Steering wheel adaptors installation guide

What is a steering wheel adaptor

A steering wheel adaptor is a type of steering wheel spacer which make possible to install on a car an OEM steering wheel from a different car, usually from a younger model from the same brand.

Installing a different steering wheel is a rare mod, made by enthusiasts with good knowledge about cars and brands’ story and wish to update a vintage interior using OEM parts which, despite being designed under a younger style, look so good that doesn’t fit out of place on an older interior.

Normally it is not possible to install on a car a different steering wheel directly, because the steering shaft, the spline and the clockspring doesn’t match at all.

We took advantage of our know-how in engineering steering wheel spacer, to make this kind of mod possible my making steering spacers with different spline between the hub and the shaft. Enthusiast demand pulled the business.

Valid for the following cars:

Actually, we make steering wheel adaptors for:

Alfa Romeo 4C on Abarth 500, to exacerbate the racing soul of the Abarth. They already share the outside mirrors, so, why not?
Abarth 595 Competizione on Punto Abarth, because the first is simply a way cooler version that the second, with same steering wheel buttons and carbon gear too.
Porsche: people like to install the 3 spoke 991 steering wheel on older generation as 996, 993 and even 964.
Porsche 996 3 spoke steering wheel on 964 cars, to update the interior but not too much.
Porsche 991 steering wheel to be installed on 911 pre-964 cars, because the 991 without steering wheel buttons is so cool that doesn’t look too modern on a 911 from the ’70s, it’s just cool.

In past, we made this type of adaptors for Mercedes 190E and for Saab too, but its’ theoretically doable for any car. We even installed a Ferrari 458 Italia steering wheel on a our own Abarth 595 Competizione. It was very cool but we couldn’t make the “manettino” work.

Another reason to make the steering wheel adaptor is for when a customer wants to buy a higher spec steering wheel for his car, but buy the wrong steering wheel, because from the outside they look the same, but fitment is different.

This is the case of Bmw steering wheel adaptors: many want to fit an M-sport steering wheel on their own 1, 2, 3 or 4 series which weren’t M-sport equipped from factory, and by mistake spend like 600€ to buy M-sport steering wheel from a 5 series or bigger, which looks the same but has larger splined shaft.

In this case they need our steering wheel adaptor, big to narrow spline.

Some want to do the opposite: fit an M-Tech wheel on a 5 series or bigger, and they order the version for the 1 to 4 series, they need the other way adaptor

Warnings:

Do the whole procedure disconnecting the battery first, to avoid airbag warning lights switch on after the assembling. Wait 30 min to allow full resudual electric power discharge. Do this even if the car is vintage and doesn’t have an airbag.
Park your car with straight wheels before following the entire procedure, and let a friend hold the steering wheel while unscrewing the main centre bolt. This will help maintaining the correct position, because splined shafts are made of many little teeth: this makes very easy missing a tooth during installation. If so, you’ll end with your steering wheel turned a little bit off-centre while driving on a straight line. Our steering daptors are machined to match the alignment between the different splines on bore and shaft, but installer care is mandatory.
Handle the OEM harness with care, especially while (un)connecting the plugs. Usually, all the connectors in all cars does have a secure lock clip/lever which MUST be unlocked before pulling. If you pull a connector without unlocking it, you may damage the connector itself, the corresponding housing, strip the wires or even all this together.

Specific warning for adaptors

Different generation’s electronics doesn’t “talk” each other. You can’t make steering wheel buttons from a newer car work on a car that wasn’t equipped from factory. The adaptor is just mechanic and only the horn can be connected. You better buy a steering wheel without commands, or simply leave them there unused. Of course, this is not valid for Bmw adaptors, because they come from cars usually same age.
Steering wheel Airbag will not work and is not meant to be connected. So, don’t attempt to. The airbag is designed to work with the car sensors and control unit it has been designed for, so don’t try to force the connector of an older car (for example a Porsche 996) inside the newer airbag from the steering wheel you are installing (Porsche 991 in our example). It simply will not work and it’s a dangerous experiment. Use the airbag unit only as a horn. This is a on.the-edge mod, and requires this compromise. Fit a resistor and clear the warning light, if the car has the airbag. Of course, this problem does not occur with pre-airbag era cars. May worth knowing that after 10-15 years, OEM airbag funcitonallity is no longer guarantee in any case, so, disabling it may not be a loss.

Installation

After athis introduction, the installation procedure is quite simple, with slightly different variations depending on the car you are working on.

remove car’s airbag, if present, and steering wheel.
insert the steering adaptor’s aluminium hub in the car’s shaft
secure it with the OEM nut that was holding the steering wheel (skip this step for Bmw adaptors with long pass-through bolt)
if needed, insert the wire extensions in the clockspring
bolt the steel part of the adaptor on the hub (either skip on Bmws, the parts are already bolt together from Spacershop and doesn’t need to be separated for installation)
insert the new steering wheel you purchased in the adaptor’s shaft and tighten the bolt
connect horn wire (usually by universal blade type connector) and fit resistor in car’s airbag wire if you can’t live with the warning light on.
push the airbag inside the steering wheel’s housing

Reconnect the battery, start the car, test the horn and the self return of the stalk levers.

Final Checks

steering wheel rotation effort does not change
no warning lights, except for airbag if you didn’t fit the resistor
stalk lever still return automatically
horn pressure feel does not changes
existing steering wheel adjustment still works, if were available from factory
you should not hear clicks or rubbing noises behind the wheel

It’s done! Enjoy both the look and the driving position, and tag Spacershop while sharing pics on socials.

Steering wheel adaptors installation guide