My long legs have me too far back from the steering wheel (or vice versa my legs are cramped if I'm close enough to the wheel)

I'm wondering if the very nice tilt and telescoping steering wheel assembly from the R56 could somehow be retrofitted to the R53.

Any one try this yet? Any ideas who might be able to attempt it or analyze the parts and clearances to see what would be required?

Dave Bradley

'04 MCS, BRG/White, still adding stuff to make it better

 

I would try talking to gnatster, he may be able to help you figure it out
I think it really just depends on the mounts, but don't quote me...

 

I was thinking the same thing today when I was driving, there has got got to be a way to bring the wheel towards the driver a bit.

 

Would it be a bad idea to cut and weld your own parts to acomplish this?

 

Hey, maybe someone should PM onasled...he has a custom steering set up...I think he is still using the stock steering rack though

 

Not out of the question but you would need to figure out ways to:

-Make sure the connection from the wheel to the dash/rest of car are long enough

-Hide any gap that is created by the old column cover (right term?) and the new location of the wheel.

-Make sure the extension is on straight (wouldnt be terrible hard I imagine)

Doesnt seem too hard to accomplish.

 

I dunno...the cars are so different. It might be 90% do-able and there be one gremlin that kills the deal. Good luck trying, though.

 

Thanks for the responses. I agree this won't be easy to do but I sort of feel like if I keep after it I can unravel it enough to decide if it's worth the investments of time, money, and frustration. My hope is that this is something like the installation of the R56 rear control arms on the R53. Somebody worked that out and it's now a doable (although not inexpensive) upgrade. I am quite biased in my view but I think this might appeal to a number of R53 owners if it could reach the same stage of practicality as my example of the control arms.

dB

 

I'd consider doing it...
And be willing to pay a bit and fab some parts if that's what it took...
I'm not tall or long-legged... but would really like to have more leg extension when the wheel is in the "right" place... and I'm not replacing my R52...

 

I'm not going to say it can't be done, but it's no where as easy as the R56 trailing arm swap. Looking over the parts the steering columns between the R56 and R53 are very different. Add to that there were changes in the R56 Column in 07/07 that added an electrical steering column lock. So if one were to try it I'd start with a early 07 column.

MSRP on the Column is $559.00

The upper section of the columns have different mount points. The adjustor is in a different spot on both and looking over the electical section there are different connectors.

This would be a big project.

Oh yeah, the steering angle sensors are different too...So if you have DSC it might cause problems.

 

"Pop" goes my bubble. Thanks, gnat.
Guess I'll have to revert to my original project of replacing my column with one from an old TR7.

 

I appreciate the analysis. The scale of the task is a bit discouraging but the seed of the idea is planted. Maybe there are other ideas to achieve the same functionality. Since you were kind enough to look at this and give a well reasoned answer I will be bold enough to ask about ideas for a bare minimum approach.

Do you see a practical way to simply move the steering wheel to the rear approx. 3"? For me this would solve the problem. The wheel might be too far rearward for others, but I'm the only one who drives the car under almost all circumstances.

Dave Bradley

 

I see just moving it back a few inches as being much easier. Then it just becomes a matter of making an extension, lengthening any wires, and figuring out a way to hide the gap.

Anybody who has done an aftermarket steering wheel could help here.

 

I don't know, it doesn't look that impossible. To me the mounting points appear to be similar. The pictures are different aspects due to the new model showing the shaft.
I think mounting wouldn't be too bad. The electrics might be a trick, and you may have to have a shaft either lengthened or shortened depending on how you mount the rest of it.
I wish I could trust the realoem diagrams enough to do an overlay to verify the mounting.
I do know that oems try very hard not to change every screw and layout when doing a model change. The more that stays the same, the cheaper it is. That said, I haven't crawled under an R56 dash to see whats up either...

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