[rob740]

I realise the steering wheel swap topic has likely been done to death already..

However, all the forums and threads I have looked at so far are concerned with replacing the 4 spoke tractor wheel with a funky 3 spoke one.

It seems I am one of very few who is reasonably happy with the 4 spoke wheel and don't wish to swap for a 3 spoke.

I am much more concerned with having the multifunction controls available on the wheel and getting rid of the awful cruise control stalk.

To that end, I have acquired a similar 4 spoke wheel from a similar year E38.
It is complete with slipring and cables and has a single stage airbag like the wheel currently fitted.

Can anyone advise is this a straight swap and how do I get the controls working?
Many thanks.

 

[sjflat]

There is a fairly detailed discussion on this topic in an 8 series section on another BMW website with a very similar url to this.

Could be worth a look

Steve

 

[rob740]

Hmm, don't know how I missed that, I will go and have another look.
Many thanks.

 

[xXxStKxXx]

wat car? it still says you have a 740?

 

[rob740]

wat car? it still says you have a 740?

This car;

I have a 740 and an 840.

 

[TheEnd]

There is a guy on here who did a multifunction swap onto an E36, and got the thing running which should be very similar to the E31 in terms of age and electronics.

 

[rob740]

Thanks, I will go and have a look in E36 forum.

 

[TheEnd]

http://www.bimmerforums.co.uk/forum/f17/1996-e36-320i-diy-e38-39-multifunction-steering-t74063/

That should get you started with the basics.

 

[rob740]

Thats great, thanks again.

Do I need the GR2 brain or does the E31 already have one?
Can the CC stalk be replaced directly by the wheel buttons?

 

[TheEnd]

Those bits I have no idea about.
I swapped an MF wheels onto my e36, but I never had any of the devices that the wheel would control so I never took it further.
It looks like there is a demodulator at the far side that turns the little data signals from the wheel back into electronics.
The steering wheel sends the button presses as data over a few wires, and the GR2 then decodes them and flips the switches it seems.

 

[Ronnie]

This car;

I have a 740 and an 840.

You don't like petrol much then! :rofl

 

[rob740]

I love it, it keeps the beasts happy !
It's the cost of it I don't like :eek