Opinions on the stock and the Sport steering wheel?

[Foonfer]

Always seemed to me that the general trend with the stock steering wheel on the E28 seems to be: ditch the stock and get yourself something decent. An E28 "sports" wheel is the default step, or you can keep going as far as your wallet will take you.

So, out of curiosity I sourced a nice 3-spoke Sports number, got myself a 22-mm lug and went to town. (Steering wheel replacement in the E28 is my kind of wrenching job: Done and done in 3 minutes... and that's because the lug was pretty tight).

Went for a 2-hour drive afterwards, here's some observations:
1. There's the obvious fact that the stock wheel provides natural rests for your hands at approx. 10 and 2, and the sport is a clear 9 and 3 configuration.
2. Sports wheel is "flatter" than the stock model (sports has approx. 1-inch "drop" between the plane of the wheel and the face of the BMW emblem in the middle; this dimension is 1 3/4" in the stock).
3. A perceptible change in arm reach and hand position should happen for you to grasp the new wheel. I wonder if an adjustment in seat position should also take place.
4. Weird feeling: my hands felt like the wrists have to tilt slightly forward (similar to the wrist movement when you just cast a fishing line). Perhaps this can also be overcome with a revised seat position.

I'd like to hear what your experiences have been with different steering wheels. Besides looks and coolness factor, is there anything undesirable about the stock wheel, is there any advantage with the Sport or with others?

Bottom line is, I thought the swap was going to be an immediate epiphany... but I'm not feeling it (yet).

[Mike W.]

Hmmm, might you be calling the M tech the sport and the sport the stock? A bit confusing, but the 4 spoker on 528e's is the stock wheel, the 3 spoke wheel from 535i's is the sport and the M tech is the M tech.

Anyway, yeah, big difference between the 4 spoke and the later 3 spoke, not the early 3 spoke sometimes called the uterus wheel, but not really so much in feel from the sport to the M tech. But the M tech does look much better.

[ahab]

Don't forget that the column telescopes as well.

Edit, and the sport wheel is a slightly smaller diameter which "quickens" the steering input and give you a slightly heavier steering feel. And also, being leather wrapped has a much nicer feel that the plastic ETA wheel

[Foonfer]

To clarify: My car came with the 4-spoke wheel, it's an 88 528e. The "Sport" wheel I was referring to is the uppermost "sport" wheel in your image, the 3-spoker which came stock with the 535is. The M-tech is the M-tech wheel, there's no doubts about that one.

I went for the sport and not for the \\\M for 2 reasons: 1. It costs less money, and 2. a M-tech wheel in a 528e seems plain wrong to me. Who am I fooling? It might be a Super, but it's still an Eta...

bonus take: I have seen the "uterus" wheel in a 533. Once you see it, you can't unsee it...

[Blue Shadow]

The sport wheel has better ergonomics than the ///M-Tech wheel. The spokes of the sports wheel fall to hand whereas the square spokes of the M-Tech are not a comfortable. Sure we don't usually have a hand hanging on the spokes but we for sure use them at times and that means it should be made comfortable. No M-Tech for me. but then I went momo and have been happy with that.

Good thing you stopped with the sport wheel and didn't go all the way $$$ to the M-Tech, cause you got the /// leaning the wrong way.

[Foonfer]

So it's ///M and not \\\M? Hmmm perhaps I was being sold a fake... Luckily I turned it down!

[Mike W.]

To clarify: My car came with the 4-spoke wheel, it's an 88 528e. The "Sport" wheel I was referring to is the uppermost "sport" wheel in your image, the 3-spoker which came stock with the 535is. The M-tech is the M-tech wheel, there's no doubts about that one.

I went for the sport and not for the \\\M for 2 reasons: 1. It costs less money, and 2. a M-tech wheel in a 528e seems plain wrong to me. Who am I fooling? It might be a Super, but it's still an Eta...

Interesting, I like the sport wheel a lot better than the 4 spokers.

bonus take: I have seen the "uterus" wheel in a 533. Once you see it, you can't unsee it...

Truth! Although it does have it's fans, but I'm not among them.

[Cactus]

I think I had a 533 wheel on my 528e at one point. I don't pay too much attention to the wheel, I've had a 4 spoke bus wheel and it doesn't really get in the way when driving hard.

[dsmith]

Mtech 1 baby! That and sport seats are my favorite items in 80's BMWs. My fingers aren't like sausages, though.

[duggi]

I've had all four wheels in my car and with 80k in my particular e28, am currently using the m-tech. The 4-spoke 528e wheel does have "hand rest" positions at 10 and 2 and is the largest-diameter of the bunch which lessens steering force. It also has the thinnest rim. I say "hand rests," because I'd argue that one should never "rest" their hands on the steering wheel while driving. The 533i "uterus" wheel is leather-wrapped, has a wider rim and a smaller diameter. It's actually quite comfortable to drive with...if you're not looking at it, and I prefer it in feel to the later 535i/is "sport" wheel. The 535i/is sport wheel, I believe, is smaller in diameter again than the 533i wheel, and leather-wrapped...I didn't really notice a difference in rim-thickness. The m-tech wheel is the smallest in diameter with the thickest rim. I prefer it for it's 9-3 positioning and the little thumb grooves in the inside of the 9-3 spokes that make it comfortable to grip properly.

