Did you remember to disconnect the battery before installation?

 

Yes, I did disconnect the battery. I'm going to take the wheel off again this morning and see what I can see. I hope I didn't screw anything up .

 

did you put your key in at any time while the airbag was disconnected??

 

Well, I might have. I remember pushing back on the horn/airbag and the horn honked . I just went out and disconnected the battery again and then took off the horn/airbag. Disconnected the green and black sockets again and then layed the horn on the seat. I then went and hooked the battery up again thinking that I needed to let the system see that there was no air bag hooked up. I then disconneted the battery again and reasembled the horn/airbag. Turned the car to aux and still the air bag warning light. What did I do wrong ? Something tells me this is going to cost me.

 

Once the airbag light is on you need to get the code cleared. It won't go off on it's own. Hopefully someone near you has a code reader and can clear it for you without a trip to the dealer.

 

I just talked with my SA. This guy is such a nice guy. I've gone thru some bad times with the dealership after my motor mount problem (long story). Anyway, I'm heading up there this morning and he is going to reset the code FOR FREE . I could tell that the code would need to be reset after my attempts faild. I guess I will at least have a nice 30 mile drive to the dealer.

 

Morristown Mini is selling them for $375 now on their site & on eBay. Time for me to sign up.

http://www.trademotion.com/partlocat...tegoryID=75816

 

Called my dealer......( sounds like what an addict would say......but I can quit anytime....really) asked if he could match Morristown. He said he couldn't and told me to order from M'town. I did! I know its supposed to be an easy install but I've tasted airbag before and my dealer (there we go again) said he could install it for $75 so I'm going with the pro.

 

I had mine installed today (leather and alcantara)...INCREDIBLE!!

Chuck

 

I want one. Bad. Must....resist...must keep promise to wife to pay off the car first...

 

I guess it's just a bummer that we all have to puncture our stock airbag covers to install this one... come on MINI, you preach about customization... how about making it a little bit more friendly for the DIY crowd?...

-e

 

The install is insanely easy and gently piercing the back side of the steering wheel will go totally unnoticed if done right. I wouldn't thick twice about this install even with limited know-how.

 

Gabe,

I'm not arguing the difficulty... I just wish that the airbag cover had the holes moulded in instead of having to actually cut it out by hand... it's more of an aesthetic gripe than anything... then again I used to work for their design studio and well, let's just say that things like this don't surprise me...

-e

 

I installed mine about 2 weeks ago and it took about 20 mins. I love my leather and alcantara steering wheel. It is my favorite mod. I love to touch it.
Mario

 

Get a room already dood.

 

... mighty fine steering wheel.


This is my third car with an Alcantara rim. For both cold and warm climates the material is great. Previous cars (both Audis) had full Alcantara rims and, if I had the choice, I'd prefer the same on my Mini. Alas, it's not available.

But this is a close second.

 

... inasmuch as you touch and use it each and every time you drive tha car unlike many other mods of which I can think.

 

You don't pierce the airbag cover, you pierce the areas on the wheel itself. The new wheel goes into place without anything pierced.

Mark S

 

Thanks for the awesome post!

Just ordered mine and as stated from several others "this is a mod that you touch everytime that you get in the car" so the price is well worth it.

I always install a Momo wheel in my vehicles, damn the air bag.

 

hey schulzmc maybe we are misunderstanding each other...

mbcoops posted this picture on page 3 of his installed JCW fatty. I've circled what I have an issue with. What do you mean you don't pierce the airbag cover? you DO have to pierce the airbag cover because of how MINI designed it...

still considering it though...

-e

 

I didn't pierce the airbag it cut a small slit in the old wheel. When you put on the new one there is not a scratch. My looks perfect and from the factory.
M

 

Slits are needed only to remove, not install the airbag. So they were needed to unlock the airbag from the old steering wheel. However, slits are not needed to install the airbag in the new steering wheel. The airbag is installed by simply pressing it into the new steering wheel until it locks. Thus the slit in the picture was unnecessary unless he needed to remove the airbag again after the JCW steering wheel was installed.

 

I must say that this picture is a little misleading as to the final outcome of what the wheel will look like after it is pierced. If you do have to remove and reinstall the same wheel all you have to do is push from the inside where the piercing take place and it all but disappears. RKW is correct in that if you are installing a new wheel it does not have to be pierced unless you want to remove it.
Steve

 

Good eye Eric B! Here's the story of that hole: When they took off my old wheel and installed the new one, a part in the steering mechanism (forget the name) was mysteriously broken. Apparently the new wheel made it seem a lot worse than it was, and there was a great clunking while turning. My options were to keep the new wheel on with the clunking or remove it (hence the hole), fix the problem, and put the JCW back on. When I felt and heard the clunking, and then saw the minimal hole that is produced by removing the wheel, the decision was easy. So now there's a little hole in both sides of my JCW wheel, something I never notice.

mb

 

Those holes are not on the airbag cover, they are on the base of the wheel itself.

As others have said - the holes are needed to release the airbag from the wheel. If you are reinstalling the same wheel, then yes, the holes will be there and they need to be pushed on from behind to "hide" them.

But if you are installing a new wheel - like the awesome JCW wheel (grin) - the new wheel will not have the holes you cut.

I hesitated to install the JCW wheel for just the reason listed - I didn't want holes I had cut in my airbag cover. Then I took a good look at the install instructions and realized the only thing I was cutting was the steering wheel I was going to be removing.

Hopefully this makes sense.