OEM Steering Wheel Issue UPDATED

[FSHNGRY]

Hello All,

September will mark 2 full years of ownership with my lovely lady. Over the last few months however, I have really noticed the steering wheel deteriorate at an alarming rate. Has anyone else noticed this with their cars yet? I understand normal wear and tear but this just looks gross.


NOTE: Car is in a garage all night, and all day when I am home (condo life). I park under a tree, or out of direct sunlight as much as possible. I try to avoid leaving the car outside in the heat and in direct sunlight for long periods of time.

Any idea as to what I should do?

UPDATE:

SO, I went back to my local dealership today. Now I will start by saying that my SA has been more than helpful during this whole procedure, great guy so there's nothing against him.

Since posting, I have kept calling and leaving messages on the machine for the service manager to call me back so we can discuss the possible options for my existing steering wheel. I never got a call back. Keep in mind this is a person who I have been very generous with on holidays and other times in the past.

I finally had enough today, and decided to drive up to my BMW dealership and see if I could speak with him directly and show him the wheel. Of course, he was "out to lunch."

My SA told me that he had reached a solution with the SM (service manager) and told me that I had one of two choices:

1- The dealership would SPLIT the cost for a new steering wheel for me ($987.00 cost of OEM steering wheel)

2- Depending on the cost, they would pay to dye the steering current steering wheel (which would again fade in due time)



I told him that I'm not coming out of pocket for anything on this car as long as it is under warranty, and if I were going to be coming out of pocket, It's going to be to IND for a different wheel altogether.

I told him I needed time to think, and that I would revisit the issue when I go back for service in roughly 900 miles. Needless to say, I'm very unhappy with the "warranty" replacement guidelines on a car that cost almost 90k.

Thoughts??

[mrduder]

Yeah mine started doing this too. Sucks.... Mine started doing it after about 8 months of owning it

[brianeck]

Hmm. Do you go by the alter ego "@EdwardScissorHands?"

Honestly my car is almost 2 years old and the steering wheel is completely intact. This is a freak issue that your wheel wasn't finished correctly OR (more likely) you're wearing too many rings or your dead lift callouses are to severe for interaction with nice leather.

Joking aside, no that is 100% not normal and I would say if you don't wear a lot of rings or have "contractor hands" that are rough as F you should potentially be able to have some kind of say. . . I can't really comment without more information about what your accessory or driving habits are though.

[FSHNGRY]

Originally Posted by brianeck

Hmm. Do you go by the alter ego "@EdwardScissorHands?"

Honestly my car is almost 2 years old and the steering wheel is completely intact. This is a freak issue that your wheel wasn't finished correctly OR (more likely) you're wearing too many rings or your dead lift callouses are to severe for interaction with nice leather.

Joking aside, no that is 100% not normal and I would say if you don't wear a lot of rings or have "contractor hands" that are rough as F you should potentially be able to have some kind of say. . . I can't really comment without more information about what your accessory or driving habits are though.

lol No, none of the above. The only jewelry I wear are watches, And I think I might even wash my hands more times a day than most people (I own a restaurant), and I have don't have rock like callouses for palms either.

[hyperspeed]

Actually i dont think your steering wheel is deteriorating, i think it's just dirty.

I suggest taking wet wipes (baby wipes) and start going at it. You'll notice a significant improvement afterwards (pretty much back to brand new)

[mrduder]

Originally Posted by hyperspeed

Actually i dont think your steering wheel is deteriorating, i think it's just dirty.

I suggest taking wet wipes (baby wipes) and start going at it. You'll notice a significant improvement afterwards (pretty much back to brand new)

People suggested that on my thread too. It's not dirt. It's the actual leather being worn. None of the other leather looks like this.

[RocketBoots]

Originally Posted by mrduder

People suggested that on my thread too. It's not dirt. It's the actual leather being worn. None of the other leather looks like this.

Did you get yours replaced under warranty?

OP I would think they'd replace that for you. Mine's about 1.5 yrs old, and looks brand new. I use leather treatment on it regularly, but I'd have to rub it with sand paper to make mine look like that.

[mrduder]

Originally Posted by RocketBoots

Did you get yours replaced under warranty?

OP I would think they'd replace that for you. Mine's about 1.5 yrs old, and looks brand new. I use leather treatment on it regularly, but I'd have to rub it with sand paper to make mine look like that.

