heated stearing wheel retrofit?

BennyL · 03-07-2006, 03:18 PM

hey guys, i was wondering if anyone knows if it is possible to retrofit a heated steering wheel into an E36?

i was in my buddy's X3 yesterday, and he has a heated steering wheel. its amazing. works just like the heated seats. it has a button you press, and the wheel heats up from the inside. its awesome.

i remember my other buddy's dad's 540i also had that feature.

im hoping maybe, justin, you can answer this... since you are king of these kinds of mods.

anyone else who knows, please post too!! i think this would be a GREAT mod for our E36's.

Justin e36 · 03-07-2006, 04:11 PM

not easily done, I've been looking into it for over a year now...

Ital_325i · 03-07-2006, 05:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Justin e36

not easily done, I've been looking into it for over a year now...

Justin is also planning behind headlight missles, and voice retrival system. Slowly the Bond cars you've always dreamed of, will have nothing on Justin's ride.

Justin e36 · 03-07-2006, 05:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ital_325i

Justin is also planning behind headlight missles, and voice retrival system. Slowly the Bond cars you've always dreamed of, will have nothing on Justin's ride.

Adriano has me beat on almost every level already. My car is like the Flintstone mobile in comparison.

Although, funny you should meniton headlights.. since I just dremeled a new hole in one of them yesterday for some other crazy mod I'm working on. :o

Miguel · 03-07-2006, 07:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Justin e36

Adriano has me beat on almost every level already. My car is like the Flintstone mobile in comparison.

Although, funny you should meniton headlights.. since I just dremeled a new hole in one of them yesterday for some other crazy mod I'm working on. :o

headlight fleshlight hole?

+

=

vadim321go · 03-07-2006, 08:04 PM

haahaha, then u can finally have sex with ur bmw

BennyL · 03-07-2006, 09:23 PM

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA - Miguel, thats the funniest shit i've ever seen. your a genius!

so, whats so hard about this mod, Justin?

Justin e36 · 03-07-2006, 11:04 PM

almost, fleshlight is going in the rear light... so I can videotape myself with the cam.

Actually it's just a tiny hole with a light sensor in it, same as the one in my reverse cam. A light on the dashboard will come on when it's dark outside and my headlights are not on (headlight reminder). We have so many unused options on our e36 dashboards, might as start using them for some custom stuff. Plus, there will (hopefully) be an additional function where if my highbeams are on and there is an oncoming car, it will automatically switch to low-beams, then back to high-beams when I pass the vehicle. (using the same light sensor) Since I do a lot of long distance night driving, I figure this'll actually be somewhat useful.. and shouldn't be too difficult (I hope?) In the end, this mod will run me around $5 to do, I presume.

Since I know nothing about circuits / electronics, and I'm building all this by reading a bunch of books, and my trusty soldiering iron.. it may take a while to do. But, I'll gain some new knowledge in the end---which is really what it's all about for me. Learning something new.

Anyway.. Benny, the difficulty with the heated steering wheel is simple... none of the heated ones will fit, and there are no adapters available to retrofit (for example) an e39 steering wheel, to our e36. Additionally, it will require quite a bit of custom work to get a constant + and - to the steering wheel, as our column is not designed to supply this easily. And if you have airbags on your car, then that's another issue... retrofitting another steering wheel, with the airbags still fully functional. Too bad Momo doesn't make a heated version of their Millenium wheel.

BennyL · 03-08-2006, 12:06 PM

yeah, what the ****. its a bimmer, and i want a damn heated steering wheel. bah!

thanks justin, for the info. i wonder if we could swap a steering wheel WITH the column...

propr'one · 03-08-2006, 12:56 PM

Dont forget to ask justin about his heated shift knob

Justin e36 · 03-08-2006, 12:59 PM

Actually..no.. don't ask me about that.

BennyL · 03-08-2006, 01:11 PM

hahaha...

i can only imagine 1 scenario... and it seems great!

Justin e36 · 03-08-2006, 01:30 PM

ka-pow.. it blew up last summer. (heated/lighted shift knob).. my own fault anyway, no big deal. I've since replaced it with another lighted shift knob.. and guess what mod I'll be doing again... yes, I'll be making it heated again.

BennyL · 03-08-2006, 02:20 PM

ok, so how do u do that?

and when it blew up, was your hand on it? hope not!

Justin e36 · 03-08-2006, 03:12 PM

it didn't actually blow up.. just melted the internal of the shifter, blowing the LED light as well.. not a big deal, could've used it still.. but too much work, so I picked up another one instead.

To do it you want to tap into the OBC sensor which turns on your heated mirrors, nozzels, etc. automatically, so your shift knob heats up too.. put a heating element in your shift knob, and line it with something to protect the plastics.

The reason why mine melted is because I was working behind my dash and the trigger to turn it on was not rewired properly.. so in the hot summer months, the shift knob heating element turned on... the combination of heat, and the element, melted the shift knob.. (no fire or anything.) My careless fault really. It's tough to remember what all those wires behind the dashboard does... I have so many little custom things and wires running everywhere.