Crooked Steering Wheel and Mood Lighting Question

[m37envy]

Hello everyone,

Proud new owner of a 2011 m37 Liquid Platinum here Came from a 350z and found myself wanting a bigger, more luxurious ride (I guess I'm getting older). I've always fancied the M series but out of due diligence I had to take a look at the main competitors before pulling the trigger: the Audi A6, BMW 5 series and Benz E350. Our m37 wins by a landslide in my eyes. So here I am!

Anyhow, I guess since I was too darn excited at the moment, I didn't notice during my purchase at the dealership that my M's steering wheel is a bit crooked. By crooked, I don't mean that its off center (happens when car is not aligned). The steering wheel is centered, car drives straight. What I mean is that the steering wheel is facing a lil more to the left, and not staring at me, straight at my face. Anyone experience this? Are these sort of things covered by our warranty if I bring it into the dealership? ( car has 23,000 miles)

I also noticed the tiny mood light next to our map lights... its the little things that count and I appreciate how it adds to the cars ambiance at night. However, I am confused at the other 2 dots next to it (same size as the mood light that turns on). I don't see any lights in it, nor any options in the car's settings. Can anyone shed some light on this?

Any feedback would be appreciated. Thanks

[Mjkkb2]

welcome! The steering wheel issue was 'fairly' common. The dealer will straighten it out for you. It did for me under warranty.
Cannot help with the other query.

[m37envy]

welcome! The steering wheel issue was 'fairly' common. The dealer will straighten it out for you. It did for me under warranty.
Cannot help with the other query.

Thanks for the input. Big sigh of relief knowing that the warranty covers the steering wheel fix.

Hopefully someone can chime in regarding the mood lights.

[wideopn11]

I'm assuming you mean these...I have no idea what they are though.

[AlphaSnacks]

I believe those are the bluetooth mics for the passenger and driver.

[m37envy]

wideopn11 and alphasnacks, I guess the mystery has been solved. thanks for the info!

[m37envy]

Update everyone:

Took the car to the dealer to inspect the crooked steering wheel and after their inspection they told me that they took a look at other m37's and they all have the same crooked steering wheel... This cant be right??

[m37envy]

welcome! The steering wheel issue was 'fairly' common. The dealer will straighten it out for you. It did for me under warranty.
Cannot help with the other query.

The dealer basically told me that all the other M37's they looked at has the same crooked steering wheel issue. Because of that fact, there was nothing that they could do. Is my leg getting pulled?



Notice how the right side sticks out more than the left. Argh.

[Mjkkb2]

yes an no. I could believe all M's came with the steering wheel off center (strange as it may be). I don't believe there's nothing they can do. They can take it off and adjust it one notch. They did it for me. I will admit that mine was worse looking that the pic you posted. Maybe I am still a bit crooked. I will check at lunch time and report.

[m37envy]

yes an no. I could believe all M's came with the steering wheel off center (strange as it may be). I don't believe there's nothing they can do. They can take it off and adjust it one notch. They did it for me. I will admit that mine was worse looking that the pic you posted. Maybe I am still a bit crooked. I will check at lunch time and report.

Thanks for your input Mjkkb2, certainly puts me at ease that your dealer was at least willing to straighten it out for you.

I've rescheduled a service appt with another dealership and I can now at least tell them that they have fixed that issue for you, so they should do the same for me

I'm really confused as to why Infiniti would sell their cars production ready like this. How in the world did this pass their QA process? I LOVE my m37 but its just so darn awkward and off-putting to be driving with a crooked steering wheel

[Mjkkb2]

ok, looks like I may be misunderstanding your query. When U say 'crooked', do you mean the infiniti sign and controls on steering wheel are not 'level' when the wheels are pointing straight? OR do you mean that one side of the steering wheel is higher (closer to the driver) than the other?? The latter would be out of plane crookedness. Please elaborate.

[m37envy]

ok, looks like I may be misunderstanding your query. When U say 'crooked', do you mean the infiniti sign and controls on steering wheel are not 'level' when the wheels are pointing straight? OR do you mean that one side of the steering wheel is higher (closer to the driver) than the other?? The latter would be out of plane crookedness. Please elaborate.

That would be the latter:



Steering wheel is aligned in the sense that the infiniti sign is leveled when my wheels are point straight. Alignment is fine. It's just that one side is closer to me than the other. Was this the issue you had as well or was yours more of an alignment (wheels) issue?

[Mjkkb2]

Yes, I was thinking about the alignment initially, wchich us what I had fixed. I did try to see if the up down problem was visible in my car, but it was in the evening so I couldn't tell for sure. I will put a tape to it tomorrow, but from just looking it wasn't apparent that it's uneven like yours appear to be.

[Mjkkb2]

well, it's official: I have a crooked steering wheel! Thanks m37 for ruining it for me . I did run a tape back to the dash and it looks like the wheel is off about 3/16" I would never have noticed it if U didn't bring it up. My hope is I just forget about it over time. It really isn't noticeable, if you don't know about it. My car is out of warranty as of last week, so I will not be pursuing it with the dealer.

[m37envy]

well, it's official: I have a crooked steering wheel! Thanks m37 for ruining it for me . I did run a tape back to the dash and it looks like the wheel is off about 3/16" I would never have noticed it if U didn't bring it up. My hope is I just forget about it over time. It really isn't noticeable, if you don't know about it. My car is out of warranty as of last week, so I will not be pursuing it with the dealer.

Sorry about that

Honestly, I feel like I can live with it too as its only off by a little bit. However there are days when the OCD kicks in and I obsess over it. Since you are out of warranty, maybe you can look at the factory service manual and hopefully its an easy fix!