Getting Everything to Fit

Two modifications are necessary to mount the 320i steering wheel onto the '02 steering column. The first involves positioning the steering wheel onto the steering column. Fortunately, the splines on the 320i steering wheel match the ones on the '02 steering column.

If you place the 320i 4-spoke steering wheel onto the '02 steering column, you'll find that the bottom portion of the steering wheel interferes with the padding on the steering column by about a 1/4 inch. You can deal with this two ways: Grab a sharp utility knife and carefully trim away the bottom of the steering wheel, or install some sort of 1/4-inch thick spacer between the steering wheel and the steering column.

The 320is wheel from the back.

With the 320is steering wheel, the interference with the steering column is less than the 4-spoke steering wheel. You will need to remove only about a 1/8 inch from the bottom of the steering wheel surround or add a 1/8-inch thick spacer.

To remove the 1/8 inch of plastic, use tin snips to trim off the lower edge of the s-package surround until it doesn't interfere with the column covers when turning. Clean and easy. I also have heard of using a belt sander to take off the extra plastic of the surround.

If you choose the spacer approach, you have to make your own spacer, as commercial flat washers are too large. The spacer needs to have an inner diameter of about 5/8 inch and can be no larger than 1 inch. When I installed a 320is steering wheel into my '02, I made the spacer out of a piece of 1/8-inch diameter aluminum rod and bent it into a ring using one of the sockets from my toolbox as a mandrel.

One cautionary note about the use of a spacer: The lock nut might not grip the shaft threads if the spacer is too thick. Losing a steering wheel in mid-apex is BAD!