Staring Wheel...Change or Refinish?
 

I have the full leather wrap staring wheel on my 2005 XKR and it is showing signs of wear on the sable leather finish. Has anyone refinished one of these staring wheels and/or replaced them? If so how big a job is it to refinish and is it durable thereafter? Also, how big a job is it to change out the staring wheel on an XKR with the adaptive cruise control system? Is it a job for a Tech or can a novice mechanic do it?

Thanks

Tim

DO NOT use the staring wheel while driving. You'll go into a trance and crash.

Here... use this one. It doesn't seem worn at all.

Attachment 172671

But DON'T USE IT WHILE DRIVING!

Hey! You could always upgrade to the new model. I think this one is a big improvement, don't you?

Attachment 172670

One of the mods needs to lock this thread before Tim figures out his spelling error and corrects it. It would no longer be humorous then.

I prefer to stare at breasts, personally.

On a serious note, I used a leather dye kit I bought from ebay to refurbish the wear marks on my sable leather steering wheel and it came up like new.

I gave them the trim code and they supplied the correct colour matched dye along with a cleaning solution. It was easy to apply and only took a few minutes for each coat. I did it a year ago and it's only now showing signs of needing redoing on the edges. Would probably last a lot longer on areas that don't get as much wear.

All in all not quite as good as a new steering wheel, but a lot cheaper and easier.

The supplier is based in the UK but I think they ship overseas, so just search for Jaguar leather dye. Can't remember the name but he had a number of testimonials on his page.

Attached is a special set of staring wheels; when you look directly at one, it knows that it's being watched and stops moving, but others which aren't being looked at directly will then start moving.

Thanks Sam. Actually my steering wheel has become a staring wheel and hopefully will revert back to its original self soon.

Thanks for the helpful info abraxus. Did you remove the steering wheel and if so how difficult was it to do? And, about how long did the refinishing process take?

No you don't remove the steering wheel. Just clean it with the cleaning fluid and a cloth, then when dry I just "painted" the dye on in thin coats with a sponge brush and let it dry between coats.

Takes about 5 minutes to apply each coat, depending on how big an area you need to cover, then about an hour drying/beer time between each coat. 3-4 coats will probably be enough for the worst areas of wear.

Very simple and effective fix.

Apparently it works well on all leather areas such as worn seats etc but haven't had the need to try.

I bought leather dye from Leatherique and told them it was for my steering wheel and they also recommended their finishing solution(sort of like clearcoat on paint). It was for my RR and it turned out looking as new!

Maybe. But experience suggests that steering them is much more rewarding.

I love that! I actually printed it on a piece of paper and it does the same thing!