Newer style steering wheel retrofit for 1991 and earlier W124

The newer "Sportline-style" steering wheel was on several different Mercedes-Benz in the 1990's... W140, R129, W210, and even later model W124
Unfortunately, you can't just fit this into your 1986 - 1991 W124 E-Class. It requires some extra work. In this video, I show the steps I did to retrofit it.
The "squib" (contact ring) part number I got is 000-460-00-49. It's a bit expensive (~$170 USD) so you should scout for 1992 and 1993 cars in your local junk yards.
If you have a model year 1992 or 1993 W124, you should already have this part! Depending on the steering wheel you have, you'll have to cut a line like I show in this video

[@bsclifton]

Correction: I thought this was a Sportline steering wheel at the time I made the video, but this is just a regular later model steering wheel (400mm). The Sportline looks similar but is smaller (390mm). If you want more specifics, please check out www.500eboard.co/forums/ which has a lot of information 🙂

[@Spiderwithweb]

Nice info, thanks! they look the same but somehow different haha Anyway if i'm not mistaken, the w202 stock steering wheel is 390mm?

[@dolmio_sauce]

hi, does the horn operate without any issues? as on my steering wheel the wire you added at 11:11 doesnt go from the female connector in the middle to the male connector on the outer top left. On mine it it runs from the female connector then goes to the underside where it runs along each corner of the horn contacts. I have a new refurbished steering wheel so im just looking to know if I will need to run a wire with metal contacts along the underside or if running the wire like you have it will work instead. Cheers.

[@bsclifton]

Super glad you asked - the way I did it worked... but something was shorting occasionally (every few days). I should make an updated video to share that. I ended up tossing this inside assembly in the trash and replacing it with the inside portion of the steering wheel from a 1993 300E (1992 works also; 1991 is the older W126 style one) and that was already wired correctly

[@dolmio_sauce]

⁠@@bscliftonthanks for the info. Im gonna try to do the same, source one that already has the wiring in place and move it over

[@rioraton]

Brian, any chance on you doing a video of R R a clock spring and the plate behind it. I have a 92 500sl but I think it is the same as a 124? I have an intermittent srs light and If I giggle the wheel when it comes on it goes out?

[@bsclifton]

Good question - I'll keep that in mind. I did pull a great condition 1992 steering wheel for w124 from junkyard. Basically, I would replace the "squib". This is the contact ring which has the SRS wire connector. It's one piece and yours may have gone bad over time. The part number should be in the video- it's easy to replace

[@panikkospanayiotou1083]

How do you connect the steering wheel on to other side connections

[@bsclifton]

I'm not exactly sure what you mean? The red connector shown in the video connects to the airbag. The back of the steering wheel has the metal contacts for clock spring - when the steering wheel is put in place, this makes electrical contact. 1994 and 1995 had a different type of connector. Maybe this is what you have?

[@cph3459]

So to be clear this will allow me to convert a clock spring type wheel to the ring style? In other words new gen wheel on an older gen W124?

[@bsclifton]

The best case scenario would be to get a steering wheel from a 92 or 93 W124 - both the inside insert and the clock spring portion. You can then put that into newer steering wheels and it'll work great! In this video, I tried to reuse the inside of the newer 94 wheel. It did work- but it's a sloppy way to do it. Later, I got the inside structure from a 93 300E and switched it out

[@cph3459]

Well i have a 94 with a clock spring but it bolts on the steering shaft differently. Doesn’t seem like it will work.

[@bsclifton]

@@cph3459 What type of 1994 was the wheel from originally? And what type of car are you putting it into? The one in my video is from a 1994 S500. 94 and above use a ribbon (cable with like 5 wires)

[@ramezsamir7811]

Could you post the screwdriver you use cause I couldn't find it

[@bsclifton]

For the rear of the airbag, it's a Torx T30. Once the air bag is removed, the center bolt is a #10 hex drive. For the inner parts, it should also be Torx - maybe T30 or T25. Let me know if this helps! 🙂