11-29-2017, 01:42 AM | #1 |
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G30 M sport wheel swap
Part 1: Getting A Wheel
TL;DR - buy a used wheel, pay attention to the options it has. Please read though because there are some important details to know. First off, yes, this can get pricey, and yes, it sucks we have to do it. I'd like to keep the thread constructive and about what we can do. If nothing else, I hope this gives people information they can possibly use to negotiate a better deal, knowing how much it will cost to get them a wheel post-factory. I spent a lot of time going over all of the components, dissecting a wheel, understanding the options and compatibility/reusability of parts, and I put together a spreadsheet to help select the correct parts to buy in order to assemble a complete, brand new wheel. In the end I determined that it’s 1) too hard to find some of the parts (like wiring harnesses), and 2) very expensive to piece together. I also took a bunch of photos and intended to write up a wheel assembly guide, but in the end it seemed like it probably wasn’t going to be the best way to go. Instead, I highly recommend trying to find an assembled, lightly used wheel. If anyone really needs that information I’m happy to share it. You probably won't need it, but here’s the parts sheet. You can scroll to the bottom table and choose the column that matches your features. https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets...it?usp=sharing Wheels with paddles (make sure it has paddles) come in four varieties - no heat/no vibration, no heat/with vibration, heated/no vibration, and heated/with vibration. You’ll need to know which one you require based on whether or not your stock wheel has heat and whether you have the driving assistant 5AT or 5AS for vibration. Additionally, you may want to pay attention to whether or not the wheel comes with an airbag, and if so which type of airbag. You'll also need to pay attention to the buttons, there are three options. Numbers 2 and 3 below are interchangeable and differ superficially in the icons on the buttons. If you don't care about that, then you just have to determine if you need #1 (no driving assistant plus or active cruise) or not. #2 is for just active cruise, #3 is for Driving Assistant Plus. I'm currently uncertain as to what will happen if the buttons exist on your wheel but your car doesn't have DAP or active cruise. Note also that many of the wheels out there have a "lim" button in place of a "set" button. This is superficial and the car will treat the button the same (how it's coded). Airbags come in three varieties, single stage, two stage, and three stage. Single stage is largely what's available in europe. Two (or dual) stage airbags come on US/NA vehicles, and this year the G30 was upgraded to a three stage airbag. G01 comes only with the three stage, and if you can't find a three stage you'll need to get some coding done so the car doesn't expect the missing stages. Unfortunately the three stage variety is so new I haven't seen any sign of it yet. You can easily identify the number of stages an airbag has by the number of 'plugs' it has: Two stage: Three stage: One other thing to keep in mind, in a pinch it is possible to convert a wheel that has more features than you need, for example if a wheel has heat and your car doesn’t have it, you can ignore/unplug it within the wheel, or replace just the front cover to the one without the heat button, seeing my parts list above. It might add a little to replace buttons or front cover to delete features, but it may be an option if you can't otherwise find an exact match. It may also be possible to code the car to support heat, I’m not sure on that. A note on used wheels, while the ones I’ve come across are generally in very good shape, they almost universally have minor damage/cracking around the area where the screwdriver is inserted to remove the airbag. This area isn’t normally very visible, so it is probably not a big deal, but it is something to be aware of if you’re picky. Another note, it's been brought up that (as can be the case with any second-hand purchase) there's always a chance that the used wheel you're buying is stolen or comes from a chop shop. Let's try not to support the black market; question the seller, ensure they have a long selling history with good results, etc. If anyone else has any pointers in this regard please feel free to share in the comments. To find a wheel: You can pretty much just go on eBay or equivalent and search for “G30 M sport wheel”. You will likely end up with a handful of advertised “new” options with airbag included for $2600-2900, and some mostly european used options for $1000-1200 for the wheel or maybe $2000 with airbag. To find an airbag: You can currently buy a new two stage from getbmwparts.com or various other dealer-affiliated vendors by searching for the part number. Some vendors won't ship them because they're hazardous materials and require more expensive shipping. The two stage airbag does require coding, but it seems to be the only one that is readily available now. As of now the two stage bag part number is 32-30-7-855-725, the correct three stage one that won’t require coding is 32-30-8-091-251. When searching for parts, try with and without dashes (e.g. both 32-30-8-091-251 and 32308091251). Finally, I did kind of go crazy trying to figure all of this out and I do currently have a few wheels I don't need. PM me if you want one, I'm only looking to recoup my cost. Otherwise I'll just offer them on eBay. Last edited by sor; 11-29-2017 at 10:38 AM.. |
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11-29-2017, 01:43 AM | #2 |
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Part 2: installation
