RS4 b7 Steering wheel

swisstony

swisstony

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Had a nice offer from someone I know who has an RS4 B7 steering wheel, the flat bottom version
F90A05F2 C737 48B8 9608 49DFFF0222DB


My current wheel is a MFSW and looks like this
S l1600 2


So I appreciate that the buttons on the RS4 version will not work, well the left hand ones wont but what about the right hand ones ? volume control + and - ?
Not fussed if they dont but just wondered, assume the horn will work as well
Second question, plug and play on the airbag harness ? I assume so but just wanted to check.
Finally , any coding I need to do post install ?
cheers
 
Having fitted the same FBSW it s a really nice upgrade , But, you will need to change the module aswell which are not cheap , and the buttons won't work the same way.
I would'nt go back to the original item full stop and i dont miss the lack of audio control as my alpine is voice controlled for most function.
What i did gain was full control of the multifunction dispaly etc from those buttons instead of flicking through the buttons on the stalks for milages , speed .menus etc, so thats rather nice.
If you dont have an oem audio then the buttons wont work at all until you get the correct module fitted and coded in.
 
And its a smaller dia wheel too, so much better than the OE wheel but at what cost, depends on what your willing to spend on the wheel plus the module.
or just fit it and see what works and go from there.
 
there are a few different wheels that fit with but i liked the style and the uncluttered look , only a few nice small buttons , clean curves etc, but hey personal choice.
 
Charlie Farley said:
And its a smaller dia wheel too, so much better than the OE wheel but at what cost, depends on what your willing to spend on the wheel plus the module.
or just fit it and see what works and go from there.
Click to expand...
That is what I thought
I have an aftermarket stereo and right now the only buttons that work are the volume up and down scroll wheel thingy on the right . I don’t need anything else to be honest so hence the question
My DIS is controlled by my stalk right now
My main concern was the airbag which I believe is plug and play . Not sure about the module you mention
 
Charlie Farley said:
And its a smaller dia wheel too, so much better than the OE wheel but at what cost, depends on what your willing to spend on the wheel plus the module.
or just fit it and see what works and go from there.
Click to expand...
That was one of the main reasons for the upgrade
Smaller diameter and flat bottom. Hell even my daughters fiat 500 has a flat bottom wheel which is better then mine !!!
Can’t have that !!! :)
 
You will lose all audio control even volume as the original wheel does retain limited audio control via the HU interface that is used with aftermarket devices.
The rs4 wheel needs the correct control module really if you want to retain the all other functions, which is why the stalk function now work on my wheel buttons, so much better, its a bit of a mish-mash setup when you fit that fit to an A4, but works great.
Air bag will be fine.
You could just fit it and use it but i cant recall which functions became in -accessible without the correct module and coding in.
 
A lot of guys really slate it , but that's their choice, i find it really nice, not to thick or thin, easy on the hands and slides through my hands really well, just a spot on shape and size.
Worth the asking price, for me it was but again its a personal thing.
I paid £600 with the airbag and it was mint , plus a few hundred for Nigel(@NHN ) to supply the module and code it all in, still worth it to me.:thumbs up:
 
Charlie Farley said:
A lot of guys really slate it , but that's their choice, i find it really nice, not to thick or thin, easy on the hands and slides through my hands really well, just a spot on shape and size.
Worth the asking price, for me it was but again its a personal thing.
I paid £600 with the airbag and it was mint , plus a few hundred for Nigel(@NHN ) to supply the module and code it all in, still worth it to me.:thumbs up:
Click to expand...
Well my offer is £400 all in which I think is a good price
Think fit it and live with it and later on look into if a module is needed for any other functions but really I can’t see me doing that as all it takes is for me to reach across to the stereo to adjust volume
 
Worth that offer all day long if it’s in vgc.
Not many around and good ones are very hard to find, and to be honest and only a few fitted to aA4 variants.
 
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I just enjoy the drive , not overly fussed by controlling everything inc the kitchen from my steering wheel, it is nice to have access to the DIS function on the wheel but I don’t use them that much.
Just worth having the wheel for its asethics and. Feel etc.
 
If it works for you then that’s all that really matters
 
Charlie Farley said:
I just enjoy the drive , not overly fussed by controlling everything inc the kitchen from my steering wheel, it is nice to have access to the DIS function on the wheel but I don’t use them that much.
Just worth having the wheel for its asethics and. Feel etc.
Click to expand...
Totally agree. The current wheel just feels a bit ' barge like" I mean its fine for what it is but fingers crossed if I get this then it will be more of a nicer feel when driving. Obviously looks are just as important and really when you are driving , then being able to control everything from the wheel is less important. As men we are not programmed to multi task anyway hence why when finding your destination we feel the need to turn the stereo down :)
 
I had mine for a few years then saw a pic of one in a Lamborghini that had carbon trims, hence why I went carbon style on mine, not everyone’s taste but it does match in with the rest of the carbon trims in the car.
 
