this wonderful coupe that i acquired last month was equipped with the amg leather steering wheel. if you know that wheel, you will know that it is designed and fabricated to orient your hands[probably to position them for the behind the wheel shifting switches if manual shifting is selected].

in a month of driving, my orthopod and i have determined that the design of this wheel has probably been aggravating the osteoarthritis in my hands/wrists. and possibly causing conditions that will require surgical repair if the cortisone injections fail to alleviate the inflammation.

the wood/leather wheel in my 2006 cl500 must be more benign[it doesn't force a hand orientation] as i encountered no similar aggravation in my hand/wrist arthritis in 27,000 miles of driving it.

is there/was there a steering wheel for these cl55amg cars that is more similar to the wheel in the cl500? that still incorporates the behind-the-wheel shift capability?

all ears.