He only does JCW wheels, not standard wheels. The OEM standard wheel has a ring / seams around it that makes the finished product look like poo. I dunno, he did my JCW wheel.
I spotted a discussion on Facebook yesterday. Someone has removed the button faces from the black version of the R56 multifunction controls and fitted them to the R53 wheel! I'm working on sourcing an R56 wheel now!
Progress! As discussed above, I sourced an R56 steering wheel with black multi-function controls from a scrapped car. I stripped the circular buttons off of it and transferred them to my controls. I also wrapped the 3 control covers w/ the same matte carbon fiber look vinyl that I've used everywhere else in the car. I'm quite happy w/ the way it has come out! My new wheel should be done early this coming week. It will take a while to get to me via post, but hopefully I'll have some photos soon. Here's the old wheel w/ the newly colored and wrapped MFC buttons.
CM Customs Chico Molemans https://www.facebook.com/cmcustoms2016/ He's in the Netherlands, so be prepared for a bit of a wait on shipping, but he does have core wheels to use, so he can do the work, ship you your new wheel and then you ship your old one back to him after you make the switch.
The wheel and new boots arrived today! I can't wait to get out for the install, but I've got too many meetings on my calendar today. Maybe tonight! I'm so happy I went with the smooth leather. Chico uses such a nicer grade of leather than the OEM stuff. It feels great! I did run out and grab some parts so I could put everything together for a quick look!
What was the total cost to have this done? My wheel is worn and could use this upgrade. But, I want to limit funds being pulled away from my E85 plans.
$500 for the leather work on the wheel and boots, plus return shipping to the Netherlands for the old wheel. $100 for a R56 donor steering wheel for the black button covers. $5 for vinyl (I already had it from other projects on the car). Chico does the work on a core wheel and ships it to you. You do the swap and return your wheel to him for the next customer (so no downtime for your daily driver, if it is one). The whole process from older to arrival usually takes 4 weeks... 5 for me this time because of an emergency in Chico's family where he had t be away from the shop.
I don't dislike my OEM wheel feel/shape/look that much to spend this kind of money. I actually want the wheel closer to me, and to get there I only see the aftermarket option of a custom quick disconnect hub with a Momo or OMP wheel. The lack of telescoping in the OEM steering column really stinks for taller people. Even my 07 Tundra had that feature! I don't like to drive with fully stretched arms but if I sit close enough to get my wrists on top of the wheel, then my knees will hit the wheel during shifting. The flat wheel bottom you have now may help a little to reduce knee wheel contact, but only when you are going straight. I plan to tackle my steering wheel after I put in a roll cage and 6 point harnesses to partially make up for the loss of seat and wheel air bags. May take another year or two before I am ready to do that, but the dark silver Mini in the garage is likely to see that in its future. It has been designated as the fun car, so things that "make sense" are easily dismissed
The R58 has a telescoping/ tilt steering wheel. It is nice to get it closer to you. The steering wheel turned out very nice. I would like to find one that is a little smaller, but not too much.
Yep. It hurt my wallet quite a bit, but it's the part of the car that I interact with most and my old one had seen much better days... plus Rufus' build has long since stopped being about getting it good enough and getting everything spot on. It had to go and I decided to get everything I wanted . The leather was hard and starting to crack with 3 or 4 deep scratches right where I put my hands. I'm a firm believer in really liking your wheel and your shift knob. A telescoping wheel would be nice... I'm a tall guy and tend to sit fairly far back. In the MINI I compensate by sitting a notch more upright and sliding the seat a notch or two forward if I'm going for a spirited run. My wife's A6 has a great telescoping wheel which is wonderful on a long cruise. I can roll the seat back and really stretch out. The wheel got mounted last night and I got the boots glued up onto the plastic mounts (which are crumbling and took a lot of glue to get back into decent shape. I hope to get those on later today and get some pics. We had a cold snap and poor Rufus is blocked into the garage by all of the plants that we pulled into the garage to survive the 20 degree temps the past few nights.
it is 20F inside my attached garage... poor Rufus needs to get toughened up a little. I don't recall the last day we had 32+ degrees here. Haven't driven a Mini since October.
He's been trapped in the garage by the potted plants we brought in to protect from the freeze... that and I've had the steering wheel airbag off of the car, so the batter was disconnected for a bit. I took him out for the first drive tonight to test out the new wheel! He goes off to the shop this weekend for clutch, LSD and a new PS pump. Yea! I've done my time up in the frosty north... lived in Canada for several years when I was young, my family is from Michigan and I did 4 years or so in the Connecticut / NY area. You can have it! I'm staying down south where it's warmer! Here's pics of the final install: