Got excited and went ahead and covered the shift knob insert as well since it was peeling at the front edge.

Fairly straightforward to disassemble the shift knob and remove the insert.

 

Sorry about the bad picks. Will take some better ones tomorrow in the daylight

 

Test

Oh damn. Gotta re-size that pic

 

Let me know if anyone wants a step by step

Crap. Why can't I delete my signature pic?!

 

Today I removed the panels from my steering wheel, scraped off all the peeling soft touch paint and recovered them with 3m 1080 matte black vinyl wrap. I think it turned out great!

Took about an hour while watching tv and was a fun project. Looks so much better than the peeling crap in there!!!

It was not necessary to remove the airbag or steering wheel to do this. At least not for the standard 07+ wheel

Great looking trim job. I would be interested on how you covered it. with all those holes & curves & not wrinkles. What's your trick on that??

 

It's fairly easy really as long as you have a heat gun or hair dryer. If using a heat gun only use the low setting and even that for only a few seconds at a time. The key is to do all the easy flat bits first and then stretch out the wrinkles around the edges.

This was my first time using any sort of wrap of this nature and it turned out to be super easy. This is the video that I watched. It's a bit long winded but it really is informative:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hRUvucGdJ_c

 

WOW!!

Looks fantastic!

 

Nice! I have a step-brother who used the exact same stuff on the body of his entire Mercedes! Turned-out beautifully, if you like flat black everywhere.

 

I am going to do the same thing but with their flat silver.

did you pick off all the peeling metal coating on the shift knob?

 

I did remove it all from the steering wheel trim but did not remove it from the shifter trim. The paint was chipping/peeling at the front leading edge which you can't see or feel when wrapped so I decided to leave it. Unlike the soft touch paint on the steering wheel trim that peels right off the coating on the shifter that pulls up is actually a plastic layer. I don't know if you could 'chip' it all off evenly. If your's is only chipping on the front edge and you feel the need to address it I would suggest sanding it.

The plastic metal trim on the shifter is removed by SLIDING it UP. Like opening the battery compartment on the back of a TV remote. You might actually be able to slide it up and off while the shifter is still mounted in the car.

 

Hey Q4, I just picked up 1080 3m Matte Black also, plan on doing the exact piece on the steering wheel trim.

Since mine is currently peeling and there is a few spots where its nice and still original on the trim and then other part is glossy from the surface below - did you end up sanding the pieces or removal the existing texture stuff from the trim or just go right over it?

 

I soaked them in hot water and then used a scrub brush to remove all of the remaining soft touch paint. Alchohol also can help. An aggressive green scrubby pad works very well also.

If you leave any of the soft touch paint in its possible for the edges to show under the vinyl wrap.

 

I soaked them in hot water and then used a scrub brush to remove all of the remaining soft touch paint. Alchohol also can help. An aggressive green scrubby pad works very well also.

If you leave any of the soft touch paint in its possible for the edges to show under the vinyl wrap.

Thanks for the info, the part of showing the old stuff over the new is exactly what I figured and was concerned with.

Will tackle this weekend and provide an update! Thanks for the help!

 

Q4, is it simple as removing the 4 screws behind the wheel to pop the trim pieces off?


Sent from my iPhone using Bimmerfest

 

Should be. It has been a while. Just be careful. You don't need to remove the airbag