DIY: BMW Performance Steering Wheel

I got it!!

Thank you very much for giving a lot of useful information.

See here for M3 M-DCT RHD model.
(Sorry, it is written in Japanese.)

You have to be very careful removing the connectors as they are easy to break if they are forced off and not removed carefully. I managed to break one and this resulted in a wire disconnecting and multiple errors showing up. Once the wire was found to be disconnected , I fixed the faulty wire and broken connector and everything worked perfectly.
If you know how to take everything apart, this can be done in an hour.
I was afraid of removing the steering angle sensor, but this ended up to be the easiest as the steps outlined what exactly had to be done.
Again a good write up- just some clumsiness on my part during the installation which did not result in any harm other than the wife going ballistic that I was messing up the car..lol.

rav7ks wrote

You have to be very careful removing the connectors as they are easy to break if they are forced off and not removed carefully. I managed to break one and this resulted in a wire disconnecting and multiple errors showing up. Once the wire was found to be disconnected , I fixed the faulty wire and broken connector and everything worked perfectly.
If you know how to take everything apart, this can be done in an hour.
I was afraid of removing the steering angle sensor, but this ended up to be the easiest as the steps outlined what exactly had to be done.
Again a good write up- just some clumsiness on my part during the installation which did not result in any harm other than the wife going ballistic that I was messing up the car..lol.

yep, you definitely need to be very careful ... and just to clarify, you don't need to remove the steering angle sensor

is the shift pedal on the performance steering different than the shift pedal on the stock DCT steering wheel. Is it same as the steptronic pedals on the regular 3series?
can I retain the stock dct pedal shifter from the stock steering wheel?

accordingi2ime wrote

is the shift pedal on the performance steering different than the shift pedal on the stock DCT steering wheel. Is it same as the steptronic pedals on the regular 3series?
can I retain the stock dct pedal shifter from the stock steering wheel?

I think you can retain the existing DCT shift paddles. Look for posts of member doba_s, he has installed the Performance wheel with DCT paddles.


Best regards,
south

it looks worth more than 90 bux job.

Thanks for the great DIY doba_S. Maybe new for the 03/09+ builds (no ash tray), cigarette lighter moved underneath the glove box.

I realized at the middle of the install that the vendor forgot to give me the new spring cartridge!!! Have to postpone the latter part of the install for a few days.

rav7ks wrote

An excellent write up.
Now I think I can do this myself with the help you've posted on here.
Your step by step is the most detailed write up I've seen here. We all appreciate the time you've spent on this.
Thanks

+1 absolutely!

Thinker23 wrote

Thanks for the great DIY doba_S. Maybe new for the 03/09+ builds (no ash tray), cigarette lighter moved underneath the glove box.

I realized at the middle of the install that the vendor forgot to give me the new spring cartridge!!! Have to postpone the latter part of the install for a few days.

you can tap it into any power source ... another option would be to run it to your fuse box and get power from there ...

Quick question, Does Perf steering wheel have same diameter as M3 stock steering wheels? I don't want to change if it's even 1 mm skinnier than stock. (I read that it's "pretty much" same but I kinda want firm answer before I commit 1k + installation for steering wheel).

And... does anyone have user's manual (all function/setting/how to use etc.)?

isugoo wrote

And... does anyone have user's manual (all function/setting/how to use etc.)?

I do - send me a request through email and I'll reply with a copy.

tom @ eas wrote

I do - send me a request through email and I'll reply with a copy.

Emailed. Thanks, Tom!

Does anyone can confirm it's diameter?
I will NOT want this even if it's 1 mm smaller than stock M3s.

isugoo wrote

Emailed. Thanks, Tom!

Does anyone can confirm it's diameter?
I will NOT want this even if it's 1 mm smaller than stock M3s.

Diameter is the same, however the M3 wheel is noticeably thicker in grip.

isugoo wrote

Emailed. Thanks, Tom!

