MFSW retro on S-Line - yet more questions

[urq]

Hi everyone,

I've been searching on here for a while now as I am about to do MFSW conversion on my new car. Lots of highly knowledgeable folk in the forum
I have a 2007 (57) 2.0 TDI (140) DSG S-line. It came with DIS, phone prep and cruise from the factory.

There seems to be a lot of discussion as to exactly whats needed for the MFSW conversion. I am still confused!
Things like slip ring, ABS harness, SW controller etc. I wanted to post my situation to see if I can get some clarification from you guys/girls as I'm still not 100% sure. I know there are lots of relevant threads but I think that the info I need is spread across these discussion so wanted to consolidate it here if possible. May be useful to others too with a similar age car to mine.

There also seems to be 2 types of 3-spoke steering wheel with the square airbag; one with ABS plug about 2 o'clock and one with ABS plug about 5 o'clock. Also there may be differences in the airbag fitment. I'm not sure exactly which wheel I have (I havent removed airbag to look) but took a punt and bought one recently from a 2011 A3 S-line because it was mint. It has DSG paddles and silver surrounds for the MF buttons. I intend to try fitting this weekend using my existing airbag but if it turns out to be incompatible then I will have to sell it and hunt down the right type.

Before I start removing things, does anyone know the likelyhood that I will have all the relevant electrical bits already or not? Will I have the steering wheel controller? Its not a job I can do all by myself so I have to get a friend to help (He's an Audi tech, but has no experience of this conversion) and I dont want to waste his time if its clear to someone on this forum that its not going to work. He will code and calibrate steering angle for me etc.

I currently have the 3-spoke DSG S-line wheel with square airbag and red/silver stitching. Is this a dual stage airbag or could it be single stage? Is the airbag harness different for a MFSW irrespective of whether I have DSG/cruise/phone already?

Also, I found the MFSW page on the RossTech site but the coding seems confusing;
Audi A3 (8P) Steering Wheel - Ross-Tech Wiki

Code 00x?xxx : Steering Wheel
There's no option for 3-spoke, with Tiptronic, with Multi-Function. So, should I set this to '1'...

Code 00xx?xx : Tiptronic/Heating
...and then set this to '1' also?


I read on here also about coding Address [37] for Navigation as well when doing MFSW retro but I only have Concert head unit so assuming I wont need to change this.

Lots of questions there so thanks in advance!!!

 

[jb0o]

You've done the main research yourself, congrats for that as too many people come and ask the basic questions when there are plenty of threads around, but I agree when you say there is too much contradicting advice. Take note of this:

- You need a Highline revision Steering Wheel ECU to have MFSW. As yours is a DSG model you already have the Highline ECU as the paddles utilise the same connection as the Multi function controls.

- Because you have the DSG paddles, you already have the same loom used for the Multi Function controls, so you don't need this either.

In a nutshell, for you to get a MFSW on your car, all YOU need is the wheel and VCDS coding.


In terms of the correct wheel. The A3 has the MF plug (you've mentioned this as ABS plug??) at the 2 o'clock position and the A4 has the MF plug at the 5 o'clock poisition.

The problem is that an airbag from a wheel with the MF at 2 o'clock isn't compatible with a wheel with the MF plug at 5 o'clock.


I can 100% guarantee, from my own research, that your A3 will have the MF plug at 2 o'clock, which means that as long as the wheel you have bought has the MF plug location at 2 o'clock, it is the correct wheel.


As for the coding:

00x?xxx - Set to 2/3/4 (depending on wether you have Bluetooth. Ignore the w/ tiptronic here as you code this in the next bit)

00xx?xx- Keep this at '1'.


Hope this helps.

 

[urq]

Wow, thanks!!!

I can confirm that the new wheel I bought has MF connector at 2 o'clock so hopefully all systems go!

Now I have the cradle for my phone, when I press PTT I get voice control. Is this whats referred to as SDS? If so, does it mean I need to code 00x?xxx to '4' - Multi-Function (with Radio/Telephone/Voice Control)

Another point is that the new wheel I bought is a genuine S-line but has black stitching instead of red/silver. Minor annoyance but not really noticeable - it still has the S-line badge at the bottom which keeps with the theme.

 

[jb0o]

When you press the PTT and you're greeting by a beep and the radio displaying 'SPEAK' then that is Voice Control and yes, you can code that in as well. Though its fair to note that when I coded my Bluetooth originally I didn't code the Voice Control, and it still worked fine.

Don't get Voice Control with SDS though. Voice Control is the control of the Phone kit whereas the SDS is the control over the RNS-E Navigation. SDS utilises functions such as "Radio", and "Navigate to XXX" etc.

