[Swish77]

Interesting to read the different viewpoints. Personally, I would never, ever switch out the leather steering wheel in my M2C. I love it, and LOVE the heated option on the wheel you'd lose with the Alcantara wheel. Add the odd thickness and suede feel, and there's just no way.

[jkoral]

See this other thread regarding CS wheel swaps (I have one):
https://f87.bimmerpost.com/forums/sh....php?t=1703452

I also had my stock wheel covered by Coby (grey 9002 alcantara, tri-color stitching, no center stripe) for half the cost of the CS wheel.

Quality was excellent. I wanted alcantara with steering wheel heat. You can choose padding level, but here is a comparison of the CS wheel and the Coby covered stock wheel: https://f87.bimmerpost.com/forums/sh...7#post27071027

I never installed the Coby (sold it) and stuck with the fat CS wheel. I do regret sending in my pristine leather wheel. I should have bought a donor wheel and kept the stock leather in a box on my shelf!

I still have 4 pictures of the Coby wheel if you want to inspect for quality.

[LakiTopalovich]

Since I don't daily my car anymore I had the wheel retrimed recently. OG leather became glossy so I figured why not? Plus it was a chance to finally have THINNER wheel. And given the choice of stitching, I decided to get rid of now chavy M stitching (at least in my eyes).
The end result:

[SEAT TIME RULES]

As promised a couple shots of the Coby...

[BigKutta]

Originally Posted by SEAT TIME RULES

As promised a couple shots of the Coby...

Looks awesome. I contacted Coby and it looks like they sand down the leather and wrap over it. Do you feel like the wheel is thicker now? How long has it been and are you happy with the material quality? Thanks!

[SEAT TIME RULES]

I think its a little thicker than the OEM.

He really does great work and his customer service is spot on.

You can call him if you have any questions.

I also don't miss the heated wheel. The material covering the wheel doesn't feel cold when I first get in the car.

I live on the MA/NH border..

[///393]

Originally Posted by LakiTopalovich

And given the choice of stitching, I decided to get rid of now chavy M stitching (at least in my eyes).

Using the word chavy is far more tacky than tri-color stitching on the inside of a steering wheel.

[BigKutta]

Originally Posted by SEAT TIME RULES

I think its a little thicker than the OEM.

He really does great work and his customer service is spot on.

You can call him if you have any questions.

I also don't miss the heated wheel. The material covering the wheel doesn't feel cold when I first get in the car.

I live on the MA/NH border..

I thought that since he uses the OEM leather wheel, the heating function would be preserved?

[SEAT TIME RULES]

Originally Posted by BigKutta

I thought that since he uses the OEM leather wheel, the heating function would be preserved?

I elected to send my wheel back after his arrived. His wheel did not have the heating element.

I'd check with him and see if you shipped your wheel it would still retain the Heating Element.

[NWest]

I’m in the minority but when I drove a friends’s CS, the only thing I didn’t like was the overly thick Alcantara steering wheel. It felt like a sponge was underneath the Alcantara. OEM leather wrapped wheel all day for me.

[Zuzu]

I went for half and half, with the M performance wheel.. sort of a compromise and I love it..

[jkoral]

Originally Posted by SEAT TIME RULES

I'd check with him and see if you shipped your wheel it would still retain the Heating Element.

Correct, if you send him your wheel with heating, it will retain heating.

I only elected to do this after replacing the stock wheel. Unless of course your car is stored for the winter and you can manage 1-3 weeks downtime (his lead time varies, so you can ask specifically).

[BigKutta]

Originally Posted by jkoral

Correct, if you send him your wheel with heating, it will retain heating.

I only elected to do this after replacing the stock wheel. Unless of course your car is stored for the winter and you can manage 1-3 weeks downtime (his lead time varies, so you can ask specifically).

Yes, you can send him yours specifically but he prefers to send you one and you just give him yours. He does say you'll get a core with the heated function. Given how nice a condition mine is in, I'd hate to get some random's abused steering...maybe overthinking it. I'm also just considering buying an M@CS steering wheel, but what would I do with both....?

[Davil]

Originally Posted by BigKutta

I'm also just considering buying an M@CS steering wheel, but what would I do with both....?

Run around the house holding the old one with both hands making car noises of course.

[doughboy]

Originally Posted by inTgr8r

That's not the case will all re-wraps.
I had mine done by Royal Steering wheels in the UK and they completely remove the OE leather.
I'm not a fan of fat wheels so they are also making it slightly thinner while maintaining the wheel heating.
Their builds are OE quality.

I had my m6gc wheel done at Royal, but if its heated they can't remove the leather as its glued to the delicate heater trace element behind.

The quality was amazing, perfect 3 colour M stitching etc.

So they over wrapped it and it was too thick for me. My M2C has a heated wheel and thats more important to me than alcantara as I suffer from Raynauds syndrome and my fingers go numb even in mild cold so heated steering wheels are a godsend for me.
If it wasn't heated I'd go for it 100% and go back to driving in ski gloves in the winter....

Although maintenence wise was better than leather. Quick rub with a damp MF cloth every couple of weeks to lift the pile (then leave it to dry) and it stayed like new for 3 years.

Things like hand creams and greasy hands ruin leather just as much.

Once leather has gone all shiny that's it game over. You'll never get that new feel texture back.

[MystroX5]

Originally Posted by Zuzu

I went for half and half, with the M performance wheel.. sort of a compromise and I love it..

That’s the way to go. I had a incident when taking a new Audi in for a routine service and the mechanic got stains on the alcantara wheel from dirty hands.

I have had a few Alcantara wheels over the years on various vehicles. I love the look more than I loved the feel and cleaning maintenance as I was always cleaning them ocd to keep the nap fluffy. The mixed materials would be ideal.


FYI: a white Mr Clean magic eraser is the best tool for removing stains. Just use a light touch and it will pull up most stains. I helped a Porsche buddy get spray tan off his light silver alcantara passenger seat from his mini skirt wearing girlfriend. It’s a 1sr world problem but he was sick when he saw his entire lower cushion stained Tahitian bronze.

[inTgr8r]

Originally Posted by doughboy

I had my m6gc wheel done at Royal, but if its heated they can't remove the leather as its glued to the delicate heater trace element behind.

.............

Thanks for the clarification, that's interesting...
They were able to make mine slightly thinner than OE, so I assumed that the leather was removed.

I'm not sure how they did it but this is the order spec from them.

Order:
F82 M2 Comp 2021 (HEATED, With Paddles) - Slightly THINNER, Dark grey Alcantara 9002 + Blue centre stripe, M-stitching

[doughboy]

Originally Posted by inTgr8r

Thanks for the clarification, that's interesting...
They were able to make mine slightly thinner than OE, so I assumed that the leather was removed.

I'm not sure how they did it but this is the order spec from them.

Sounds like they must have removed the leather, or the top layer anyway.. my m6 was done in 2017 so maybe they figured out how to remove it since then..

Thanks for the info, I'll drop them a line 👍

[Ratcher]

Looks great but it's thicker. Which is a shame

[ctgilles]

PN 32302344147
Love the feel but I am a bit scared since I have waterhands 😂

[Brandt51]

I was going to use a CS wheel, but got the one from M Perf instead because I wanted the blue strip at 12 o’clock. It has alcantera at the 10 and 2 position. But no heat. That Coby wheel set up looks legit! Get everything!

[thenwood]

i would always vote to have the current wheel retrimmed if its possible. Its hugely cost effective and tailorable. Ive done it to every car ive owned in recent years.