Steering Wheel Recondition

The steering wheel on my poor car was looking pretty sad. There was an aftermarket cover that was disintegrating and covering the original leather wrap, which was also disintegrating.




I decided it was time to spruce things up, so I ordered a new perforated leather cover with M color stitching (naturally). I pulled the steering wheel so I could have 360° access.

First, I had to remove the old covers:



This was a pain in the butt. The aftermarket cover came off easily, but the original was very dry-rotted. It came off in little chunks.

Finally I had my wheel stripped bare:




There was a little residue left on the wheel - possibly some old adhesive? It cleaned off relatively easily with a scrub pad.

Then the new wheel cover needed to be positioned. I decided to put the seam at the bottom of the wheel and tried to align it with the center of the middle wheel spoke:



I spent a few minutes tweaking the position of the new cover. If I had it to do over, I would probably have used a few zip ties to secure it in place temporarily before I began the stitching process.

The wheel cover came with an ample length of thread and a needle:




Starting was a little tricky at first. I estimated the string should be 6x the length of the seam I was stitching,  threaded the needle, and tied a fat knot in the end of the thread. Then I cinched the two edges together with two stitches. I tied a simple knot and began working my way up the cover



It seemed to work best when I held the recently stitched seam with one thumb, applying pressure to prevent it from unravelling. Then I would thread the needle through two loops of stitching that were directly across from each other. Once that was pulled comfortably tight, I would shift up, skipping a loop.

This is hard to explain in text, so hopefully these photos will help





It may actually be easier to do the stitching with the wheel on the car. holding the wheel and managing the needle and cover was a little cumbersome.

I'm pleased with the final result. Now that both old covers are gone, the overall wheel thickness is a little less than I'd grown accustomed to, but it has a nice feel.

I bought my wheel cover from these guys:

http://www.mrsteering.co.uk/shop/bmw-leather-steering-wheel-covers/bmw-e30-3-series-real-black-italian-leather-steering-wheel-cover-beige-stitching-1981-1992/

They have an eBay presence also. There is an installation video that could be more helpful, but it gives you enough to get you on your way.