1M - Fuzzy Steering wheel option ?

[Rsx Boy]

Of the few 1M adverts currently live very few have the flat bottomed Alcantara steering wheel.

This one does . . .

http://classifieds.pistonheads.com/classifieds/use...

Was this an expensive option ?
Cant see why you wouldnt want it.

This question should provide some light relief to Christmas for the BM headz.

[chatuge]

Its personal choice I guess. I personally wouldn't choose an Alcantara steering wheel or even entertain a car that had alcantara seats. I had a TT Quattro Sport 240 in 2006 for around 6 months which had both and it drove me mad! The alcantara goes bobbly on the steering wheel where its held the majority of the time. I tried every trick to keep it looking fresh and none of it worked. The seats also were patchy in colour where the Alcantara gets crushed from being sat on. I sold it after 8 months for a 997 and did not/do not miss its fuzzy stuff at all!

[as7920]

The alcantara wheel was not an option at the time of order however a number of owners have either fitted the official BMW Performance accessories flat bottomed steering wheel (fits M3 and 1M) or have had their original wheel recovered, a number by www.royalsteeringwheels.com.

Hope that helps.

Merry Xmas.

[ChrisBuer]

Yep I have one of those wheels on my 1M and its very nice

No problem with fuzzy alcantara either, although the wheel has only seen about 4000 miles of use so far. But I do use the Swissvax alcantara cleaner to keep it nice and fresh.

Edited by ChrisBuer on Tuesday 25th December 19:43

[Yellowcab]

If it goes fuzzy and it will eventually, use a brand new Bic razor and that will get rid of all the balls, we do this in our company when restoring and cleaning Alcantara three piece suites

[0836whimper]

chatuge said:

Its personal choice I guess. I personally wouldn't choose an Alcantara steering wheel or even entertain a car that had alcantara seats. I had a TT Quattro Sport 240 in 2006 for around 6 months which had both and it drove me mad! The alcantara goes bobbly on the steering wheel where its held the majority of the time. I tried every trick to keep it looking fresh and none of it worked. The seats also were patchy in colour where the Alcantara gets crushed from being sat on. I sold it after 8 months for a 997 and did not/do not miss its fuzzy stuff at all!

Think you had some dodgy alcantara. The material on my almost ten year old CSL has none of these symptoms and I haven't heard of this with other owners either.

I love the swathes of alcantara, one of the things that makes it special.

I use Raceglaze alcantara cleaner to keep it nice if that helps.

[Inverted]

As said above no issues that ive experienced on CSL or GT3 RS. CSL wheel is about 20,000 miles old and looks spot on. RS wheel is 30k and looks good as new. Just need a bit of tlc cleaning every now and then.

[Yellowcab]

Most of the CSL steering wheels early on in their lives had their steering wheels replaced by BMW under warranty. I had a CSL from new and sold it at 6k miles and the Alcantara was starting to bobble on the wheel, the seats however were fine

[Inverted]

Yellowcab said:

Most of the CSL steering wheels early on in their lives had their steering wheels replaced by BMW under warranty. I had a CSL from new and sold it at 6k miles and the Alcantara was starting to bobble on the wheel, the seats however were fine

Yes mine had a new wheel on under warranty but has been used around 20k miles now and looks fine.

Nice 1m btw Im looking to replace my CSL with one at the moment.

[Rsx Boy]

Thanks for the responses.
I maybe should have titled the thread differently.

I was really trying to find out about the Alcantara wheel as an option, (if available when the car was new and at what cost £?), not if they degrade over time/usage.

But still interesting tips and bits of knowledge anyway.

Thanks.

[Rsmatt]

Rsx Boy said:

Thanks for the responses.
I maybe should have titled the thread differently.

I was really trying to find out about the Alcantara wheel as an option, (if available when the car was new and at what cost £?), not if they degrade over time/usage.

But still interesting tips and bits of knowledge anyway.

Thanks.

It is not an option from new it's called the bmw performance steering wheel and is £515 from your local bmw dealer as a retro fit. I ordered mine from new but had it fitted at first service.