Wooden "ti" steering wheel

[02Anders]

I've had a rare wooden "ti" steering wheel lying on the shelf for ages, but this winter I finally got around to doing something about it!
The lacquer was all cracked and starting to peel, so I had it professionally refurbished.  Both the tone of the wood and the gloss were matched to a wooden gearknob which had equally been sitting on the shelf for a fair while.  Luckily the three little metal clips that sit at the end of each spoke were still present on my steering wheel, as they seem to often go missing and they've been NLA forever.

And today was the big day!!
After 20 years or so with a Petri sports steering wheel in my NullZwei, it was time for a change.  Out came the wheel along with the leather gearknob, and for the first time in my NullZwei's 44 year life, she suddenly had a wooden steering wheel and gearknob.  My anticipation was huge, and I must say I'm rather pleased with the result...

 

 

It's really quite amazing just how much it has changed the ambience of the whole interior.  Not near as teutonic anymore.  The subsequent drive was a real pleasure - not just because of how good the "ti" steering wheel looks, but it also just felt right in my hands...  

[PaulTWinterton]

Very pretty.  Love the humongous horn button.   Interior looks great.

[zinz]

Beautiful... I love it. 

 

Ed

[Son of Marty]

Very nice piece,the finish looks spectacular probably a great call to have it done by a pro. 

[02Anders]

Thx Gents!  

@Son of Marty, I was originally planning to restore the wooden rim myself, but in the end opted against it only because I came across a guy who seemed to know what he was doing, yet still had what I found to be very sensible pricing.  Now I'm really happy I went with him, because to be quite honest, I would have never managed the same quality finish myself...

[Son of Marty]

Yes it's an art to get a finish at that level, the first house I rented with my wife after collage the guy next door refinished violins and old Jaguar dashes the brushes he used were some special kind of sable and he said cost 90-100 1974 dollars each but he got a flawless finish after 7 to 10 coats, he was a real craftsman and artist rolled into one. spent many hours in his shop and I'm not a woodworker by any stretch.  

[Conserv]

Drop dead gorgeous, Anders!

 

Best regards,

 

Steve

 

[jrkoupe]

awesome    handsome     still sporty

[Mike Self]

There's still another version of that wood-rim wheel--the center section is our familiar "bus wheel"--with horn pushes on all three spokes, but with a wood rim.  They were used on 2800 sedans and 2800CS coupes.  I had to refinish one, and the original finish was impervious to anything short of a nuclear weapon.  I ended up scraping it off with pieces of broken glass (wearing gloves of course).  A little sanding, many coats of urethane spar varnish and it really looks nice...but yours is much sportier looking with those flat metal spokes.

 

mike

 

 

Edited April 10, 2017 by mike

[arminyack]

love it! Much better option than the Petri IMHO. ( My car had a Petri on it when I bought it....I sold it, and bought an NK steering wheel with the $$)

[02Anders]

13 hours ago, mike said:

There's still another version of that wood-rim wheel--the center section is our familiar "bus wheel"--with horn pushes on all three spokes, but with a wood rim.  They were used on 2800 sedans and 2800CS coupes.  I had to refinish one, and the original finish was impervious to anything short of a nuclear weapon.  I ended up scraping it off with pieces of broken glass (wearing gloves of course).  A little sanding, many coats of urethane spar varnish and it really looks nice...but yours is much sportier looking with those flat metal spokes.

 

mike

 

True Mike.  At the same time as BMW had this "ti" steering wheel as a factory option for the 1600ti and the 2002ti, they also offered another wooden steering wheel.  However it's an all together different wheel, as the whole center is vastly different and it's also a larger diameter.  The "ti" steering wheel is 380mm, while the other steering wheel which was offered as an option on the early E3's, E9's, NK 2000tilux and 2000tii was 400mm.  Both steering wheels were produced for BMW by Petri, and as a result, I can - from bitter experience! - confirm that the original lacquer finish of the "ti" steering wheel is just as utterly impossible to remove. as what you experienced on the bigger wooden steering wheel.
I btw. had one of those on my Atlantik "70 NK 2000...

 

 

The more sober and upmarket styling of the bigger wooden steering wheel seems to suit the 6-cylinder big brothers and range-topping NK's, while the more sporty character of the raw metal spoked wheel suits the smaller 02's well.  Later I was even lucky enough to find a factory black leather NK interior for the Atlantik NK.  Ended up selling the car in late 2011 - wish I hadn't....

[bluebmw]

18 hours ago, arminyack said:

love it! Much better option than the Petri IMHO. ( My car had a Petri on it when I bought it....I sold it, and bought an NK steering wheel with the $$)

 

I'm glad we have differing opinions, because your old Petri looks great in my Touring! 

Edited April 10, 2017 by bluebmw

[Mike Self]

4 hours ago, 02Anders said:

the other steering wheel which was offered as an option on the early E3's, E9's, NK 2000tilux and 2000tii was 400mm.

The cool thing about these wheels is that they are already drilled for the horn contact button, so they can be used on 2002s.

 

mike