XKR convertible with tan interior, well my steering wheel was looking a bit dirty so i detail it, well it didnt turn out well and I actually rubbed the leather off the steering wheel looked grey/black from where i rubbed too hard.

i called a leather repair shop and they dyed/fixed it ($250) and my steering wheel looks brand spankin new!

moral of the story = dont scrub to hard and yes you can fix your steering wheel if you screw it up really bad. if you have a tan steering wheels consider getting it dyed again to bring it back to life.

ill post pics soon

 

Soap and water will bring it back. Heck even 409 will clean the dirt with a sponge and rag...

 

i had an M3 and i used one of those white erase pads and it worked for the bmw but not my jag, it took off some of the leather to the point of repair being needed

 

Because the steering wheel is leather-covered, only a leather cleaner/conditioner should be used on it - with a soft toothbrush to loosen the grime. This is an opportunity to remind people to be kind to the leather in the XK: use a GOOD conditioner *frequently*(meaning one with no silicones - and most of the "commercial" conditioners, even the ones produced by some of the major car-care manufacturers, contain silicones; a good one, for example, is Lexol, another is Leatherique, another is Autoglym and there are others too) on every leather part of the interior - and form many of the XK cars that means everything that is not wood, chrome or carpet - so that means the dash and door panels too. There is some vinyl on the door panels but it is not harmed by the conditioner, so if you are not certain, treat everything. Do NOT use the "wipes"!

 

As of this writing I have cleaned my caramel steering wheel twice in the last eight days. Why? a valet parker's and mechanics dirty hands. It seems that almost every time I let one of these people touch the car they get grease and oil all over the steering wheel. It gets very annoying.

Anyway, Jaguar included a small bottle of leather cleaner/conditioner which does a nice job and the instructions are simple and easy to follow.

 

I like a 3m's leather cleaner Really gets any stain or dirt out and follow up with lexol