Retrimming a steering wheel: leather, Alcantara and what to know first

The steering wheel is the part of the cabin you touch most and the first to wear: it shines where the hands rest, cracks in the sun and loses its feel. It is also the only part with an airbag inside. A retrim involves more decisions than it seems — what happens to the airbag, what the rim is covered in, whether it carries a centre marker and what colour the thread is.

By Royal Stitch · Published 18 October 2026

Hands hand-stitching a pale thread seam on black leather

Illustrative image

First of all: the airbag

To cover the rim, the airbag module has to come out of the centre. In Spain, the regulation on pyrotechnic articles and cartridges, approved by Royal Decree 989/2015, classes vehicle airbags as category P1 pyrotechnic articles. It states that they are not to be made available to the general public unless fitted in a vehicle or a removable part of one, and reserves any mechanical work on them to experts.

In practice, that means taking the airbag out and refitting it is a job for a professional, following the car maker’s procedure. It is worth asking who does it, and how, before you hand over the car.

The airbag
Out before the rim is touched, back in at the end, by a professional.
The cover
Leather or Alcantara, over whatever lies beneath.
The stitching
Matching the material, or in contrast.
The 12 o’clock marker
Marks the centre; it usually matches the thread.

A steering wheel from the front: the airbag comes out, the rim is covered, the airbag goes back. A diagram, not to scale.

A retrim is not a new wheel

A replacement steering wheel with an airbag is a different matter. UN Economic Commission for Europe Regulation No 114 sets out how replacement airbag modules, and replacement steering wheels fitted with them, are type-approved. A retrim keeps the original wheel and its airbag: the cover changes, not the part.

Leather or Alcantara on the rim

Manufacturers offer both. BMW lists an M steering wheel in Alcantara with the same design as the leather one, and sells an Alcantara wheel accessory for the 5 Series on the strength of its grip. Porsche offers the 911 GT3 with an Alcantara rim and the airbag module covered in black leather.

The combination makes sense: the rim is where you grip, and the centre is what you see and wipe clean. Each material asks for different things in daily use, and that is worth knowing before you choose.

The 12 o’clock marker

It is a band of another colour at the top of the rim that marks the wheel’s centre position. Porsche offers it as an option on the 911 GT3 and the Cayenne Turbo GT, and its Classic sports steering wheel has it in red, with red stitching to match. BMW fits it in red on its M wheels, and in the edition colour on special editions.

In a retrim, you decide whether to keep it, change its colour or add one where there was none. It goes with the thread: in the manufacturers’ own examples, the marker and the stitching usually match.

Thread and stitching

The thread can match the hide, all but disappearing, or contrast with it. BMW uses yellow contrast stitching on an edition of the M4 CS, matching its 12 o’clock marker; Porsche offers deviated stitching on the Cayenne Turbo GT. Thread, marker and material are judged together, on a sample, before anything is cut.

Heating and sensors

Some steering wheels are heated. BMW, for one, includes a heated Alcantara-trimmed wheel in a special edition of the M2. If the wheel is heated, or has sensors in the rim, that needs to be known before it is taken apart: the new cover goes over whatever lies underneath, and has to respect it.

What to ask before you leave the car

These questions make the job clear before it starts:

The airbag: Who removes and refits it, and following which procedure?
The wheel: Is the original retrimmed, or replaced with another?
The material: Leather, Alcantara or both? And the centre?
The marker: Kept, recoloured or added?
The thread: Matching or contrasting? In step with the marker?
What lies beneath: Is it heated? Are there sensors in the rim?

The service

A steering wheel due a new cover?

Complete interiors in leather and Alcantara for sports and classic cars, steering wheel included, with material, colour and stitching agreed on a sample. The service page explains how the work is done.

Sports and classic car upholstery in Marbella Make an enquiry

Sources

The airbag rules come from the BOE, Spain’s official gazette; each option, from the manufacturers themselves. Each source was found by searching the publisher’s own site.