T3 Steering wheel paddle shifters

79615 Views 181 Replies 47 Participants Last post by adidas, 20 d ago

TDInDC

Discussion Starter · Aug 28, 2014

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.

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Reactions: 3

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k21975

· #21 · Sep 6, 2014

Anyone find a part number or link to a brown one, yet?

T-Reguan

· #22 · Sep 7, 2014

TDInDC said:
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:

I love the fact that I can shift with paddles without throwing lever into M first, makes this mod double worth it.

I for one did/do feel the difference in how my tranny shifts after enabling a gear display. I believe there is more to it than just a gear display. My tranny behaves and shifts considerably better, almost like it is in S but not quiet. And no. I did not do a tranny reset.

throttlelink

· #23 · Sep 7, 2014

I have a question for T-Regaun or TDInDC. I have a Lux model and therefore no heated wheel. I'd love to be able to add this as well as the paddle shifters. I can buy the wheel with heat and shifters, but I don't see the option to turn on the heat in VAGCOM. In the long coding section of steering wheel, bits 0,2 and 4 are checked as defaults in Byte 2 just like your screen shot. Can either of you look at bytes 0 or 1 to see if any bits are checked. None are checked on my vehicle. I'd like to see if that is where you can turn on the heated steering wheel. Alternatively, does anybody know where to turn on the heated steering wheel function in VAGCOM?

douggoldberg

· #24 · Sep 7, 2014

I corresponded with the seller of the black wheel. He does not have the same wheel in brown. Bummer.

k21975

· #25 · Sep 8, 2014

T-Reguan said:
I love the fact that I can shift with paddles without throwing lever into M first, makes this mod double worth it.

Sure. Rub it in for us 'Brownies'. I'm actually wondering if a black wheel would look out of place?

T-Reguan

· #26 · Sep 8, 2014

k21975 said:
Sure. Rub it in for us 'Brownies'. I'm actually wondering if a black wheel would look out of place?

show us your interior and we'll vote

k21975

· #27 · Sep 10, 2014

T-Reguan said:
show us your interior and we'll vote

I would, but I don't have my car yet. :anger: I've bought and paid for it, but now I'm trying to get it up to Boston from VA. Anyone want to take a road trip?

BlackhawkS6

· #28 · Sep 10, 2014

k21975 said:
I would, but I don't have my car yet. :anger: I've bought and paid for it, but now I'm trying to get it up to Boston from VA. Anyone want to take a road trip?

How much do you pay?

k21975

· #29 · Sep 10, 2014

I'm probably going to pay around $700 from VA to MA on Uship.com, but how cool would it be for a fellow Tregger to rent a Uhaul car trailer and deliver my new Treg with their Treg! I'd pay the same!

Anyway, we are getting off topic. What about brown shoe polish on the black wheel?

(I really want the paddle shifters!)

HokieTouareg

· #30 · Oct 6, 2014

k21975 said:
I'm probably going to pay around $700 from VA to MA on Uship.com, but how cool would it be for a fellow Tregger to rent a Uhaul car trailer and deliver my new Treg with their Treg! I'd pay the same!

Anyway, we are getting off topic. What about brown shoe polish on the black wheel? (I really want the paddle shifters!)

I'm in the same boat! I have the brown interior. The steering wheel almost looks black, but with a flashlight up close it is very much a "dark brown".

The only steering wheel with paddles available looks to be black. Does anyone know where we can get a brown one? If not, anyone swapped one with the brown interior and black steering wheel? Color close enough? Two tone look good? I too really want paddles but don't want an obviously messed up look.

Thanks for the advice!

TDInDC

Discussion Starter · #31 · Oct 6, 2014

Where in VA is your Touareg? I'm in DC and would consider the haul.

k21975 said:
I'm probably going to pay around $700 from VA to MA on Uship.com, but how cool would it be for a fellow Tregger to rent a Uhaul car trailer and deliver my new Treg with their Treg! I'd pay the same!

Anyway, we are getting off topic. What about brown shoe polish on the black wheel? (I really want the paddle shifters!)

T-Reguan

· #32 · Oct 6, 2014

k21975 said:
I'm probably going to pay around $700 from VA to MA on Uship.com, but how cool would it be for a fellow Tregger to rent a Uhaul car trailer and deliver my new Treg with their Treg! I'd pay the same!

