Since some had asked about the install here's a quick recap, though DavidB8 pretty well documents this on AudiEnthusiast.com here: http://www.audienthusiasts.com/ProjectSteeringSwap.html (all hail David, his instructions are always spot on, so I'm just recounting and expanding a little on his excellent work, all credit goes to him!) it's pretty much the same as his S-Line install in his A4. Couple of thoughts: Make sure before you start that you've got a T55 Torx socket, my "standard" Schwaben kit ended at T50, so had to make a run up to Sears before I started, which gave me a chance to buy some locktite as well, as you'll want to freshen the locktite on the main steering wheel bolt threads.
This is a straight swap, utilizing your standard airbag so just plug-and-play, no wiring changes. You'll just need a few tools, 10mm wrench for your battery disconnect, small screwdriver to pop out the bolt covers on the airbag bolts, T30 for the airbag bolts themselves, aforementioned T55 for the main steering wheel bolt, a flashlight and some locktite.
Get in the car first, and while you've still got your battery connected, start the car and turn your wheel sideways
That will allow you to get at the airbag bolt covers easily, they are on the back of the wheel, here's a pic of the underside of the wheel so you can see what they look like:
On your car though they are covered with little protective covers that blend in with the steering wheel, you can see the cover marked by a slight color variation here:
Use a small screwdriver and just very gently pry at the edge, and the cover pops loose, and easily pulls out:
Then turn your wheel 180 degrees and repeat for the other side.
Next, open your trunk, lift up the spare tire well latch, and unscrew/lift out the donut tire
Take off the large plastic uber cover, and you can see the battery with its smaller plastic cover, disconnect the right (negative) cable with your 10mm wrench and put the battery cover back on to prevent the ground cable from touching the negative pole
Put your key in the slot and give it a minute to ensure any stored electricity is drained.
Now use your T30 socket and ratchet and unscrew the airbag bolts you uncovered, they unscrew but don't come out all the way, they've got retainer clips that prevent them from falling out when loosened. Once both sides are done, center your steering wheel (a little harder with the power off and no power steering, but no really a big deal). That will let you carefully lift the airbag assembly out, it's still connected by a wire, so lift part way out gently but hold it with your hand. That will let you get at the main airbag wiring clip, yellow with a green surround. It's spring-loaded so pull back on the green part and it will disconnect.
Next follow the wire down to the next connect, it is held in place by a pop-in/pop-out rubber mounting, so pop out the clip and separate it at the plug, very easy.
Now the airbag is separated and can be set aside
Next snap on your an extension with your T55 and wrench off the center bolt that holds the steering wheel on. As mentioned, it has locktite on the threads so it takes one pretty good tug-and-grunt and it will break free, then it screws off quite easily
Once the bolt is off, take your flashlight and look at the shaft the wheel sits on BEFORE you remove the wheel, it's got a little machine mark that lines up with one on the wheel, so its easy to line them back up when installing and make sure the wheel is correctly centered....Now just pull the wheel straight off, no effort needed.
Now that you've got both wheels off, you can put them on the bench in full light and swap the logos if you want, they just pry right out (gently with a small screwdriver) and are held on by little "push-in/Pull-out" nubs:
Now you can just reverse the procedure to put the wheel back on, I ran a VCDS scan at the end to check for any fault codes and came back clean, but just wanted to be safe since we're messing with airbags here....
And the final look:
Feels great, just the right amount of "thicker"!
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Originally Posted by cory_can
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