Disclaimer: This is offered as a helpful informal sharing of information. I offer no guarantees and take no responsibility for the outcome should you choose to attempt it. Difficulty: Low - requires basic mechanical inclination and understanding of basic tools Time: 20 min Tools:
1: disconnect battery First, ensure car is turned off and ignition/accessory is off. Open the rear hatch and lift the cargo floor. Find the two plastic flat head screws, turn them 90 degrees. This should release the cover, exposing the battery. These instructions may vary if you have a spare. Lift the red cover over the positive terminal. Loosen the nut on the positive terminal. The nut should not come off, loosen it just until you feel resistance. Note that the voltage level in a car battery is not dangerous to human skin, don’t worry about touching something wrong. What you do need to be careful of is arcing - touching some metal between the positive terminal and the metal body of the car. For this reason I recommend a socket with a screwdriver attachment, a long wrench swinging around is going to be more difficult to control. Remove the clamp from the terminal, and place something non-conductive between it and the battery while you work. 2: removal of wheel Almost all recent BMW wheels consist of a spring-attached airbag on the front. To remove a wheel, you first remove the airbag by releasing it from the springs. This exposes the bolt, which you them loosen to free the wheel. There will be two small indentations or holes on either side of the wheel. The basic process is to insert a small thin screwdriver into these holes, pushing back the spring that is keeping the airbag in place. This allows you to pop off the airbag one side at a time. If you have trouble with this step you can search around and find various youtube videos, though the wheel models aren’t the same the basic premise is. I found it best to use the largest flat head screwdriver that will comfortably fit in the hole. You want to avoid stretching or damaging it too much, but you do have to puncture the indentation to insert the screwdriver. I attempted with a very small screwdriver at first, but it is easy to lose your bearings. A larger screwdriver will stay aligned better. You are aiming for a small metal shroud, and within that shroud is a wire that will have some spring to it. You can feel for the shroud, it is a piece of metal that will have no give, and then try to center the screwdriver within it. Push the wire with the screwdriver while pulling on that side of the airbag until you feel it release. Repeat for the other side. Once the airbag is loose, detach its harness from the steering column. It has a little clip at the top, press it with the flat head and then pull it out. Now you should be faced with the insides of the wheel. First, unplug the remaining two harnesses. Grab your 16mm socket, wrench, and extension. Time to remove the bolt. This doesn’t come easily, because turning the bolt also turns the wheel. A trick to this is to wrap your left arm through the wheel to grab and stabilize the socket wrench while also holding the steering wheel in place, then using your right hand to turn the bolt counter clockwise. Loosen the bolt about 90%, but do not remove it. Now pull the wheel. The bolt holds the wheel back and keeps you from punching yourself in the face as it comes loose. Now remove the bolt and wheel. Left, stock wheel. Right, M sport wheel 3: install new wheel Install the new wheel by reversing the process. Note that there are some score marks on both the wheel and threaded area to align the wheel, but the wheel is also keyed so it won’t go in any other way. Attach the bolt and harnesses Attach the wiring harness for your airbag, align the lugs with the spring holes, and push until it clicks. 4: reattach battery Reattach the positive clamp to the positive battery terminal Clip the positive terminal cover down Secure the rear deck cover over the battery by turning the black plastic screws 90 degrees. Done 5: If your airbag has switched stages (e.g. from three stage to one or two stage), you’ll need to continue on to coding so that your car will stop complaining. Extra: For reference, in case you need to remove the M sport wheel, here’s a photo of how its airbag retention clips work: Last edited by sor; 11-29-2017 at 08:09 AM.. |
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11-29-2017, 01:44 AM | #3 |
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Part 3: Coding
If you didn't get a hold of part 32-30-8-091-251 for the airbag, and instead found a euro one or a G30 2-stage (32-30-7-855-725), you'll need to tell your X3 about it. Disclaimer: This is offered as a helpful informal sharing of information. I offer no guarantees and take no responsibility for the outcome should you choose to attempt it. I'm simply sharing what I did and what worked for me. TL;DR - go to http://bimmergeeks.net and do a remote coding session, or find someone locally. It will be painless and simple, and worth the cost. Difficulty: High Time: variable Tools:
This was a little harder than I thought, and I did have some success in coding, but ultimately I got hung up on one thing. The three airbag stages are "1", "2", and "vent". The key was that just because you have a "2 stage" airbag, it doesn't necessarily mean that it has "stage 1" and "stage 2". I had disabled "vent", and as it turned out, I was throwing an error on stage 2 because the two stages in my air bag are "stage 1" and "vent". I've decided I'm not going to bother detailing every screen and button to click to code this, as I don't think it's responsible of me to walk someone through a potentially dangerous process that I barely know, but I will share some key details specific to this, in case others are already into coding or wanting to learn. I highly recommend just contacting bimmergeeks.net and doing a remote session with them. They're very professional, patient, and experienced, helped me figure out my issue, and costs almost nothing on