The steering wheel doesn't really change the car, but it has a noticeable impact on the way the car can "feel," with the 4-spoke lending to a more carefree, comfortable feel and the m-tech at the other end of the spectrum lending a sporty, engaging feel.

[Blue Shadow]

The m-tech wheel is the smallest in diameter with the thickest rim.

The steering wheel doesn't really change the car, but it has a noticeable impact on the way the car can "feel," with the 4-spoke lending to a more carefree, comfortable feel and the m-tech at the other end of the spectrum lending a sporty, engaging feel.

There are different diameter M-Tech wheels but the standard one on the E28 is the same diameter as the sport wheel, 385mm. The Bus wheel is 400mm.

Although the steering wheel doesn't change the car, installing a Momo Motorsport 4 on my car made a huge difference. Thick lumpy rim with bumps and grooves right where you need em. Car is more fun to drive and you can hang on better, too.

[bobby in Derby City]

bonus take: I have seen the "uterus" wheel in a 533. Once you see it, you can't unsee it...

Truth! Although it does have it's fans, but I'm not among them.

Fan boy here. I've only had one albeit for around 96 hours. The M535iS body was heading to crusher and junker said he wanted a steering wheel for car? Wasn't letting that sport wheel go since I like to have every factory wheel for the E28. . Didn't want to let that go with car and wanted to keep all my others. Hit up "South26" and all he had was the "uterus" wheel with no leather on the outer rim. What hell is bobby talking about? Well I said every factory wheel, so that means both versions. Even went to many junkyards and was able to score some E23 wheels (Even weirder but neither fit). To have all the factory E28 ones, you gotta have coarse and fine versions of each too. Any way, "Uterus" was all Andy had so I threw it on there thinking that I'll come across another. Wish I went ahead and got one back then cause they are like unicorns now and plus they don't come in fine spline I believe?? Believe the "oracle of the desert" is a fan boy too! Only one I do not have. Oh! Let me take that back. 1 of 2 not possessed. ... that air bag wheel makes me wanna slit my wrists and just head to that grease whore heaven in da sky ... Cheers!

[Greg E34]

bonus take: I have seen the "uterus" wheel in a 533. Once you see it, you can't unsee it...

Truth! Although it does have it's fans, but I'm not among them.

Another big fan here. When I bought my 745i, my initial thought was the steering wheel had to go pronto.

I tried a sport wheel and an Alpina wheel, but quickly returned to the uterus. It is a very comfortable wheel and 5 plus years later, I absolutely love it.

[Blue Shadow]

When the blue Hartge first surfaced, purchased for $2500 from a used car lot in the northwest, the owner would have swapped the Hartge steering wheel for one of those uterus wheels.

[Mike W.]

I suspect the uterus wheel feels just fine driving, but I suspect many, and I know myself, don't like the visual appearance. To each his own and since I sold one years ago for a C note I'm glad some do like it!

[rodpaine]

Over the 30 years I had my '83 528e I spent quite a bit of time and money trying all sorts of steering wheels, including several I had recovered and two that were modified to fit the '83 528e coarse spline steering wheel shaft. The best in my opinion after considerable use were my Full leather AC Schitzner 350mm BMW steering wheel and the M-Tec II 370mm E36 M3 (fine-spline) steering wheel that I had a modified coarse spline hub built for. Some of the wheels are shown here on MyE28 at http://www.mye28.com/tech/rods_pages/id23.html.

As many here have noted, a great feeling steering wheel certainly does change how the car feels to drive. My 2015 Golf R has a 370mm flat bottom fat steering wheel, very much like the M-Tec II 370mm E36 M3 on my E28 and is certainly a reminder, feel wise, of my great old E28.
-Rod

AN UPDATE -
I went to the RBM Machine LLC web site to see if my contact was still a valid name and unfortunately I discovered that RBM Machine has closed their business! Sad news indeed, given their level of service and the skills they had. A truly significant loss! http://www.rbmmachine.com/

[Foonfer]

Thanks for the thoughts Rod. I take your word about the AC Schnitzer and the M-tech II wheels, but just looking at any of them would discourage me from going out for a drive (yes, I am that shallow). By God are they an ugly pair.

There has to be, has to be, something that performs the way you described, and rhymes better with the clean and sparse 80s aesthetics of the E28...

[LeiseyJr]

IMO, the sport wheel is way better to cruise with and rest your arm on the window sill. The M-Tech though is much more comfortable to hold at 9-3, and after finally getting one to own. Overall I like it more, to drive with. I think the sport wheel matches the E28's interior more, but to spirited drive with and to do skids, the m-Tech wins. Although I would only get an M-Tech if it was stupid cheap as mine and the coarse spline I found for my father was, because the sport wheel was already really good. It is 10x better than the 4 spoke. I've only driven the early sport wheel once, and I remember it feeling nicer but it just looks so bad to me I don't know if I could own one.