you have done

Thanks for proving the concept

Great job

Ta mate and thanks for the donor wheel at a decent price

You are welcome!!

 

[LittleZ4]

This is awesome, I wanted to do this years ago but like you I have the attention span of a 5 year old :rofl: . I was going to use a 2" wide carbon wrap and a clock spring from an X5 or X3 I think.

 

[SqerrNipz]

This is awesome, I wanted to do this years ago but like you I have the attention span of a 5 year old :rofl: . I was going to use a 2" wide carbon wrap and a clock spring from an X5 or X3 I think.

Cheers mate! I think the Z4 shares a few parts from the X3. I did consider whether I could just swap a heated wheel from an X3 straight on, but couldn't find a version I liked. I've seen a few youtube videos utilising the carbon heat-wrap on other cars. Maybe a consideration for heated-wheel MKII

 

[Shadbolt83]

Wow good effort.

 

[Z44Jon]

Impressive, wonder if royals would cover mine with the heater added

 

[Vanne]

Nice job, always awesome to see some backyard engineering.