for those of you guys who has removed their steering wheel, how difficult is it? and is it dangerous to remove a wheel with an airbag? i have a 94 c220 and i need to replace the instrument cluster light. my steering wheel does not have telescopic option, it's basically fixed, so i surely would need to remove the s. wheel. any tips out there would help, thank you.

 

I don't believe no one in this forum has done this...please let me know how dangerous is this, I don't want the airbag to explode in my face.

 

Haynes Service and Repair Manual cover steering wheel removal in details and pictures. You can get a book on www.amazon.com
Good luck.

 

With the key off remove the airbag. Two torx screws on the back of the steering wheel. Then one bolt in the middle of the wheel. It is not dangerous at all. The only danger would come from a static eletricity shock to the airbag causing it to deploy, but I have never herd of this. I live in the south, lots of humidity and little static.

That being said. You do not need to remove the wheel. The cluster will slide out. It is tight but it will come out. What you need is to slide a piece of thin plastic or something in between the dash and the cluster when removing. This will protect the dash from damage. I use old microfish. good luck.

 

the biggest problem in removing the steering wheel is the b@$tard bolt in the middle!!! It's a 10mm hex bolt (f) but mine ended up as an 11mm! 3 top Ferrari mechanics and myself took 45 mins to get the f£$%er loose, then I had to order a new one.......

 

I'm about to take the steering wheel off of my '95 C220 so I can get the instrument cluster out. I didn't disconnect the airbag wires because you HAVE TO go to the dealer to have the airbag light turned off (might charge you for a hour?). I AM disconnecting the battery, but I will use a 9V battery that plugs into the ciragette lighter to preserve the radio settings. I don't think this battery is strong enough to set it off.... I already tried using a torque wrench with no luck. Next, I'm going to use a hand-held electric impact wrench. To be safe, I will not let the airbag touch the steering wheel while I'm using the wrench so it doesn't sense the vitrations. I don't know if this is necessary but I'm going to do it anyway. If I ever get the steering nut off, I'm going to put "anti-seize" grease on it (used on spark plugs, wheel lugs, etc.) so it's easier the next time.

Paul