sorry, knew you hated your bumper, but hadn't seen that what you wanted was an MTech..... (but should have known I guess!)
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sorry, knew you hated your bumper, but hadn't seen that what you wanted was an MTech..... (but should have known I guess!)
MTech II or nothing...best looking bumper for non-M cars[emoji41]
Sent from my iPhone 11 Pro Max using Tapatalk Pro
I guess I couldn't ignore it any longer. The stock steering wheel is "sufficient", but not having driven my ZHP in over 4 months, I really missed the feel of a proper steering wheel. There's something about a thicker steering wheel that greatly enhances the driving experience, not to mention that it looks significantly better.
I've been looking on eBay for an M-Sport steering wheel with upper and lower trims that was also still in a wrappable condition, with the thinking that I will wrap it with a DIY leather kit. I already purchased a sport wheel airbag, and made sure that it was one of the new airbags that BMW has been replacing recalled bags with (checked the VIN of the car it came from). With the recent ZHP purchase by Charlie, an opportunity presented itself when he mentioned he will be replacing the steering wheel with the one from his old ZHP. That meant the steering wheel off this one would become "available". So, I now have a steering wheel courtesy of Charlie. :)
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This wheel appears to have a brand new alcantara wrap on it. It isn't matted down at all and feels brand new. Unfortunately the wrap was very poorly done. There are several places where the finishing is practically non-existent. Here are some examples.
These sections weren't trimmed and stuck down properly:
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The wrap also wasn't aligned properly prior to being stitched, so the stitching toward the top of the wheel migrates toward the outside part of the wheel.
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To add to the problems, the material on the top part of the steering wheel can be moved. I can sit there and twist the material back and forth, which feels really strange and also makes a very light sound when touching the area.
I'm guessing the lower trim is probably messed up, which would explain the wrap. I won't find out until I remove it, as it's not my bag. Honestly, neither is alcantara. I will be getting a leather wrap kit for this down the road, but for now, I'll take advantage of the brand new alcantara until I get around to replacing the material when it wears a bit. This is still better than the slimy leather on the stock wheel, and am still very happy with having this wheel! Thanks again, Charlie.
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[emoji106] Good Luck with the transformation!
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New pictures look good Botond! At least your side mirrors are now painted can't wait to see them in person :thumbsup
I guess it's been a while since I've posted updates. A few things were done...
Got wood? I did, and not the good kind. While the stock wood trim is "fine", and I didn't mind the look overall for this car, I still wanted to "prepare" it for what was to come. I had an opportunity to do a trade of trims, which I followed through on. The end result was a set of black cube trim that I refinished. The trim wasn't in the best of shape...
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After the respray, it looked much better...
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Before:
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After:
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I just need to swap out the shift knob for a leather one, but I like that I can keep my hand on the wood shift knob without wearing it unnecessarily, so I might just keep this for a while longer. Maybe there'll be a 6-speed in there one day...
I've had several Wizgear mounts over the years, and a few of them have broken. This time around, I decided to switch it up and get something that uses what seems like metal parts as well as lacks physical adjustment mechanism like the Wizgear had. For the Wizgear, it was a circular tab thingy that you had to tighten on the back to keep the magnet mount from circulating around the ball. On the new one, there is no adjustment mechanism but instead just requires some force to move. This looks a good bit more reliable, even if the magnetism isn't quite as strong. This one is made by Syncwire and is available from Amazon.
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Now, one of my favorite mods so far. The steering wheel that I was given had a fresh alcantara wrap on it. Sure, fresh alcantara is "nice" but I honestly can't stand touching alcantara on a steering wheel. I tried to like it, but my hands keep slipping on it and the constant stress of wear is not for me. I remedied this situation with a nice genuine leather kit from a company called Mewant. They appeared to have the nicest kits out there, so I ordered one up for about $60.
The kit I ordered is a perforated/Nappa cover, with the perforated leather on the sides and the smooth Nappa on the top and bottom. The stitching wasn't available in just black (ready order) and would have had to contact them to get that custom. I didn't feel like doing that so I just went with the tri-color. I'm glad I did, because the colors just pop!
Here's the wheel as it was before:
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The stitching at the top of the wheel was twisted outward, which looked really awkward...
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...84ceea3_4k.jpg
Off with the old, showing the original alcantara underneath:
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On with the new. Lining up the new leather to make sure it'll line up properly when sewn:
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My first sewn section. Since this is the first time I've done any sewing whatsoever in my life, I had no idea that I could pull harder on the thread to close the gap tighter. I thought I was going to break the thread, so unfortunately I didn't get the gap completely closed in this section. I eventually figured it out on another section, but by then I was almost done. I may have to re-sew this at some point...
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By the time I figured it out, it was looking mint. This was the final section that I did.
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Done!
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Great updates!
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That steering wheel turned out great. I've never actually driven a car with an alcantara steering wheel that is in good shape, so I've never even thought about going that route. Too much maintenance/stress.
What did you use to respray the cube trim? It looks much better than wood, IMO.