Citroen C5 Steering Wheels, they don't wear well ...

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Prof. Dr. Holzauge
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Citroen C5 Steering Wheels, they don't wear well ...

Post by Prof. Dr. Holzauge »

I've recently reconditioned a couple of C5 leather steering wheels for Finnish Citroën enthusiasts with the Furniture Clinic Leather Colourant Kit. The results have been very encouraging so far, some before/after photos available here in my message on a Finnish Citroën forum.

To me it looks like Citroën has tried to minimize the production costs and rather mediocre quality leather has been used, covered heavily and thickly with a really waxy coating. Otherwise very nice, but it just doesn't work the way it should.

In order to do the thing properly, the leather should be dyed rather thinly with decent leather dye and then sealed with clear leather finish. That's exactly what Furniture Clinic's kit does. Judging on the wheels I've done so far, there is no evidence of any clear sealant on top of the waxy black/greyish coating... Leather Prep is not really needed for removing it, since most of it can be removed with a brush, soap and water... Naturally it's wise to use it at the end to finish the removal of the old coating.

It looks like the original colour of the wheel is dark grey; I've used the black leather dye, since with the matt finish it does not actually look that black in natural light. Furniture Clinic's standard colour GRY08 (dark grey) might not be dark enough.
Last edited by Prof. Dr. Holzauge on 17 Dec 2013, 15:08, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Citroen C5 Steering Wheels, they don't wear well ...

Post by waynedance »

Looks great, I would love to do my wheel.

How easy it is to do?
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Re: Citroen C5 Steering Wheels, they don't wear well ...

Post by jgra1 »

mine has a boy racer cover I found lying around somewhere in a breaker.. I would certainly miss it now if it was removed,

makes the wheel chunky and not sticky.. needs a wash though now ;)

fitting was reminiscent of a tyre to a pushbike wheel..
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Re: Citroen C5 Steering Wheels, they don't wear well ...

Post by qprdude »

Can't agree. Saying C5 steering wheels don't wear well is a bit wide reaching.
My X7 wheel is superb as far as I'm concerned.
Could you be a bit more specific in what C5 steering wheel you don't like?
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Re: Citroen C5 Steering Wheels, they don't wear well ...

Post by waynedance »

Think they are referring to early French C5's :-D
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Re: Citroen C5 Steering Wheels, they don't wear well ...

Post by qprdude »

Ah, I had visions of my heavily buttoned wheel falling to pieces.
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Re: Citroen C5 Steering Wheels, they don't wear well ...

Post by Northern_Mike »

waynedance wrote:Think they are referring to early French C5's :-D
Yes. Both of mine have been awful.

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Re: Citroen C5 Steering Wheels, they don't wear well ...

Post by waynedance »

Would love to see a detailed how to on refurbishing the steering wheels.
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Re: Citroen C5 Steering Wheels, they don't wear well ...

Post by Citroenmad »

qprdude wrote:Can't agree. Saying C5 steering wheels don't wear well is a bit wide reaching.
I always refer to the C5I and C5II as I have not yet had the Germanic C5III. They are so very different cars that the wheels will hopefully last longer without "decomposing".

Was it really that difficult or expensive to use actual leather instead of that cheap imitation stuff which deforms?

The early C5 LX and SX have plain, non-covered, wheels which do wear but don’t melt like the leather-look ones do. Mind, take a look at a C2 VTR or similar and they have other problems, the leather effect peals off those.

It’s interesting that someone has found a repair for these, I wouldn’t have thought that possible as its not real leather.

My Xantias have proper leather on their steering wheels and its still perfect and very nice to hold.
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Re: Citroen C5 Steering Wheels, they don't wear well ...

Post by Prof. Dr. Holzauge »

There are three types of steering wheels used in C5 I & II:

4109 EK, 'honest' plastic steering wheel (haven't seen any of these in C5 II's, at least here in Finland)
4109 FN, 'fake leather' steering wheel, with stitching and all although it's not leather
4109 EX, real leather steering wheel, has an easily noticeable soft padding under the leather (unlike 4109 FN)

My repair method applies to 4109 EX only!!!

Detailed instructions will follow in a couple of days. (For those of you with fluent Finnish skills, they are here). Someone asked whether the operation was easy to do. Well, it's not difficult. All you need is a bit of time (no driving for 2-3 days), patience, attention to detail and a bit of effort. No rocket science at all. Even I could do it.

The method is pretty well demonstrated in this instruction video by Furniture Clinic.
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Re: Citroen C5 Steering Wheels, they don't wear well ...

Post by GB »

Damn, my car comes with the fake leather s/w, and it is falling to pieces now. Really hate this steering wheel, it's just awful.
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Re: Citroen C5 Steering Wheels, they don't wear well ...

Post by JohnD »

Nearly two years ago I bought and fitted one of these:
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/FITS-CITROEN- ... 3a61a8b315" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
It comes with the shaped leather, needle and sufficient thread to complete the job. It takes quite a time to complete but certainly looks and feels good when it's finished. Even after two summers, there's no stickiness like there was with the original.
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Re: Citroen C5 Steering Wheels, they don't wear well ...

Post by jgra1 »

hmm I like that.,

thanks Mr D,.

all I need now is a cute seamstress and I am done ;)
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Re: Citroen C5 Steering Wheels, they don't wear well ...

Post by Fake Concern »

It seems strange that they used different materials for the various models. My C4 dates from 2005 & I don't know if it's real or fake leather on the wheel, but it still looks & feels good after 8+ years & 130000+ miles.
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Re: Citroen C5 Steering Wheels, they don't wear well ...

Post by waynedance »

JohnD wrote:Nearly two years ago I bought and fitted one of these:
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/FITS-CITROEN- ... 3a61a8b315" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
It comes with the shaped leather, needle and sufficient thread to complete the job. It takes quite a time to complete but certainly looks and feels good when it's finished. Even after two summers, there's no stickiness like there was with the original.

Got the same fitted to mine, has lasted well.
Volvo S80 D5.........
C5 2.2HDi Exclusive 2003 manual (now gone).
2009 Renault Megane, the misses drive.
Had a 1988 BX 19TRS Auto many moons ago.
Forgive any spelling mistakes, it's the phone not me.
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