Hi all,

 

Looking for your advice as some of you may have successfully deal with this problem before.

 

I've recently bought a Z OEM steering wheel which has turned out to be...terrible.

 

The attached photos tell the story.

 

Is there any way of dealing with the damage and wear and tear that you can see in the photos, for example using leather conditioners, dyes etc?

 

The obvious next step should be to return the wheel however if there is anything I can do, then I will certainly have a go!

 

Thanks.

 

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Unfortunately many look like they've been chewed by a dog these days.

I have a very good one, but its still not perfect so I'd be happy to read any suggestions as well.

I think some people let a leather trimmer fit a cover to them.

Edited October 18, 201015 yr by turbocraigy

Hi Shamaz I have a very nice one for sale!!

 

Give me a buzz!!

 

 

Andy

Hi, the wear and tear you have is quite normal and over time, I became frustated with mine looking tatty. After a few hours of carefull attention it now looks nearly new...here's what I did around the wheel itself (not the centre)...

 

Using a washing up sponge (the one with the green scourer on one side) and a bit of warm water, I GENTLY scrubbed the leather to take the top shiny coat off. It pays to do it really slowly and every so often wipe over with a dry cloth so you can see exactly where you have been.

 

The wheel comes up a sort of grey colour as it dries out and it can feel a bit grainy. Don't worry, I thought I had ruined mine by this stage! Then I applied some black leather dye (Punch Permanent Dye) over the bare leather. Be really careful, if you get this stuff on anything it won't come off!

 

After the dye had dried overnight I applied a thick layer of clear shoe polish and let it soak in for a few hours. Then using a microfibre cloth I continually rubbed over the surface until the leather was a fresh deep black.

 

Over the next few days I kept using the cloth to buff the wheel again to remove any polish residue and restore good grip.

 

If you have the time, it's well worth doing and with the good quality leather that is used on the original wheel, it comes back nearly as good as new.

 

Hope this helps.

ZXTT - great advice and definitely worth trying.

 

Question : won't the shoe polish come off on your hand as you use the wheel?

Worth a shot i reckon. I know what im doing tomorrow night shift :D

 

Cheers ZXTT

Hi, as long as you use clear shoe polish after the dye has dried, it will be fine.

Go to a shoe shop and get a brush on leather dye, it will completely cover up all of the marks. then use a saddle wax or similar on it. Will come up real nice I did my friends MR2 steering wheel and leather seats like this and they came up new.

Get one of these :shifty:

 

 

Job Done :laugh:

Get one of these :shifty:

 

 

Job Done :laugh:

 

What he said

Oh dear after reading this thread look what I have done :sad:

 

I have bought an oem steering wheel for my series 4, it is the one with the SRS Airbag and two horn pushes.

After trying the kitchen scourer and some paint stripper, nothing was removing the covering, so took some emery cloth to it and it blitzed it all off.

I then rubbed it down with some finer sandpaper and I do wish I would of rubbed it a bit more in certain areas but it is done now.

I then applied some black shoe dye, it dries quick so kept applying until I ran out of it.

Black shoe polish now and after applying liberally and buffing up 3 times it came up very well :thumbup:

And here it is all fitted, I have applied some leather polish and I am sure over time and use it will come up even better and shinier :clap:

not sure how far you have gone with this as yet but might be rescuable. here is what i did with my worn driver seat last weekend. I did this is a few hours but it ought to take longer really- i rushed it as needed doing - stitch up hole and dye it etc. I will have a full retrim soon. I used the Woolies upholstery kit- designed specifically for leather renovation. comes with a cleaner / hide feed - dye and a sealing paste.

before

 

after

ah ha ! beat me too it! Nice job.

I have bought an oem steering wheel for my series 4, it is the one with the SRS Airbag and two horn pushes.

After trying the kitchen scourer and some paint stripper, nothing was removing the covering, so took some emery cloth to it and it blitzed it all off.

I then rubbed it down with some finer sandpaper and I do wish I would of rubbed it a bit more in certain areas but it is done now.

I then applied some black shoe dye, it dries quick so kept applying until I ran out of it.

Black shoe polish now and after applying liberally and buffing up 3 times it came up very well :thumbup:

And here it is all fitted, I have applied some leather polish and I am sure over time and use it will come up even better and shinier :clap:

 

Good job Andy!!! those srs steering wheels are nice and chunky, I had the same one but took it off as it was very worn, might do the refurb as yours look mint!!

Nice job back at ya :thumbup1:

Get some black polish on your seat there, plenty of food for the leather is the answer :balloon:

Good job Andy!!! those srs steering wheels are nice and chunky, I had the same one but took it off as it was very worn, might do the refurb as yours look mint!!

 

I am very pleased with it and a bonus is that I can now see the the top of my dash, my ektor wheel was a bit small, gonna go up for sale that one :wink:

I'm going to have a go at this over the weekend. I hope mine comes out looking as good, it's in a pretty sorry state.

I'm going to have a go at this over the weekend. I hope mine comes out looking as good, it's in a pretty sorry state.

 

One of the best jobs I have done on the car is this :balloon:

Just don't put deep scratches into the leather when you strip but as a rule get it all off as the leather dye and then the polish is very forgiving.

Several weeks on and my wheel is still superb :thumbup1:

Post up pics of your work for all 2 see.