New Steering Wheel on (Have issues - Need Help !)

Seems that on the original wheel, the brass slip ring provided the horn contacts and the other connector would then be for the airbag (which you connected, but strange the colour code is different). The new wheel seems to have perhaps an internal hairspring arrangement for the horn as well as airbag, so you may need to splice these wires into the horn circuit that would have connceted to the brass-ring on the old wheel. The Brown one is probably the one to go to ground and the Blue to the horn (but shouldn't really matter which is which as they just go to the horn-switch contacts).

I suspect that your airbag light is on because you did not disconnect the batteries before doing this work. The airbag system will have detected a fault when you removed the wheel and will now require a reset.

Nice new wheel though!

If you have a multimeter (Maplin £4.99 for the cheapest) or some kind of tester, you can check whether pressing the horn-button closes the circuit on the brown and blue wires of the new steering wheel. You could also verify that the horn circuit on the old wheel is on the brass slip-ring.

Not sure why the SRS light would be on, if the batteries were disconnected during the swap-over. There might be a problem with the airbag on the new wheel? I notice from the listing that they are used wheels that have ben recovered, not brand-new.

It seems quite certain that the unusual connector on both wheels is that for the airbag, but it's a strange coincidence that the wire colours do not match. As a long-shot, I wonder whether the connectors might have been removed during the refurbishment of the wheel and replaced incorrectly? However, you can verify this with a tester by pressing the horn-button, which should close the contact on the two corresponding wires.

Others here have replaced their wheels and so might be able to give better advice. For me, it's still on my "to-do" list.

read the entire add.

Contact seller and ask for it. (applies for e31 too)

Yes, as mentioned there was a change to the slip ring design from model year 94 to 95 if I remember correctly. With the old style, the horn signal goes though the pressure connector (pin pressing onto the slip ring). It also grounds through the physical connection to the steering column. The newer one uses two wires through the slip ring instead.

I too am unsure about why the airbag light came on. Arnie's suggestion is good: test the connector on the car side of the slip ring does actually go to the airbag connector on the steering wheel side. Other than that, a faulty airbag is possible, but is pretty rare in my experience (it's far more often a wiring or other electrical fault).

I performed a similar upgrade on an E34 540i and all I had to do was replace the plastic part on the steering column behind where the slip ring mounts, and maybe a few other bits and pieces (it was about 4 years ago now). Basically turned into a plug and play swap, with the right bits in place -- no soldering required.

Be aware however, that once the airbag light is on, it will probably have to be reset to get rid of it. Correcting the fault isn't enough; the airbag will detect the system is now fully functional, but the light will remain lit until the error memory is cleared. I have a MODIC that can do it, but even the cheapy stuff like Carsoft clones etc can do this no probs.

The originally installed M-steering wheel is a bit old fashioned and has a connector pin keeping touch with the brass slip ring and providing power for the horn.
Ground is provided by the steering column.
This is no longer necessary for the new style sports steering wheel.
Tracing the brown wire from the connector pin (which you did not remove) marked below should lead you to the place where the missing connector lives.

WRT the airbag light - for some reason you either turned on the ignition whilst the airbag was not connected or the new airbag is malfunctioning (>4 Ohm resistance). This is a permanent light which can only be switched off at the dealer or someone else with the proper equipment (MoDIC, DIS) else by replacing the airbag.

Let us know how you fare.

Cheers
Reinhard

GARC: Maybe you just didn't mention it, but did you change the steering column switch bracket? This has nothing to do with the wiring of the wheel, but it's required when you change steering wheels between the new and old style. The locking pin for the slipring is in a different position. You could of course modify the existing bracket, but the part is so cheap it's not worth the effort...

If you don't change or modify the bracket, the slipring may get locked in an incorrect position which may damage it when you turn the steering wheel lock-to-lock.

• Top left: old style bracket (32 31 1 159 147)
• Bottom right: new style bracket (32 31 1 162 088 )

The white locking pin does not come with the bracket, but you can take it from the old bracket. If you really want a new one, it's part 32 34 1 156 341. The new bracket is a plug-and-play replacement. The total for both bracket and locking pin should be less than 5 EUR at the dealer...

The next picture show you the original connection.



Buy one universal Pin Terminal 61 13 6 913 635 and the cable with contact 61 13 0 005 198

My retrofit with a MFL wheel:



Cheers

Zitat von GARC;60755

SORTED - Big Thanks goes out to Reinhard. Thanks for the advice this was spot on and I fixed the horn issue in 20 minutes.

Revtor - I didn't change this part - seemed to get away with it although I had to chip off the white locking pin. Absolutely no issues now.

I must say the ALCANTARA is fantastic..feels like I have a new car

Only issue now is that I have my Airbag light on the dash which I need reset. Will the dealers do this for me for free does anyone know ? Any other ways to reset ?

Anyway - Thanks lots 8er forum - some great responses on my issue.

Regards
GARC

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Nice work

Airbag light will have to be reset. If you have a good relationship with your local dealer, they may do it for free as it's a very quick and easy job. More likely however they will charge an hour labour to do it -- crazy money for such a simple job!

MODIC, GT1, etc will do it (those are what the dealer will have) or a cheapo interface like a Carsoft clone will also do it. I could do it for you for free, but as you're a reasonable distance away it depends how quickly you want it done.

May I suggest disconnecting batteries for half a day or so ? Electronics may loose memories and the Airbag Default may disappear also ?

GARC, did you have to change wiring or connectors to fix the horn problem or did you just find where the connector lives on car side and did a "plug & play" wiring ?

Good luck withthe mot......i'm sure she'll pass on looks alone

cheers, Alex

I might be silly, but what does "MOT" stand for ?

Zitat von sierramike67;61038

I might be silly, but what does "MOT" stand for ?

"Ministry of transport" (test) - the annual checkup of your car. You know, brakes, emission,... In France it's called "contrôle technique des véhicules automobiles" and in Germany "Hauptuntersuchung".

Oh my god, thanks for the advice ! When it comes to specific words, my english doesn't sound so good anymore