Anyway, we are getting off topic. What about brown shoe polish on the black wheel? (I really want the paddle shifters!)

HokieTouareg said:
I'm in the same boat! I have the brown interior. The steering wheel almost looks black, but with a flashlight up close it is very much a "dark brown".

The only steering wheel with paddles available looks to be black. Does anyone know where we can get a brown one? If not, anyone swapped one with the brown interior and black steering wheel? Color close enough? Two tone look good? I too really want paddles but don't want an obviously messed up look.

Thanks for the advice!

Have you guys looked into something like this:

Dallas Custom Steering Wheel
Alan Gun Leather Accessories
Rewrap your BMW steering wheel, extra padding, new leather wrap with desired color stitching | Yelp
The Prestige Companies Auto Upholstery - Steering Wheel Re-Wrap "Factory Match Leather Colors"

VWFREEKALEEK

· #33 · Nov 3, 2014

throttlelink said:
I have a question for T-Regaun or TDInDC. I have a Lux model and therefore no heated wheel. I'd love to be able to add this as well as the paddle shifters. I can buy the wheel with heat and shifters, but I don't see the option to turn on the heat in VAGCOM. In the long coding section of steering wheel, bits 0,2 and 4 are checked as defaults in Byte 2 just like your screen shot. Can either of you look at bytes 0 or 1 to see if any bits are checked. None are checked on my vehicle. I'd like to see if that is where you can turn on the heated steering wheel. Alternatively, does anybody know where to turn on the heated steering wheel function in VAGCOM?

Can anyone confirm anything about the heated part of the steering wheel? I too have a Lux with no heated steering wheel looking to upgrade to paddle/heated wheel, and am wondering if its possible to enable it or not.
Thanks

noobytoogy

· #34 · Nov 3, 2014

You will need a new heated steering wheel.

VWFREEKALEEK

· #35 · Nov 3, 2014

noobytoogy said:
You will need a new heated steering wheel.

I understand I need a new wheel, I will either be purchasing a paddle or a paddle/heated wheel, but I didn't know if the actual heating part of the wheel can simply be enabled via vag com or if there are other modules/wiring necessary for the heated wheel to work.

If it is just simply enabling it, or some wiring, I will get the paddle/heated wheel.

If it needs other modules, etc and is really expensive, I will just get the paddle wheel.

Does anyone know about getting the heated wheel working?

noobytoogy

· #36 · Nov 3, 2014

Sorry, misread your post.

Quite a few folk fitted paddles and heated wheels to T1s and T2s but I don't recall posts on T3s like that.

T-Reguan

· #37 · Nov 3, 2014

I say it should be plug and play, with VCDS tweak of course. Buy the heated one, the worst thing is it won't heat but everything else will work fine.

yuyueyuyue

· #38 · Dec 7, 2014

VWFREEKALEEK said:
Can anyone confirm anything about the heated part of the steering wheel? I too have a Lux with no heated steering wheel looking to upgrade to paddle/heated wheel, and am wondering if its possible to enable it or not.
Thanks

first of all, thanks for OP and everyone contributed here. You guys are awesome!

Now, I can confirm you that it is not plug n play.

Mine is Lux too, I purchased a heated one thinking even if my car does not support it, it will have a higher resale value. I installed it today, and unfortunately there isn't a socket for the heater cable on the steering column.

Retrofitting might need some work like it used to be on the T1 and T2. We might need a different control module and some steering and information center tweaks and some calibration for ABS in VCDS, I'd also check swivel headlight after change of that control module... seems like too much work. I will just keep using my gloves for now.

Also for people who are looking for a brown steering wheel, you may be disappointed to hear this. Since paddle shifter only comes with R Line, and R Line only comes with black interior. It is very likely that there simply isn't a brown&shifter combination. (Pure speculation, not confirm by VW or knowledgeable people) I'm using a black steering wheel with brown airbag. I will post some pictures in the next few days, it doesn't look too bad IMO.

FYI, for cars without heated socket, the new code I used is "000035".

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yuyueyuyue

· #39 · Dec 11, 2014

Here's the photo, haven't had a sunny day yet... looks a little bit odd, but acceptable

I can trade this look with the paddles

Coming from a manual car, that delayed kickdown always turns me off. 3 quick tap to get into the power band is just so much better.

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k21975

· #40 · Dec 11, 2014

Very interesting. Maybe I'll start looking for a black wheel without an airbag. Where did you find yours?

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