[nemith]

So long story short. I was installing my Paddle Shifter Retrofit kit and I broke my old clock spring so I bought another one.

installation was simple. I pointed the wheels completely straight, removed the old clock spring and installed the new one and everything felt great.

Then i backed out of a parking spot and turned the wheel hard to the right and I felt something pull loose. None of the buttons on my steering wheel work any longer. Luckily I don't seem to have an air bag failure (yet?).

So what Did i do wrong? Am I supposed to install the clock spring when the wheel completely turned to the left or right? I didn't break off the red tab until it was installed to the car so there is no chance that i moved while outside of the car.

Anyone else familiar with the clock spring? I am not happy spending another $100+ bucks on another clock spring. The Bentley manual had nothing on the subject.


According to TIS I replaced it properly as well (see attachment)


EDIT: Installed new one. Broke in the exact same manner.

[E90Brad]

Sending you a pm

[nemith]

I took out the clockspring and used a multimeter to test continuity on the wires/traces. They are all broke except the 4 traces going to the steering wheel heater.

So has anyone replaced a clock spring? Looks like i need to buy another one (another $100 down the drain), but I don't want to break the new one. Anyone know what I did wrong when installing it.

Again the steering wheel was straight. I installed the clockspring and then broke off the red tab. Everything was lined up straight.

Edit:

I opened up the clock spring and you can see connections disconnected:

View post on imgur.com

View post on imgur.com

[onebadmofo]

I have my old clockspring if you want.
http://www.e90post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=597765

[nemith]

Originally Posted by onebadmofo

I have my old clockspring if you want.
http://www.e90post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=597765

Did it come out of a car with the steering wheel heater (there is 4 extra connections / blue cable sticking out)?

[onebadmofo]

Nope, came out of my 335 which never had heated steering wheel

[rakimb17]

Can you post pics of your wheel with the airbag removed and the steering column.
I'd like to see the extra wires for the heated wheel.

[nemith]

Originally Posted by rakimb17

Can you post pics of your wheel with the airbag removed and the steering column.
I'd like to see the extra wires for the heated wheel.

You can see in in the clockspring pictures above. It's the 4 wires that stick out with the blue connector. Those come out in the same connector as the airbag on the backside of the clockspring.

Looking at doing a retrofit? I don't think it would be that difficult. The heater button is one the steering wheel column and goes directly into the harness. Although I haven't traced anything out.

[Elliott@DetailAddict]

That's crazy. Possibly a defective clock spring or it was tweaked during the installation. No way it should have severed like that.

[onebadmofo]

Make sure your wheels are straight when you are installing the clockspring!
What probably happened is that you had the steering wheel turned either one or two rotations in either direction.

[Elliott@DetailAddict]

Hmm he mentioned he made sure they were completely straight. Or did you mean the steering wheel was straight but didn't check the wheels OP?

[nemith]

Ok Wheel and TIRES were completely straight. Replaced the clockspring with a brand new one. Went no longer than a day and broke the new clockspring again!

So apparently this is not the correct way to install a clock spring or I happened to got two faulty clocksprings or installing it with the wheel straight is the wrong way to install it.

[jacobsed]

Did you figure out what the problem was? I'm about to install a new clock spring and don't want to do the same thing. Thanks!

[nemith]

Still no clue, broke another clock spring in the mean time.

[Alex_WLY]

hello
can you help me with some info pls.
i have a e90 2006.i have a steering wheel heated and i want to instal it on my car.
can you help me with a part no for that pice what need to be replaced?

it's posibile to replace just the conectors from the steering column?
when you say steering wheel clockspring you reffer to foil with wires?

if it's posible to change just foil with wires can you give me a part no pls?
thnks

[afsar]

I am by no means an expert but this is what how I would do it if I ever needed to do it myself.

First make the steering wheel straight as you did before, wheel straight in center. Take the clock sprint and with your finger rotate it all the way to clockwise and then reverse it all the way to the anti-clockwise direction. Make a note of number of full rotations and make sure you rotate it back in the middle of both the extremes. Reason for rotating rings to both the ends is to ensure you can find a center position. Only thing I see wrong in your failed installations above is your steering wheel has been centered but your ring wasn't, thats why it broke.

Hope it helps.

[UsedF10M5]

Did this ever get resolved? Might be attempting mine here soon. Same thing here, the controls and paddle shifters are not working, the horn still works though. Odd.

[I35it]

I messed with my clock spring and I just had to make sure the arrows on the back lined up and it was all good. Now my only issue why my horn keeps staying on.

[MiniXP]

Originally Posted by Sikh335xi

Did this ever get resolved? Might be attempting mine here soon. Same thing here, the controls and paddle shifters are not working, the horn still works though. Odd.

I have the same issue with my buttons not working, but my horn works.

I read on another forum a guy just fixed the connector for his buttons. I may take my wheel off this weekend and see if I can do that rather than getting a new clock spring.

[porsche959]

Old thread but anyone looking to replace a clock spring, make sure the actual clock spring unit is centered.

The clock spring can rotate around 6 full turns so make sure it’s right at the middle at 3 turns from both left and right before installing the steering wheel straight.

I think some of the issues above are from the clock spring being removed from a car that wasn’t centered.

[Canuck335]

Sorry to necro an old thread but how does one make sure the clock spring is centered?

Edit:
Figured it out (I think.. is this right)?

- There's a white pin on the front of the clock spring assembly, and if it's at the 4 O'clock position the clock spring will be locked in place (will only move 10-15 degrees left or right)
- Pressing in the white pin and holding it will allow the clock spring to rotate freely.
- Turning it all the way counterclockwise from center is about 3 full turns

[BeaterM3]

Another necro here.

A few people have stated its 6 full turns left to right. This is wrong. There is no center with 6 full turns.

The clock spring has 5 full rotations. From all the way over from counterclockwise to the center is 3 full turns...same as from clockwise to center.

With the clock spring, full left 1 to 2 - ( 3 center ) - 2 to 1 full right.

With ur steering wheel centered, you can turn just over 1 full rotation from center to full left and from center to full right.

From 3 center, 2 left clock spring turns = 1+ steering wheel left turn. From 3 center 2 right clock spring turns = 1+ steering right wheel turn.