BMW and MINI Fxx / Gxx steering wheel spacer installation
Valid for the following cars:
The following instructions are valid for the following cars, which all share the same steering wheel spacer, part number starting with F5567-MINI–…, written on the label inside the black cover.
Since about the year 2010, BMW made many more models than the previous decades we were used to: besides traditional 3 and 5 series, and the new 1 and X series, they made series 2, 4, 6, 8, X2… all these cars have Bmw internal model code starting with an F followed by 2 numbers: F21 for the 1 series, F22 for the 2 series, F30, F87 M2...
This type of coding has been applied on the Mini models too: F56, F57…
Well, all these cars share the same steering wheel core. From the outside, they look different: BMW M and non-M steering wheels, with different buttons and airbag’s shape, and Mini steering wheels are all made on the same hidden metal frame, which share the same spline (the bore with the gearcutting), number of slots and connectors to the clockspring.
Being the steering wheel spacer a replica of the steering wheel’s core, it is suitable for all those cars.
PLUS, when BMW renewed their model range with new generations, started to use the Gxx code, both for Bmw itself and Mini. But despite updating the desing of the steering wheel, they did not change the internal core and the connectors, making our steering wheel spacer still suitable for these cars too.
Last but not least, because Z4 and Toyota Supra has been made under the same platform, the spacer and the instructions are valid for the Supra too.
The Bmw high-range vehicles, from the 5 series up (6, 7, 8 series) share this installation procedure, but not the steering wheel spacer itself, because they have larger splined bore.
WARNINGS
1) The spacer comes pre-assembled, so you don’t have to unscrew any of the allen bolt that hold the parts together.
2) Carry out the entire procedure with the battery disconnected, to avoid unintentional ignition of the airbag warning light, and wait 30 min after you pull the negative terminal off, to let residual electric power discharge.
3) Handle all cables with care, even when disconnecting and reconnecting connectors. Be careful not to never, even accidentally, pull on any of the cables.
4) No need to pay particoular attention to park with straight wheels: the splined shaft has a marker that makes impossible to install both the steering wheel and the spacer other than perfectly aligned.
DISASSEMBLING THE STEERING WHEEL
We suggest to watch our video tutorial at the bottom of the product page, or so some youtube searching for “BMW 1 series F21 steering wheel removal”, or “MINI F56 steering wheel removal”. It helps to familiarize yourself with the procedure if you have never even seen it done.
1) Remove the arbag from the steering wheel. To unlock it, clamp springs that hold it attached to the steering wheel’s frame must be released. To access these springs, insert a screwdriver into the 2 holes on the side of the steering wheel, behind the spokes, half-hidden and sometimes “drowned” in the rubber structure of the steering wheel itself. Take some time and patience and insert the screwdriver slowly and several times until you feel the elasticity of the spring, and only then push a little harder until the airbag unit pop out a few mm from the wheel.
2) Disconnect all connectors, starting with the one (or 2, depends on the car model/trim) connected to the airbag. Each connector has a snap-on safety latch, it’s not enough to just pull, you need to unlock first. Use a small flat screwdriver. Familiarize yourself with the safety features of each individual connector. Place the airbag away from everyone, especially children.
3) Unscrew the central screw that holds the steering wheel on the steering column, without removing it completely: make sure that the steering wheel slides on the steering column first. This is because, if the car is a few years old, the steering wheel can be “nailed” in the steering column and suddenly unlock if pulled hard, risking tearing the wires.
4) When you are sure that the steering wheel slides on the steering column, remove the screw and pull it away, gently running the cables through the slots in the steering wheel.
5) Now you have to extend the wires. Use the extensions supplied with the spacer: they have different connectors, to match the correspondings on the steering wheel. Insert the connectors into the corresponding slots on the rotating contact, taking care not to rotate the contact too much, which must maintain its position.
The connectors require a certain amount of force to be inserted into the corresponding pins, and they are never under traction, even when driving, so there is no risk of them accidentally disconnecting.
INSERTING THE SPACER
6) The spacer must be fitted into the column respecting the alignment of the marker (the groove is at the bottom ,at 6 o’clock), and passing the cables gently through the corresponding slots in the spacer itself.
7) From this moment, proceed to reassemble the steering wheel as if the spacer were not there, because this is a replica of the steering column. Slide the steering wheel into the spacer, passing the wires through the grooves of the steering wheel. Insert the long screw included in the kit into the center and tighten to 60 Nm. At this point, the steering wheel is fixed. Keep the original BMW center screw aside, in case of future return to the original configuration.
8) Push the airbag back in position, oriented as before, after making sure that the cables are not pressed between the steering wheel’s frame and the rear of the airbag’s unit, and press as hard as when pressing the horn. You will hear 2 clicks when the airbag is reattached to the steering wheel itself.
9) Reconnect the battery.
If you did everything right:
- there are no warning lights. Sometimes, pretty rarely, ESP light may stay on for a few km/miles, because the car “understood” you worked on the steering wheel while battery was disconnected. The ESP sensor perform calibration by itself and the light turn off quickly while driving. You can try turning the steering wheel lock to lock at idle before driving: on some cars it is enough to clear the light. All this occurs rarely, and it is not an issue itself or a sign of not compatibility with our spacer, it seem more related with the model year of your BMW and configuration of the OEM ESP software.
- The stalk levers returns automatically.
- You don’t hear noises or clicks when you turn the wheel.
- Steering effort feels as prior the installation.
- The steering wheel buttons, if available on the car, must all work immediately.
- The horn works.
- The existing steering wheel adjustments (both tilt and depth) works.
- No break-in period is necessary and the steering wheel, when driving, must be as straight as before.
- It may be that at idle the steering wheel vibrates slightly more than before, due to the greater distance from the engine, which is the source of vibrations.