 

[urq]

When you press the PTT and you're greeting by a beep and the radio displaying 'SPEAK' then that is Voice Control and yes, you can code that in as well. Though its fair to note that when I coded my Bluetooth originally I didn't code the Voice Control, and it still worked fine.

Don't get Voice Control with SDS though. Voice Control is the control of the Phone kit whereas the SDS is the control over the RNS-E Navigation. SDS utilises functions such as "Radio", and "Navigate to XXX" etc.

Ah right, I get it now.

Thanks for your help!

 

[urq]

Right, with the help of my friend at Audi we fitted the wheel today along with an RNE-e head unit (LED model).

The head unit just plugged right in (old unit was Concert II+) and with the PIN code entered it seems to be working ok. My phone works through it although the phone book hasnt sync'd yet.

Steering wheel went in fine too. No fault light

We didnt have VCDS with us today so used the AUDI tool. Because of the head unit change my mate had to re-code it to allow the CAN gateway to work - then he could do a full diagnostic scan. I have a load of head-unit related faults (intermittent open circuit) but I guess this is expected if the unit was physically disconnected?

Now with the lack of time and VCDS I didnt get a chance to code the MFSW and head unit and I know there are a few things to do.

I have a question. The 'bong' that is played when the phone connects/disconnects via bluetooth is REALLY loud. Can this be adjusted in the coding?

Now, I understand that the MFSW wont work until its been coded but when we did a diagnostic scan I got the following codes:

[16] 11142 (Auto, 3-spoke wheel w/o MF, tiptronic, DIS + cruise, rear wiper)
[37] 205755 (A3, Speaker monitoring inactive, A3, base plate + comfort, sat-radio + aux, MFSW)

For address [16] I need to set it to 14142 to get my MFSW to work I think?
The code for [37] is already set for MFSW. Will this have been retained from the car the RNS-e was previously in? (was second had) Is the code already correct?

I have read about coding the diversity aerial to improve the FM reception. I havent had enough time to establish if the reception is any different to before. Will I need to code this and where is it done?

Thanks!

 

[NHN]

You dont code the antenna system for the rns-e, its a hardware change of which I can supply the kit if you require.

You need mfsw coded to work 1st to lower the bong volume as you press the ptt button & say help then whilst the woman is talking, lower the volume with the steering dials, tbh never tried this anyother way.

Do you have Bose?

 

[urq]

Hi NHN
No I don't have Bose unfortunately. I saw last night in another post a mod that required swapping of amps on therear screen. Is this the kit you do?
I just went out in the car and some of the stations stored in memory are greyed out so I need the mod :-(
I'll get the MFSW coded then try and adjust the volume as you say.

The main reason for me upgrading to RNSe was to get BT steaming from my iPhone. I understand that the new Dension Gateway Five supports A2DP but I needed this head unit. Its working out tobe quite expensive!

 

[NHN]

Yes I sell the upgrade kit.

TBH if you have the mk2 unit, Id consider the ami unit aswell as this when used with iphone is very good, full track info, artist, album etc & its very quick as I installed another other day, you can also buy a BT adapter to plug into the ami unit for streaming.

 

[paultaylor]

Yes I sell the upgrade kit.

TBH if you have the mk2 unit, Id consider the ami unit aswell as this when used with iphone is very good, full track info, artist, album etc & its very quick as I installed another other day, you can also buy a BT adapter to plug into the ami unit for streaming.

I just put in a 2010 RNS e and it already had iPod integration but the lack of track names is head wreck!

I like the sound of BT streaming too.

Can you PM prices for the AMI kit and BT module?

thanks

 

[urq]

Yes I sell the upgrade kit.

TBH if you have the mk2 unit, Id consider the ami unit aswell as this when used with iphone is very good, full track info, artist, album etc & its very quick as I installed another other day, you can also buy a BT adapter to plug into the ami unit for streaming.

How much is the upgrade kit? PM me if you need to. I would be very interested in this.

I'll check out the AMI kit. I'm quite fussy so I dont like the idea of additional cradles or cables around the cabin to support music streaming. I have the factory phone cradle on the dash which only supports calls so ideally I would like to A2DP stream from there - not sure if I'll get there in the end.

 

[NHN]

You dont even see the ami kit mate, it fits nice & snug in the glovebox very neat & unseen, great used along with factory BT.

You cant stream from the dash cradle, its purely for phone systems.

 

[urq]

I just put in a 2010 RNS e and it already had iPod integration but the lack of track names is head wreck!

Hi Paul, how can you tell if you have iPod integration? I have RNS-ePU too. What does the integration give you?

Cheers