Club Touareg Forum banner

T3 Steering wheel paddle shifters

79830 Views 181 Replies 47 Participants Last post by  adidas
8
The steering wheel has to be swapped out for a wheel with paddle shifters. Part: 7P6419091C is for the black leather steering wheel with paddle shifters. Part: 7P6419091F is for the heated black leather steering wheel with paddle shifters. Other part numbers could apply, brown leather, etc. The airbag should be a direct fit; no special wiring harness needed.

Step 1: Turn the steering wheel to 90 degrees. Use a small screwdriver to release the airbag clip on the back of the wheel and pull out slightly on that side of the airbag.

Step 2: Turn on the car and turn the wheel 180 degrees. Turn off the car. Repeat removal of the airbag clip on this side; the airbag should come all of the way out. There are two wiring connectors between the airbag and the steering wheel; disconnect both.

Step 3: Use a socket set and spline bit to remove the bolt holding the wheel down. Mark the point on the base of the wheel where the tick mark on the original wheel is positioned. Slide the original wheel off.

Step 4: Slide the new wheel on while paying attention to where the tick mark is positioned. Replace the bolt that holds the wheel in place. Reconnect the airbag connectors and push the airbag back on. The airbag should click back in to position with a little pressure.

Step 5: Coding.

VCDS
16 - Steering Wheel
07 - Coding
Long Coding Helper
Byte 2
Bit 5 (Tiptronic Installed)
Check the Box (Change from 0 to 1)

Step 6: Clear fault codes. I kept the car off while the airbag was disconnected so I didn't get an airbag fault code. I did have to clear a fault code off of the Steering Wheel Module 16 because I test drive the car before reprogramming the Module for the new wheel.

Attachments

See less See more
  • Like
Reactions: 3
1 - 20 of 182 Posts
Added. Nice write up!
TDInDC, you da man! I'll do mine this weekend.

Thank You for the write up!
Excellent how-to.
No Problem! It was an easy enough project... I'm surprised no one else had attempted it. 2 years ago, I swapped the wheel on my S5 Cab with an RS5 wheel... new airbag, big pain. Hope it goes well for everyone else!
Where did you purchase the wheel? Any idea what the brown part number would be for heated with paddles?
10
Done! Just finished mine too. Everything works as advertized :).

TDInDC gave pretty good instructions, however I'd like to add some small details.

1- When releasing an airbag tab I'd recommend flattest screwdriver one can find.
2- Don't be afraid to pull on that tab, it is made out of metal and won't break.


3- you will need a T-55 bit to unscrew the steering wheel.



4- When removing an airbag connector make sure to pull the green safety tab our before pulling the plug. Make sure your vehicle is off and if you have KESSY have the key away from the vehicle.


5- After removing a center nut I marked a center with a marker, the steering wheel already has a center groove.


6- Center nut has loctite from the factory. Just in case I've applied a fresh coat before reinstalling it. I also torqued it to 80Nm (not a verified number).


7- After installing the wheel and before re-installing an airbag, make sure that none of the wires are in the gaps where airbag legs sit.



And voila! The install is done. Follow OP's coding directions then take it for a test drive!



Once again, Thank You TDInDC for your inspiration and pioneering this mode.
See less See more
Correction: from what I've gathered on various web sites the center bolt should be torqued to 50Nm not 80Nm as I stated before. Once again I am not a VW tech and can not confirm this number.
Great DIY!! Great mod too. For us tech challenged; after installing the steering wheel, can the vehicle be driven to a local coding person? Also, are these steering wheels heated? One more, are the paddle shifters rev matching?
1- I see no reason why you wouldn't be able to drive it to someone with VCDS. Everything should work except the paddles.

2- Yes, the ones TDInDC and I bought are heated, Make sure you use the correct part number which the OP mentioned.

3- It's no DSG. There is no difference between shifting with paddles or the knob.
So the steering wheel we are purchasing is an R steering wheel? And how did you decipher the German website info. Of the various links posted I see a wide variety of prices (I think) and I don't want to screw it up! Can you give us an idea how long it took you to get your wheel?

Gee, I am so excited I can't see straight! Woot!
Great added details T-Reguan! I'm too impatient to take pictures all the way along ;)

I think this has been discussed in other posts but I also disabled "Current Gear Display suppressed" thus showing the current gear in the dash. It pairs perfectly with the paddle shifters... If I'm in drive it will show "D" and the current gear; I hit the "+" paddle shifter and the "D" disappears indicating I'm shifting now with the paddles. I also haven't noticed any difference in transmission behavior; other users have complained about changing the transmission coding and its effect on shifting pattern. I'm glad I tried it!

Here is the coding:

Attachments

See less See more
I got my steering wheel from this user on ebay.com; delivered in less than two weeks. This one does not have the heated function. $340 seems about right for new.

New Steering Wheel Black Leather multifunction Vw Touareg 7P 201113 7P6419091C New Steering Wheel Black Leather Multifunction VW Touareg 7p 2011 13 7P6419091C | eBay
I got my steering wheel from this user on ebay.com; delivered in less than two weeks. This one does not have the heated function. $340 seems about right for new.

New Steering Wheel Black Leather multifunction Vw Touareg 7P 201113 7P6419091C New Steering Wheel Black Leather Multifunction VW Touareg 7p 2011 13 7P6419091C | eBay
Thanks, TDInDC. I'll keep searching. I am looking for a heated black wheel. A quick search of EBay using your supplied part number only yields wheels with airbags for $850.

I'll try to search German EBay that T-Reguan recommends. But the language barrier is a challenge. They "seem" drastically more than $340 but I really can't tell what I am looking at.

I think I'm getting closer!
Brad,

See my post #9, this is the one you want (R-line and heated), the other ones are with airbags included. I bought mine from that seller over a year ago and it seems like TDInDC did too. The guy is genuine and ships fast. Good Luck!
Brad,

See my post #9, this is the one you want (R-line and heated), the other ones are with airbags included. I bought mine from that seller over a year ago and it seems like TDInDC did too. The guy is genuine and ships fast. Good Luck!
Thanks for all the help!
Any concern of the airbag going off when taking it out? I remember reading about other steering wheel mods where people would disconnect the battery and even discharge any stored energy in the system.
1 - 20 of 182 Posts
Top