Jaguar XK8 / XKR Walnut Steering Wheel [Jaguar XK8 / XKR] - £495.00 : Myrtle Productions, fine wood car interiors and luxury steering wheels

The photo in the above-referenced site is of a four spoke wheel, probably for an XK8 series. Our steering wheels have three spokes, approximately at 3, 6 & 9 o'clock.
I have been in contact with Myrtle, and they tell me that they can and will make a three-spoke wheel. Cost should be about 560 pounds shipped to USA.
R & R-ing a steering wheel is usually quite simple, except with Jaguar. Two special tools are required. What this means for most of us is a costly trip to a dealer. Expect full installation, etc. costs to be about $1000.
I have lost interest for the present time, but offer this information to any who might consider this project.

 

Seems a tad pricey, but that's one of the things I miss about my XK8. There was something about the feel of the wooden steering wheel that felt rich and luxurious.

From looking at their solution, it doesn't appear as if a steering wheel removal is necessary. It seems to my uneducated eye that it's a matter of removing the leather wrap and attaching this wooden wrap over the same frame. I'm sure I can cause some tremendous damage in there somehow by stripping this off with a sawsall and a beer.

 

It'd be a shame to lose the Heated Steering Wheel.

 

I bought an entire set of replacement wood from Myrtle for one of my 86 VDP restorations.

Pro's from my experience.
First, the quality and fit was top shelf, excellent.
Prior to purchase, they were very responsive, both via email and phone. They even directed some light hearted "American" humor at my expense during a call. All in good fun, I'm sure.

Con's from my experience.
Timing wasn't an issue as they were very clear about how long it would take to receive. Shipping was a different experience altogether.

I received a notification from FedEx that my purchase was in U.S. customs. The fees to free the purchase up were in addition to what I'd paid Myrtle to ship. So FedEx was not included in their shipping estimate, just Myrtle to U.S. Customs. Tacked on an additional 2 weeks to free up the parts and get them to my door.

They either have very little experience shipping here to the U.S. (doubtful as they've been around a long time), or, are well aware of customs here in the U.S. and considered it my problem. Either way, they didn't return my calls or reply to my emails after they shipped.

With the shipping and packing label came more information that is(was) left off their website. I did ask in advance about core charge and was told there was none via telephone. Included with the packing slip was a notification that I had to return my old used centerpiece bits to them to avoid an additional charge on my credit card. Add to that, the notice itself was time sensitive and I'd lost two weeks while parts were hung up in customs.

Again, had I known, I would have taken this into consideration upon purchase. It costs a lot to ship overseas:-)

These are good folks but something was a miss. I thought I did my due diligence. Clearly I did not. All communications sent by me were civil and Socratic.

Bottom line to me is if cost is no consideration, the quality is superior.

I'm hoping my experience was unique. There are always two sides to every story. I'd have loved to have heard theirs.

 

Changing the steering wheel is actually quite easy. I recently had a carbon fiber flat bottom and ergonomic one made for my car. The only 2 things you will need are the airbag clip release tool, available for $50 and a socket to undo the bolt that holds the wheel to the column.

 

Just keep in mind that the wheel posted is for an x100, NOT an x150. I don't see any x150 stuff there.