[dizzy619]

Originally Posted by Squirtydog

Interesting thread. Think I've been tempted into the MEWANT DIY approach. I love a challenge.

I'm only finding them at around the £80 mark for alcantara though.

Seems that Royal is still the place to go to if you want a good job at a sensible price. He did my Volvo V70 R in a really nice blue (to match the dials) and perforated black, probably about 9 years ago now.

Mine went ok... Not perfect but thats my fault for rushing... Worth 40quid Tho

[Ennoch]

Just ordered one of these for my Impreza. The original 4 spoke ideally needs restored but it has a groove worn in it from climbing callouses back when it was my daily. I replaced it with a decent later 3 spoke wheel but the leather quality definitely went downhill in the intervening years so it's not as pleasant to use. Hopefully this will resolve the difference until I can get the original wheel properly restored. That it makes the wheel a bit thicker is no bad thing. For $25 you can't go wrong!

[Squirtydog]

Landed. First thoughts. Bit thick. Not sure how it will mould without creases. Not in any way a suede finish. But hey ho less than £40. I can at least practice fitting.
Update once fitted.

[Ennoch]

Originally Posted by Squirtydog

Landed. First thoughts. Bit thick. Not sure how it will mould without creases. Not in any way a suede finish. But hey ho less than £40. I can at least practice fitting.
Update once fitted.

How long did it take to arrive?

[Squirtydog]

Originally Posted by Ennoch

How long did it take to arrive?

12 days. Not bad.

[Squirtydog]

Took a little time but I got there.
No creases which is good.
Wasn't able to tuck the cover in beneath the spoke at 6 o clock but it looks fine as they have finished the edge nicely. I think that if the join was cut out then you could tuck it in. As it is it is too bulky.

[dholdi2]

You've not done a bad job of that at all.
Looks quite good, but would like to see a closeup of the bottom.

[Squirtydog]

Originally Posted by dholdi2

You've not done a bad job of that at all.
Looks quite good, but would like to see a closeup of the bottom.

Cheers. I'll oblige in the daylight. If it hadn't taken me all day to get the job done I might have been brave enough to cut the section out. Perhaps another look tomorrow.

[Squirtydog]

Better daylight pics. You can see how the bottom section sits. I'd like to be satisfied with it but I'm going to have to tackle it at some point I think.

I removed all the wheel trim front and back but kept the buttons loosely attached.
Be careful when replacing the buttons over the new thicker cover, as the fit is tight. Squeeze the trim pats together as much as you can. The screw only goes into plastic so you don't want to put too much tension on it as you tighten. One of mine has pulled together fine but the screw now just turns. If it pulls out, I'm going to have to fill the hole with Araldite type resin.

I used the tape supplied as it seemed fine. I didn't place it in rings around the wheel as in some videos. I placed it in short lengths with gaps around the rear edge of the new cover. I also had a few 1cm pieces cut to strategically place as I went around.

[Ennoch]

Is it not possible to remove the centre trim and then refit back over the cover? I've been contemplating fitting an M-car's leather coated central trim as the plastic M-Sport item is really hard and cheap feeling. Just a thought that it might help finish the edge off better. It looks good though, pretty impressive for £40. The one for the Impreza was even cheaper so we'll see what it looks like.

[Squirtydog]

Originally Posted by Ennoch

Is it not possible to remove the centre trim and then refit back over the cover? I've been contemplating fitting an M-car's leather coated central trim as the plastic M-Sport item is really hard and cheap feeling. Just a thought that it might help finish the edge off better. It looks good though, pretty impressive for £40. The one for the Impreza was even cheaper so we'll see what it looks like.

This was the level of strip down I did. Unfortunately it was just not possible to get the two halves of the trim to connect with each other after fitting the new cover.
Open to suggestions if anyone has made this work. One YouTube video refers to cutting the join out of the new cover.

[Ennoch]

Originally Posted by Squirtydog

This was the level of strip down I did. Unfortunately it was just not possible to get the two halves of the trim to connect with each other after fitting the new cover.
Open to suggestions if anyone has made this work. One YouTube video refers to cutting the join out of the new cover.

Ah, I did wonder. If you cut the centre bit out I imagine that would definitely help - could you also sand/file the aperture of the centre trim a little too to open it out and give a bit more space to slip the edge of the suede underneath?

[Squirtydog]

Originally Posted by Ennoch

Ah, I did wonder. If you cut the centre bit out I imagine that would definitely help - could you also sand/file the aperture of the centre trim a little too to open it out and give a bit more space to slip the edge of the suede underneath?

If anyone has spares for donation I'll give it a go. That's getting a bit brave for me as the plastic feels rather brittle.
Although I'll probably now end up faffing with it again tomorrow.

This is the video with the reference to cutting the section out. Skip to 23:24

[Squirtydog]

Done. Just needed a fresh look at it.
Little trimming of the underlying original cover plus some of the new cover. Take care not to trap new cover between the two halves of the plastic trim as shown.

[Ennoch]

That looks absolutely spot on, good effort!

[Squirtydog]

Originally Posted by Ennoch

That looks absolutely spot on, good effort!

Thanks. Definitely the best sub £40 job I can think of. First thing I always want to do is sort the steering wheel on a new to me car. Makes any used car feel 'new'.

[Rasco]

I would just use royals, they did mine and the quality and the service was really good.

I went for full black alcantara with light grey stitching to match the mineral mineral grey. Black 12 o'clock stripe (I've also retro fitted M4 paddles)

[PX3]

Originally Posted by Rasco

I would just use royals, they did mine and the quality and the service was really good.

I went for full black alcantara with light grey stitching to match the mineral mineral grey. Black 12 o'clock stripe (I've also retro fitted M4 paddles)

Did you visit Royal's or use their exchange process?
I'm thinking about having my wheel done, but I'm quite the novice and wondered how easy it was to remove all of the old buttons etc from the old wheel and move them to the new one?

Cheers

[aquazi]

Originally Posted by Squirtydog

Done. Just needed a fresh look at it.
Little trimming of the underlying original cover plus some of the new cover. Take care not to trap new cover between the two halves of the plastic trim as shown.

Have to say you’ve done a cracking job there.

[Squirtydog]

Switched to proper Alcantara. Again from MEWANT.
Perfect fit. Much easier second time round. Thinner material so it fits beneath the bottom spoke without trimming (perhaps in part cos the thicker one has been pressed in there too).

The 'suede' one didn't feel nice on cold mornings with cold hands.
It has been through the wash though and is available for the price of postage if anyone is interested. Seems to have washed up well. I have spare grey stitching and some tape.