One feature I loved from my 2002 XKR was the wood steering wheel with the perfect thickened section at 10 and 2 for your index fingers. I just took a look at the XJR6 on Ebay in the other recent thread and noticed the same thing.

Is it safe to swap the steering wheel? Concerned about the air bag...

If so, recommended places to get it?

 

I swapped the wood steering wheel from my donor Sovereign into my daily driver Sovereign. As they are both (almost) identical X300's there were no issues at all.

First I disconnected the battery and connected the positive and negative terminals together to discharge the system. Some say this isn't needed, but with airbags I don't like to tempt fate. Either way, leave things alone for 5 minutes before starting any dismantling, belt and braces approach!

The airbag central panel in the wheel is removed by removing the screws located behind the panel itself, so you will have to turn the wheel from the horizontal to the vertical in turn, to access these screws. You can feel them if you reach behind the wheel.

Once removed, lift the airbag section away carefully to disconnect any connectors for same, including the horn. Place the airbag face down, in a safe place.

Then, ensuring that the wheel is in the "straight ahead" position, loosen the central nut on the steering column, but don't remove it fully. Once the nut is sufficiently loosened, pull on the steering wheel to disengage it from the splined shaft. Leaving the nut in place avoids any sudden dislodgement of the wheel and any subsequent broken noses. Once the wheel is loosened, remove the nut and remove the wheel.

Refitting is the reverse and maybe check for proper alignment of the steering wheel before you finish everything off completely.

Good luck.

 

My question is along the same lines, but slightly different.

If I remove the steering wheel audio/cruise controls from an X308 wheel, will it fit my 97 XJR6?

From what I can tell they're identical once the steering wheel controls are removed.