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Smaller Steering Wheel for 124?

2K views 8 replies 5 participants last post by  tjts1 
#1 ·
While watching a Peugeot TV commercial the brain started thinking of how to make the instrument panel on a 124 more visible. The instrument panel on the 124 can't be raised easily, so perhaps the answer is to reduce the size of the steering wheel.

The requirements (for me) are:

1. use a MB part
2. maintain an air-bag


So the question is - what MB steering wheel(s) with an air bag can be used on the 124?
 
#2 ·
I believe you have a 400mm wheel in your car, so a Sportline wheel would be smaller in diameter at 390mm. I've also seen people swap in the wheel off the W210 E55/W202 C43, which is 380mm. Whatever you get, you want to make sure it has the older style single-stage air bag - the later dual-stage are incompatible. I believe the switchover happened around the 2000 model year.
 
#4 · (Edited)
I recall reading something about air bag compatibility, for some reason I thought it had to do with the contact rings. It makes sense that as time moved on so did the technology and the introduction of a dual-stage.

After some quick research MB used dual-stage in a few cars starting in 2000, for the 124 it seems to have been used in the 1992-95 cars. From what I can tell it should be easy to determine the difference based on the number of wires attaching to the actual air bag. Maybe next week I can swing by my local indy or u-pull and confirm some of this.

Thanks!
 
#3 ·
Reducing the size of the steering wheel blocks the instrument panel more.

My pseudo racecar 300E had a 350mm momo wheel and it partially blocks the tach/temp etc. I can't have a bigger wheel in the car anyway, because I have long legs and working the clutch isn't fun when banging up against the wheel.
 
#5 · (Edited)
Contact ring / clock spring / slip ring / whatever you want to call it compatibility is an issue, but IIRC the issues can be solved by swapping rings around. I don't have the exact details, I'm afraid.

I had it in my head that the airbag update in '92 was for lifetime airbags, not dual stage, but that may be wrong.

EDIT: Upon rereading, it dawns on me that the above is actually not very helpful. "I think it's this, but it probably isn't." :rotfl:
 
#6 ·
Contact ring / clock spring / slip ring / whatever you want to call it compatibility is an issue, but IIRC the issues can be solved by swapping rings around. I don't have the exact details, I'm afraid.

I had it in my head that the airbag update in '92 was for lifetime airbags, not dual stage, but that may be wrong.
Good point that the rings can be swapped. More for me to research :wink

From what I can tell the change to lifetime bags coincided with the swap to dual-stage airbag's.
 
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