I don't know yet. I have service needed in like a month or two. So I'll ask them about it when I go in. I spoke to Charlie from McKenna about it and he seems to think it probably won't be covered. We'll see. He said he'd at least submit it and see if they do though.

[mrmoua2u]

The pictures shows where most of your hand positions were. I'm sure with hard grip impression, mixed with moisture, dirt and other rough things will do that. I'm pretty sure its common and that is why I position my hand and or fingers at 9, 6 and 3 on the steering bars, avoid touching the leather as much as possible.

[al3xander]

take it in to your dealership for warranty replacement. there is no reason why a 2 year old car should show so much wear on the leather.

[hecho.in.626]

It almost looks like alcantara. I think this will happen to all of ours eventually. It just happened to your steering wheel sooner.
I'm guessing it's from your grip and sweat/moisture. I feel it's inevitable unless you wear gloves. Please let us know if the dealer is willing to replace it under warranty

[brianeck]

Originally Posted by BRCHP

lol No, none of the above. The only jewelry I wear are watches, And I think I might even wash my hands more times a day than most people (I own a restaurant), and I have don't have rock like callouses for palms either.

Haha I'm glad you took my comments in good spirits .

I'm definitely of the camp that this is way beyond normal wear and tear and you should have it checked out/looked at with the potential for replacement. . . No prior history with other cars?

Out of curiosity when you say wash your hands I'm assuming you mean really wash with soap and water as opposed to using hand sanitizer ~ I had an ex GF who was a total germophobe and she never understood why all her comforters and pillows got bleached out/worn so quickly. . . That stuff can be pretty caustic (I test skincare and cosmetics for a living so I've seen some of the worst of the worst of such occurrences).

[hyperspeed]

Originally Posted by mrduder

People suggested that on my thread too. It's not dirt. It's the actual leather being worn. None of the other leather looks like this.

Did you actually try to clean it though...? Mine looked exactly like that too and after a good scrubbing now it looks brand new

[mrduder]

Originally Posted by hyperspeed

Did you actually try to clean it though...? Mine looked exactly like that too and after a good scrubbing now it looks brand new

Yes, of course. It's not dirt. Trust me. You can tell it's the actual leather being worn.

[docmfg]

My wife's 2012 535 m package steering wheel looks like that. She wears rings and uses a lot of moisturizer, anti-bacterial get etc. It took 4 years to look like that though. I clean it and it looks better but it is wear on the leather. On the other hand her Dakota leather still looks new with no cleaning or treatment. Dakota is a cheaper leather but holds up great. The leather in my M4 not so much. 7 mos old and the stitching on the driver side bolster is already fraying. I rarely wear jeans. Mostly wear athletic shorts and scrubs. Some creasing and wrinkling on the seat bottom bolster. The nappa leather in my e46 m3 is holding up better. It does have fraying but took 12 years.

[catch]

That looks beat!

Id assume heavy moisturizers or sand paper on it!

I've never seen a steering wheel deteriorate that quickly. At first I thought it was an Alcantara wheel that got wet.

I'm curious how the dealer handles this

[FSHNGRY]

Thank you all.

I'm glad everyone else sees this as an issue and not just "wear and tear." It actually depresses me to see everyday because it is the ONLY part of my car that has started to show signs of wear. My SA told me that the service manager would have to see it and make the final decision on if it can be replaced under warranty or not. I will keep everyone posted with the results.

[cprx7]

If I were you I would change it up. You look at it every single time you drive your car

[sandwi54]

Mine is 1.5 years old and the leather would start to look like that every few months. I would apply leather cleaner and then conditioner and it would look brand new again. You need to maintain the soft merino/Nappa leather in our cars!

[FSHNGRY]

Originally Posted by sandwi54

Mine is 1.5 years old and the leather would start to look like that every few months. I would apply leather cleaner and then conditioner and it would look brand new again. You need to maintain the soft merino/Nappa leather in our cars!

Can you suggest a cleaner so I can try to clean it before I go through the headache of replacing it?

[Naz24]

Theyll replace under warranty

[MFNATIK]

Try Lexol Leather Cleaner and Conditioner first and then finish it with Lexol Leather Preservative. Buff it to a nice dull shine.