Tom in Austin

I think I've read posts from people who say you can change the color of your leather steering wheel by re-dyeing it. However, I talked to a local leather place (that says they've done automotive leather work for many years), and they say there's no way to get a durable result. They say steering wheels are wrapped in vat-dyed & sealed leather and that if you change the color, that you'll eventually see the old color reappear through normal wear.

Has anyone done this? Did you have lasting results? I found a nice gray carbon-fiber wheel I want to put on, but need to change the color to match my interior (marine blue), and don't want to go through a lot of time and expense and not end up with a good result.

rixter

leather does wear.. eventually the dye will wear off, especially on the steering wheel
this is the same for dyeing seats... it'll look nice for a while, but if you drive everyday sooner or later you'll start to see some patches of the old color
928Specialist offer covers in many diff colors, and there are vendors that can provide the wheel in your color of choice.. you may want to speak to the folks who sell the wheel, many times they don't advertise that it's available in diff colors

gf261

On the leather dye question, if you re-dye in the same color, say with the stuff from Leatherique, how durable is it as far as wear and tear? I was looking at doing that on mine.

Sab

I've recovered the wheel of my '87 S4 and it came out great and only cost around $50. It's a real time consuming process though, but then it'll last for many years.

rixter

redyeing the same color is always better
bear in mind... your hands are on the wheel, sweat and oil from your pores are being rubbed into the dye and will expedite the wear in these areas

deliriousga

I can tell you in a couple of months. I'm doing my seats and wheel, re-dying the same color with Leatherique. It will take me awhile, though due to other obligations so PM me if you can wait that long and I'll get with you when I finish.