horn steering wheel ground

[dishwashersafe]

Hey guys, I just picked up an 89 325iX... I'll introduce myself in another thread but for now I have an annoying issue I could use help on so I can get this thing inspected.

I removed the steering wheel (3 spoke sport) to get rid of the cruise control stalk and when I put the wheel back on, the horn stopped working. The slip ring/horns/buttons and all that work fine. I've isolated the issue to the wheel not being grounded - as in the rotating part of the steering column with the splines is not a ground - but the splined shaft is the only place (besides the slip ring) where the wheel contacts any other part of the car! I don't understand. Any advice?

[TobyB]

http://wedophones.com/BMWManualsLead.htm

Get your ETM here-

and look at the grounding scheme for the column. They dedicate
something like 10 pages to how things get back to ground.

I remember that there's a ring terminal that lands on the turn signal switch... but not much more than that.

If you need to ground it, just tie to the ground underneath the dash.

hth

t

[dishwashersafe]

Late reply I know... I checked the ETM and the steering column is grounded as it should be, but the ground terminal is to the outside of the steering column, not the rotating part that the wheel contacts! The only thing I can think to do now is fabricate a second slip ring for ground... doesn't sound fun or easy - there's got to be an easier way!