M Tech steering wheel removal

[Whiters]

Hi -
I need to replace the main lighting bulbs in the instrument cluster on my wife's e36 328. It has the M Tech wheel (like below) which I need to remove first. Is it just a case of brute force to remove the horn cover as there doesn't seem to be any place around its edge that yields significantly when I'm trying to pull the cover off. Or do I need to remove the two plastic side caps before I can remove the centre one?

Any tips appreciated.

[rumple]

Never removed a steering wheel, but on my old 328 i fitted rings on the clocks, i got the cluster out with the wheel on, that was the older triangle shaped airbag wheel though

[E30M3SE]

There will be fixing (torx headed bolts recessed into the back of the wheel) that need to be undone from the back of the wheels in order to remove the airbag/horn push.

Disconnect the battery first and leave for 15 mins.

[Whiters]

rumple said:

Never removed a steering wheel, but on my old 328 i fitted rings on the clocks, i got the cluster out with the wheel on, that was the older triangle shaped airbag wheel though

Thanks. Works with that wheel's larger diameter - just, but not with this one it seems.

[Whiters]

E30M3SE said:

There will be fixing (torx headed bolts recessed into the back of the wheel) that need to be undone from the back of the wheels in order to remove the airbag/horn push.

Disconnect the battery first and leave for 15 mins.

Cheers, will give this a whirl. Is the 15mins after battery disconnect to disable airbag?

[JoPo1]

Yep, disconnect battery, leave 15 minutes and then take 2 torx out rear of wheel, that will remove airbag as one unit, unplug aibag connectors, should be two of them. Careful handling the airbag, its a dangerous part, probably me being paranoid but still be careful haha.

Then its just a 16mm nut and itll pull off with a bit of a nudge.

Please make sure the wheels back on properly though!

[ADM06]

Whiters said:

Thanks. Works with that wheel's larger diameter - just, but not with this one it seems.

I too got my cluster out with the wheel on, big triangle wheel. I'd have thought it'd be easier with a small wheel.

[Quinten]

Tis any good? http://tis.spaghetticoder.org/s/view.pl?2/07/16