Nasco540i

Greetings, I recently purchased a 2003 Pearl White TL Type S to replace the daily duties that my Dinan 540i was slacking on.

I bought the car for a great deal and there's a lot of rough edges but ideally, I'm making this a comfortable daily driver that fulfills my VTEC Necessities.

I was choosing between this and a 6-6 Sedan and ultimately went with this as the seller was far more flexible on price. I really loved the steering wheel in the 7th Gen Accord and really don't like the one in my TL Currently. It reminds me too much of my mother's 2001 Accord, feels large and chunky and just doesn't get the job done quite like how I want.

I'm fairly good with electricals and was wondering how feasible it would be to get a 3-Spoke Wheel from a 7th Gen Accord Coupe and swap it over to retain full functionality of the cruise control, radio controls, and Airbag. I know as far as Electrical Component Compatability goes I need a dual-stage airbag and may need to make my own harnesses.

Looking for any input, suggestions, or feedback regarding this project as I will probably end up making a DIY out of it, if all goes well.

Karanx7

iTrader: (2)

I've seen someone swap in a 3G TL steering wheel without significant modification, but that's all I know.

Arkady

The electrical issue I think you'll definitely have to get creative with is routing the signals from the buttons on the wheel down the clockspring. I messed with mine to get some custom audio controls going down it, but people often a fit when I mention it. You might have to modify the buttons inside the new steering wheel, they're pretty basic analog buttons with different resistors for each button in the 2nd gen wheel. But that should be pretty simple to do.

Depending on how much "hollow space" your new wheel has, you might even be able to keep the original CC / Audio control button circuit boards intact. Just rewire the switches in those to the buttons on the new wheel, and tuck the board somewhere.

Midnight Mystery

Did you say you like the 7G Accord more than a TL?

Nasco540i

Just the Steering Wheel, everything else is kinda meh. If I found a 6-6 accord that has a J37 with the flow characteristics of the J32A2 in my car I would happily buy that in a heartbeat.

Nasco540i

I think I will be getting a 3G TL-S Wheel in there instead. The market for them is a lot larger and as a result, the prices are much more reasonable. That and I can find a way to actually use the Paddles. My understanding is that I need a 3G Clock Spring which won't be that hard to source. The only challenge I see at this point is finding a use for about 3 different buttons on the steering wheel.

Worse comes to worst I can just remotely mount all of it and go from there.

Fortunately, I have an Axxess ASWC1 on the way for my aftermarket radio so the real challenge will come with trial and error testing the cruise control functions on the wheel.