This wheel was available in punched leather or alcantara with matching gear knob, mines punched leather ( the best option) with carbon dipped trims instead of the satin silver trims.
If there is one week spot it is the trims , the outer trim can loose it satin silver finish an does then look a bit tatty , same with around the buttons it can get a bit worn, just something to be on the lookout for.
Doing my carbon dipped just keeps things looking fresh.
 
talking about carbon dipped, when you ge a sec can you see what you used on your door handle to get that finish. I will have a look in the garage in my collection of spary cans to see if I have any left what I used...sure it was actually called interior car vinyl finish ??
 
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Well it arrived and looked in pretty good condition. A little wear to the right ( obviously the driver spent his time with his hand on the right whilst his left was on the gearstick :) ) The good lady wife took one look at it and said it was dirty
IMG 1182



IMG 1181


So she took a steam cleaner and soft brush to it and went to town
Now all cleaned up and leather nourished and ready to go on
Gel badge getting replaced
IMG 1196


IMG 1194
 
they can be retrimmed for not too much expense, but go to a reputable trimmer.
 
Charlie Farley said:
they can be retrimmed for not too much expense, but go to a reputable trimmer.
Click to expand...
Yes I have seen so many adverts for retrimming services on flebay and the likes but wasnt sure which one was a reputable source. TBH I am just going to fit it and enjoy for a while as the small amount of wear on the right is not too bad.
 
just get some good leather dye and blend it in, works really well for faded or lightly worn situations.
Just give the whole wheel a really good clean first otherwise it won't last long.
 
and if you dont want to put up with the fader/worn RS4 badge, alternative self adhesive ones are available, i originally had a just plain RS decal, same size etc and it looked fine.

when I went to carbon dip I polished the OE RS4 decal for a different look.
 
Charlie Farley said:
and if you dont want to put up with the fader/worn RS4 badge, alternative self adhesive ones are available, i originally had a just plain RS decal, same size etc and it looked fine.

when I went to carbon dip I polished the OE RS4 decal for a different look.
Click to expand...
Yes I looked into just how hard it is to replace the badge ( saw a thread somewhere ) and it looks painful as the screws seem prone to breaking and spinning and never knew the bdage had two screws behind it. So hence why I can see someone has tried to remove it before. So I have a gel badge on its way which I will just affix over it thus hiding the worn one.
 
Getting the trims off is an utter nightmare situation , trust me unless you really , really want or need to remove them , don’t.
They are also a fixed with adhesive so it allways ends in tears , it’s doable with great care but not recommend.
Gel decal on top is the way to go.
 
I had no intention. The minute I read about the glue, the snapping components I stopped reading and thought, A gel badge will do :)
 
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Well installed it today and went smoothly as expected. I did plug in the black cable that was similar to my old steering wheel but as you said nothing works on the buttons :) Not even the DIS, so guess I will just live the lack of buttons and use my the old school method .
Just been for a drive in the car and the wheel is fantatsic, feels more like a go kart now but the flat bottom will take some time to get used to it
 
if you have vcds change the settings to that specific wheel, it is on the list , wont change much but at least its the correct setting.
 
Charlie Farley said:
if you have vcds change the settings to that specific wheel, it is on the list , wont change much but at least its the correct setting.
Click to expand...
Sorry Rob for bothering you again. You mentioned that I 'may' need the steering wheel control module to make this work and/or use VCDS to apply the coding so it recognises the correct steering wheel. I have VCDS so can do this , so just checking is that all I need. If VCDS can make the steering wheel understand how to make the DIS work then all good. As I said not bothered if not possible.
 
Vcds will let you change from the original mfsw to the rs4 fbsw but you will not get any functioning of any buttons. Unless you change to the rs4 module. Do you have any DIS functionality either from the wheel or stalk now?
 
I suspect you have no DIS control at the stalk now, correct .
 
If it is working from the stalk then that’s the best you get and none of the buttons will function full stop.
By changing the module it moves the stalk functions to the wheel buttons Which I like but other than that there is no control over audio etc.
 
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Even after setting the correct wheel in vcds with the module I still have an error as the A4 doesn’t support it fully
 
Charlie Farley said:
If it is working from the stalk then that’s the best you get and none of the buttons will function full stop.
By changing the module it moves the stalk functions to the wheel buttons Which I like but other than that there is no control over audio etc.
Click to expand...

I thought that might be the case
Guess the cost of the module plus time to code is not worth it just to have it move 3 inches from stalk to wheel :)
Haven’t got a clue which module I would need anyway


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
I’ll lookup the part number just in case you want to search for one on the interwebby
 
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