Steering Wheel

AntMan · Post by **AntMan** » Wed 21 May, 2008 07:57

Does anyone know if the early 3 spoke steering wheel fitted to the Zed is the same as the later one.Mines worn just wondered if the e46 identical wheel will fit.??

Justin Time · Post by **Justin Time** » Wed 21 May, 2008 14:04

Read Ribs' post on this thread.

Looks as though, without a lot of fiddling around, rewiring etc, you'll be hard pressed to fit an M-tec wheel. What about trying a Raid wheel setup like Mike Fishwick has on his 2.8?

AntMan · Post by **AntMan** » Wed 21 May, 2008 15:23

The wheel i want to fit is identical to the one i want to remove or at least it looks to be identical.
Wheel HERE

Looks the same as mine just list e46 rather than e36

MaxZ3 · Post by **MaxZ3** » Thu 22 May, 2008 00:25

That Will Defo fit your car provided its not newer than 99 at which point dual stage airbags were introduced....

c_w · Post by **c_w** » Thu 22 May, 2008 09:09

It probably won't fit your car as the E46 uses a different fitting for the "slip ring"/wiring even if it looks like the same wheel.

The Z3 uses the same fitting as E36 but it was changed on the E46 cars. You could do a search on www.realoem.com though to see if some stuff is the same.

MaxZ3 · Post by **MaxZ3** » Thu 22 May, 2008 10:29

Sorry for jumping to say they're the same, can't tell the difference from real oem as they do not show the slip ring for the e46? Why wouldn't you consider a Raid wheel? They look Sick!! And you keep your airbag! Or why not consider an alcantara wheel!? MMMMMMMMM........
Might have a bit of bother sorting out the dual stage airbag though..........

Justin Time · Post by **Justin Time** » Thu 22 May, 2008 10:38

I thought RAID wheels accomodated dual stage airbag systems?

c_w · Post by **c_w** » Thu 22 May, 2008 11:43

Justin Time wrote:I thought RAID wheels accomodated dual stage airbag systems?

They do (or rather can be made to) by disabling one of the circuits (the Raid airbag is single stage). But the later dual stage system on the Z3s is different to the E46 (whereas previously the single stage and wiring was pretty much the same as teh E36).

komis · Post by **komis** » Thu 22 May, 2008 18:19

The steering wheels might look the same but in fact they are very different if you look at the rear. You will need to get one from another Z3. If you're going for the M wheel instead, ensure it's one from a post-99 car with a dual stage airbag. In this case you can use an M wheel from a late E36 (I think), but certainly E46 wheels are out of the question if you're looking for an easy job.

c_w · Post by **c_w** » Thu 22 May, 2008 20:49

I don't think the E36 ever had dual stage airbags but it should still fit.

komis · Post by **komis** » Tue 03 Jun, 2008 19:37

c_w is right, you should just need the slip ring from a dual-stage airbag car (post 00)

c_w · Post by **c_w** » Tue 03 Jun, 2008 22:12

It's annoying BMW changed the E46 fitment so much as they found some sense and started making some really nice wheels in the sporty 3-series and Z4s that aren't easy to fit to the Z3!