top of the wheel and airbag. If you want to code, you need to find the following software and set it up: E-sys 3.28 E-sys launcher 2.7 psdzdata v63 Launch E-sys via E-sys launcher, hit connect. Select S15A (not direct) for the target, connect by VIN (your vin should show up in the box), and "read parameters from VCM". Activate FA, read the ECU as you normally would, expand ACSM module. Do a read on the module and then open up the subsections. Look subsection 3000, and within this you'll search for "FA_stufe_2" and "FA_vent". For single stage euro bag, both need to be set to nicht_aktiv (value should end up werte 00) via right click and edit. For two stage G30 bag like mine, I had to set nicht_aktiv on FA_stufe_2 only. Then save, go back and right click the subsection and write the code to the car as normal. Should be done. To clear error code, within E-sys select "external applications" on the left, double click on the "transmitter", find and click the line toward the bottom that says "clear etc", hit "connect", then "send". If you don't get more than one line of output, change the dropdown field F4 to F5 and "connect" and "send". If you're attempting this, please don't come here with questions, go to a coding forum. Last edited by sor; 12-02-2017 at 05:12 PM.. |
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11-29-2017, 02:05 AM | #4 |
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I would not recommend buying these wheels used from Ebay with shipping from Europe, they're stolen. There was a G30 at my local dealer missing one on Monday.
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11-29-2017, 02:48 AM | #6 |
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Good to be aware of, I'll add a note. The ones I got, all from one seller, I was assured came from dealer installations of alcantara M performance wheels, but I'm not sure there's a way to be certain. They did have a rather long sales history with a good reputation. There are other options showing on eBay, but they're "new" and more expensive. Hopefully we will see stock of new wheels and the other bits eventually.
Last edited by sor; 11-29-2017 at 02:53 AM.. |
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11-29-2017, 08:44 AM | #9 |
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11-29-2017, 10:13 AM | #12 |
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That seems a bit extreme, given that it is 30 minutes max for anyone who is mechanically inclined. Assuming you could get them the wheel and airbag I wouldn't expect to pay more than around an hour labor + $50 or so coding, if needed.
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11-29-2017, 10:33 AM | #13 |
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Wonder if and when these parts will become orderable.
I guess I'll need the 32308094548 wheel for which is both heated and has driving assistant plus. |
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11-29-2017, 10:40 AM | #14 |
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Thanks so much for putting this together. So basically, if I want to do this swap (I have DAP + heated steering), I would need to order all of these parts:
wheel 32-30-8-094-548 buttons 61-31-7-854-189 button screws 32-30-6-884-696 top cover 32-30-7-856-289 connecting line 61-12-8-038-912 trim 32-30-7-856-291 hex bolt 32-30-6-795-924 screws 32-30-8-090-405 airbag (possible alternate 2017 part 32 30 7 855 725) 32-30-8-091-251 control electronics 61-31-7-857-778 vibration generator 61-31-7-856-691 and find someone who will install them. Correct? Am I correct that coding will NOT be required given it's a swap with no feature changes? |
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11-29-2017, 10:42 AM | #15 | |
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I'd expect the airbags to be available within the next few months, at least. Those are disposable items that would need to be replaced often as far as auto parts go. |
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11-29-2017, 10:44 AM | #16 | |
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You'd only need coding to change airbag stages, if you can acquire the 251 airbag you'd be good to go with just a hardware swap. |
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11-29-2017, 01:00 PM | #17 |
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I'm amazed you did all this the night you got the car like you had a step by step manual and knew exactly what needed to be done. When I first read your other post, I thought you had picked the car up at night and I'm thinking - wow, he must have been up late!! Nice work!
So it feels great and everything is in working order? Is the vibration working as intended too? I notice that at Medium setting, I don't feel the vibration much compared to my 2015. I had to set it high. COngrats! |
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11-29-2017, 01:07 PM | #18 | |
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The vibration feels maybe just a tad stronger with the new wheel. I do also have mine turned up to high because it isn't super obvious. |
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11-29-2017, 03:01 PM | #19 | |
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11-30-2017, 02:50 PM | #21 | |
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I’m honestly not sure how it works if a car comes in (say a 2017 M550i) and ends up needing one of those non-stocked parts. Maybe there’s a special order process. |
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11-30-2017, 07:37 PM | #22 |
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One wheel is shipped, one is spoken for. I have one more that has no heat and no driving assistant. PM me if you’re interested, I’ll probably hold it another week or so and then try to eBay it.
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