Leather Steering Wheel Wrap?

[Redbob]

Does anyone know of a good DIY steering wheel cover? Mine is getting pretty tatty looking, but sending it off for re-build is expensive! too expensive for a daily driver.

Thanks in advance!

 

[Redbob]

Thanks; I knew Ecklers had one, but I wanted a little more assurance that it would work.
I spent about 3 hours last weekend putting a cheap ("Hecho en China") leather cover from AutoZone on my old BMW, and the functional results are much better than the visual results!
Having done that one, though, I think I could much better on a second such job.

Thanks again,
- R

 

[rrubel]

Wheelskins

I couldn't be happier with both the fit and function. I put one on the 86; it took about an hour or less and while it's not perfect around the spokes it looks very sharp and matches my interior nicely. I put a review up here (it's in the Portal if the URL doesn't work) which also mentions where I got them from.

review

If you want a picture, I'll be happy to snap one.

[RICHR]

 

[Redbob]

Thanks; reading your review, I realize I had read it when it first was posted. I couldn't remember what the brand was, though, nor any other details.
I can imagine that nothing is going to look just perfect around the spokes, and I thought I might try a very small amount of glue in those areas to get the cover to lay flat - but only as a last resort.

You were really laying stitches if you did it in 45 minutes! As I mentioned, I put a cheapie on my old 733i last Saturday, and at times I had thread all over the place - you'd have thought there was some kind of spider at work webbing me up!
Regards,
- R

 

[rrubel]

The stiffer the thread, the easier it is to work with. This stuff could have stood up on its own...

I've done some leatherwork before, which probably helps, but the kit really is easy to install.
[RICHR]

 

[FrankM]

my wheel has a few cracks on top but the black was dull and beginning to wear off.

As a last ditch effort a couple of years ago, I used Kiwi liquid shoe polish.... Looks good !!!

I washed it thoughly first and let it dry..
try it

 

[Redbob]

Looks aren't the issue on my wheel any more; it got caught out in the rain, and now chunks are beginning to come off of it!

 

[tom_85_vet]

I did both. I replaced the steering wheel with an OEM rework and covered it with a leather cover to protect my investment. Installing the cover took several tries. The hard part was preventing wrinkles around the two spokes, good luck.