Does anyone can confirm it's diameter?
I will NOT want this even if it's 1 mm smaller than stock M3s.

Can you really notice 1mm difference ? I doubt ...

doba_s wrote

Can you really notice 1mm difference ? I doubt ...

I did. I felt the OEM wheel was bloated and a bit spongy compared to the PSW.

tom @ eas wrote

I did. I felt the OEM wheel was bloated and a bit spongy compared to the PSW.

you can definitely feel the difference ... but we are not talking about 1mm ... the whole steering wheel is different ... due to the displays, i think it even has a different shape ...

Just a FYI for anyone doing this, In my install which was done perfectly without messing up the wires or messing up the steering angle sensor I still got two errors which were the passenger restraint system malfunction and the multifunction buttons on the steering wheel were not working. The oled on the steering wheel itself worked fine and I could see my rpms and other data. After doing a lot of diagnosing I narrowed it down to the coil spring cartridge. For some reason the signals were not going through. So if you are getting those two problems then it could be the coil spring cartridge. To be sure you can check the leads on both sides of the coil spring cartridge where the front has two sockets one for the airbag connectors and the other for the multifunction buttons on the steering wheel trim. Each pin inside those sockets should have continuity to one pin in one of two sockets on the rear of the coil spring cartridge aka slip ring. I tested mine and it came out to be roughly 1 ohm of resistance for each pin. If there is a pin without continuity the unit is most likely damaged and must be replaced with part number 61319122381 which is the same cartridge for the x5 with heated steering wheel.

Also I found that if you install the wheel yourself that exchanging this part or any part I believe involved in making the performance steering wheel work under warranty is not possible or would be difficult because the dealership is the only entity that can say a part is defective under warranty and if you install the part yourself they will argue that you installed the part incorrectly. The problem with this is that neither side has any proof that the part is truly defective and not broken because of user installation error. Since I had to learn this the hard way I thought I would share it with anyone thinking of installing this wheel or other parts. again of course YMMV

install was a bitch but I love it !! slight typo on your info. on the steering wheel its a torx 25 not torx 15.

Some update ...

On 2009 models there is a power outlet right under your glovebox ... You can use it to power up your wheel.

I installed the PSW my self last night.

I got the 6 wires from the black connector backwards in the A7 white connector. The new Coil spring cartridge that came with your PSW has the connector for A7 rotated 180 deg. compared to the original CSC.

So the #1 wire on the black connector is on the side of the little plastic extension.
If you use the plastic extension as a reference on A7 (That would be logical if the BMW idiots didn't rotate the socket on the new CSC), you'll mount the wires wrong on the connector. The plastic extension on the A7 connector is on the #6 wire side.

It cost me 6 hours to find it out last night. I got mayor errors in the car. When i started the car the horn would blow, Airbag warnings. I went over every component i installed. I wasn't till i got the two SCS cartridges side to side to check the connector pins that is saw that the socket was rotated 180Deg. This is a nice addition to step 18->

18. Read PDF instruction and remove wires from the Black connector ( the one I told you not to connect to your new Coil spring cartridge) and insert them into A7 white connector. They are numbered 1-6 and you need to insert them the same way ... #1 from Black connector goes to #1 in A7 White connector and so on ...

FYI after finishing at 2AM i took the car out for a test drive. Passed a copper with 320KM/h on the dial....Hit the brakes. Guy pulled me over and i got away with a warning. My Lucky Day! Next time i it happens in the middle of the night in might be better to make a run for it!

I installed mine last night and could not have done it without this DIY. My only hitch was trying to figure where the holes were in the back of the wheel to slide the screwdriver in and release the airbag. Took me about 15 minutes to realize I had to puncture the vinyl in the low spots to get to the tabs.

Other than that everything went smoothly. This wheel, as a Brit might say, is "one trick bit of kit!"

Now we'll have to start a thread (if there isn't one already) to see who can pull the most Gs!

Many thanks, doba!!!