I have very long legs and am thinking of replacing the wheel on my 83 300sd.

Because I'm tall, I have the front of the driver's seat raised to give me some leg support. In city driving my leg bangs into the bottom of the steering wheel every time I lift my foot from the gas to the brake pedal.

Does anyone know of a reasonably priced source of smaller diameter wheels that will fit? Performance Products prices for this are outrageous.

And yes, I do realize that this will obscure the top of the dials but that is a small price to pay for a proper driving position .......

I would move the seat back a few inches and leave the steering wheel alone. my 2¢

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How tall are you?
my brother is 6'9" and with the seat ALL the way back, he has no issues with the wheel.
John

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I am interested also in what is entailed in swapping the steering wheel.
Not for the leg bumping reasons but on my car the PO put a SRS airbag steering wheel in and I'd like to put the original (from the parts car) back in.

Anyone know how to do this? Special tool required?

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1983 300SD 296K+
1984 300SD parts car

The steering wheels with the SRS can be removed by first removing the allen bolts behind the steering wheel. The air bag can then be removed. After the air bag is removed, you can remove the remainder of the steering wheel becauase the bolt that holds it on is now visable. I usually use an impact wrench to loosen the bolt as Mercedes overly tightens it.

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I think this is all down to how you like to sit!

I am only 6'1" but have long legs ... I prefer to have the front edge of the seat cusion a little raised and I always drive with the seat all the way back. On the SD I cannot put my leg straight under the steering wheel on the brake - I have to bend my leg to the right around the bottom of the wheel.

On the highway this is fine but in the city it's a pain. The biggest issue I can see with my beloved w126 is that the leg room is rather limited given the huge exterior length of the car. I learned to drive in an old MGB and in that car if I pushed the seat all the way back I could not reach the pedals! Magic...

back to topic - an 83 SD does not have airbags so getting the wheel off SHOULD BE easy... but anyone know of a source of replacements that fit and have a smaller dia?

Cheers

Ebay. Try a search for Mercedes steering wheel. I'm not a big fan of the style of most of the aftermarket wheels though.

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