Hey everyone. After a long wait, my Mini is now being prepped for pickup and I take her home Tuesday. I went in to sign papers and pay for the car earlier and I took a look at it.

There was some mixup for the cars with my spec where they were built with a wood steering wheel instead of a leather wheel. I have the option to swap it out, but I was actually considering going for one back when I ordered... just they were on recall at the time. I only spent a minute with it and obviously haven't been able to get a feel for driving with it, so can anyone who has a wood wheel let me know what they think of it? Thanks!

 

I actually think you got lucky. I placed my order after the wood MFSWs went back in production, and I picked mine up 2 weeks ago only to see a leather wrapped wheel. I would say keep it if you feel it matches the rest of your interior - those wheels seem to be at a premium.

I just don't understand who the folks at the Oxford plant don't notice a difference in the two steering wheels when they perform the quality checks. Seems like something that would be pretty easy. Oh well. Except for the wheel issue, I couldn't be happier with my MC. I'm sure what ever you decide to do with the steering wheel, you'll love yours too.

 

I just ordered a Mini with the wood steering wheel. I would love to see some pictures of it and your thoughts on how you like driving with it. My car does not go into production until June and I can still change the order.

 

Here's my wood steering wheel~ I got this as a factory error so it was free... anyway I don't think there's much diff between a wood or a leather steering wheel... the only diff would be... the wood kinda sticks to your hand a little while the leather just slip. They are both great wheels! Just a personal preference really.

 

From the looks of it, it should be called a token wood steering wheel!

 

Thanks for the pictures. It sounds like its ok driving with. The wood steering wheel in my Subaru that I am replacing with the Mini is wood all around for the top half and the bottom half is leather. The Mini one looks a little strange and I was concerned about how it feels when driving, particularly when using only one hand to steer like in a parking lot. My Mini interior is wood so I wanted to also get the wood steering wheel. Please let me know any further thoughts on your experience with it.

 

Or a wood-rim wheel.

I can't say that it does much for me. Looks like inexpensive wood with too much walnut stain. Too bad they didn't go really retro and do something like the old Nardi wheels.

 

The thought of a retro wood wheel is certainly an attractive one for purely nostalgic reasons, but what I like about the MINI wooden wheel is that (purely aethetically speaking) it will blend in well with the rest of the finishes in the car's interior. Assuming the presence of the english oak dash bits, there is still a lot of black leather/vinyl floating about the cabin. If the wheel was all wood, I'm not sure it would look right. Given the trim-only look of wood on the wheel, the trim-only look on the door pulls, and even the trim-only look on the dash (when considered as a whole) I think the new wheel is super...or at least well considered!!