Changing Emblem In Steering Wheel

[soldado37]

I want to know if anyone here has changed the emblem on the steering wheel. I just got my car and the emblem it has is black, like molded on the steering wheel, I have seen pics of the 1995 models and they bring the nice color one. has any one change this? Do I have to buy a new steering wheel?

Thanks for the suggestions!

[joshua43214]

Do you have an airbag?

[soldado37]

Yes I have an airbag.

[Mendozart]

You have to change steering wheels if you want the colored roundel. DO NOT add any type of emblem as it will become a lethal weapon if airbag deploys.

[soldado37]

Do you know if a model 1995 will fit? or newer? Is it hard to install?

[zmuff]

If you're handy with a paint brush, you could paint it on there. I really wanted an emblem, but not in my forehead, so I pulled the airbag and headed into the house with some Testors model airplane paint.

http://www.bimmerboard.com/members/zmuff/original/roundel%20006%20resize.jpg

[soldado37]

Awesome paint!!!

[soldado37]

Has anybody added an emblem on top of the black emblem?

[angrypancake]

if you add an emblem on top of the black one and the airbag goes off, you run the risk of getting dead. highly inadviseable. the airbag deploys the emblem shoots off and into your face.

[soldado37]

OK I will leave the black one then

[Mendozart]

Great job Zmuff!

[Blitzkrieg Bob]

could have saved some time.

Used them to remark the shifter and vent legends.

Hmm.....note: pick up blue, white and silver pens on way home......

[Gearhead]

Okay, this has me a bit concerned. My '95 540i has SRS also, but I have a different steering wheel that DOES have an emblem. And now that I've read this thread and thought about it, that little sucker would probably leave a mark. Honestly, since I just got this car 3/31, I don't know if it's factory or from the PO. Are there some that came with an emblem?

Thanks

John

[SchnellE34]

my '95 has the colored plastic emblem

[Calico_NC]

Can an emblem really kill you if the airbag deploys?

[trumpetr]

my '95 has the colored plastic emblem
]
as I remember, BMW only started putting blue and white roundels on the steering wheel,in '95, and it was made to fit the application (airbag),. Trying to retrofit an earlier e34 steering wheel with a roundel emblem, is like stated before,,,,it is putting on a projectile that can hurt you, if your steering wheel has an airbag. Even something as small as a roundel decal on your steering wheel,,can make it a lethal object,,,at airbag deployed velocities. Yes, it can kill you. Or, at least mess up your face.

[Gearhead]

Okay, here's a pic of mine. How do you figure they engineered it such that this little guy doesn't embed itself in my forehead?

[joshua43214]

If you looked on the back side of the cover, you will see grooves cut in the material that the cover will tear along as it deploys. The badge is permantly joined to the cover so it cannot tear free and the cover will rip in a path around it.

[Macv]

Now, if it is "permanently joined" how come some people change it? Whoever had my 7 before I got it had changed the badge to match the interior.

[Gearhead]

Sounds like we need so submit this to "Mythbusters" and see if Buster takes a head shot or not....

[joshua43214]

Now, if it is "permanently joined" how come some people change it? Whoever had my 7 before I got it had changed the badge to match the interior.

http://www.realoem.com/bmw/partgrp.do?model=HE63&mospid=47410&hg=32&fg=35

You will see there is no separate part for the emblem on airbag steering wheels. Either the PO replace the entire bag, or they added the emblem on their own.

[SC David]

You can also do the buy an '89 car without airbag mod, and switch to any steering wheel of your dreams :)

Probably the only benefit of my car.

[Jehu]

Are there generally Laws restricting the switching of a steering wheel which came from the manufacturer with an Airbag to a steering wheel without an Airbag?I know State laws differ but has anyone ever encountered an issue with theirs?

[trumpetr]

Sounds like we need so submit this to "Mythbusters" and see if Buster takes a head shot or not....

Yeah- that would be a great one for the Mythbusters.
I guess they would have to make a ballistic gel face for 'buster', and rig him up to bleed stage blood, if his forehead gets opened up by the edge of the metal roundel decal. Would be cool to see what they find.

All I can comment on for sure, is the number of people I have taken care of post-crash, when their airbag has deployed, is that they all have some amount of tattooing to their faces, from the airbag itself,kind of like a mesh pattern, from the fabric of the airbag itself- that along with the residue of the explosive charge that shoots the airbag out.
I can only imagine what a 'stickyback' roundel emblem, or a heavier emblem that is not meant to be on the center of the airbag cover, would do to someones face.

Maybe Mythbusters will do a show on this, and include the hot redhead, since other members of this forum have seen a e34 in their parking lot.
Worth a shot.