Retrofit Cruise Control for A3 SB 2008

[aristides]

Hello to everyone!
Been surfing through this site for quite a long time now and i must say u guys are guru`s!!!
Im currently living in Greece and i would like, as posted on my Thread title, to retrofit a Cruise Control on my A3 SB.

My problem is that i found the kit at vagparts.com but it says that its available for MFSW , which i dont have!
Is it possible to retrofit a cruise control on a car without a MFSW?
My Dealer here in Greece told me the kit costs 114 euro (cc kit + new column for the sw) plus 145 euro for the installation wtf which sounds awfully expensive for a "simple" retrofit.

Any ideas?
Thank you all!!

 

[MarcQuinlivan]

yes, but you'll need a new steering wheel controller which costs about £100.

if you give vagparts a buzz with your chassis number they'll be able to give you the total price for all the bits you need. you can install it yourself and save the 145 euro.

 

[aristides]

yes, but you'll need a new steering wheel controller which costs about £100.

if you give vagparts a buzz with your chassis number they'll be able to give you the total price for all the bits you need. you can install it yourself and save the 145 euro.

Any idea if the installation is easy for someone that has never retrofitted anything in a car? I have good knowledge about electronics etc but still messing with a car sounds a bit scary!!

What is this steering wheel controller you mentioned? Is it better if i searched for a new MFSW?


Edit: Just phoned my local dealer about the MFSW and he mentioned that the cruise control kit fits also with a non MFSW.
Thats weird, but could save me 100p!!

 

[JohnS3]

Your dealers kit will fit, but it might not work. You need to check which steering controller you have fitted to your car. You can do this with vagcom (or VCDS as it is now known) or a call to vag parts with your chassis number.

You could fit a MFSW at the same time, you might as well as the steering wheel has to come off to fit the cruise stalk. Once again though if you want the buttons on the wheel to work (you'll only have volume control as the other buttons are for the GSM phone kit) you need the correct steering controller. Cars without the MFSW or cruise usually need a new controller. It's just a control box that lives under the steering column (kind of above your knees)

 

[aristides]

Your dealers kit will fit, but it might not work. You need to check which steering controller you have fitted to your car. You can do this with vagcom (or VCDS as it is now known) or a call to vag parts with your chassis number.

You could fit a MFSW at the same time, you might as well as the steering wheel has to come off to fit the cruise stalk. Once again though if you want the buttons on the wheel to work (you'll only have volume control as the other buttons are for the GSM phone kit) you need the correct steering controller. Cars without the MFSW or cruise usually need a new controller. It's just a control box that lives under the steering column (kind of above your knees)

I still dont get why i should buy this controller. Asking my dealer about the cruise control kit,and mentioning twice that i dont have a MFSW he said that its the same thing for both steering wheels.
Is he that much misinformed or is it actually the same thing?

Anyone ever retrofitted a cruise control by himself in this forum?

 

[MarcQuinlivan]

you might not need the controller, but if you check with your dealer as to which steering wheel controller you have that will tell you if you need to buy a new one. the steering wheel controller is a circuit board that connects the steering wheel electronics (amongst other things) to the car's ECU.

to remove it you will need to follow the steps below (taken from my RS4 start button installation notes). Once you have the wheel and circuit board out you just need to remove the indicator stalk and replace it with the unit for the indicator and cruise stalks and put everything back together. you will also need a new lower steering wheel housing to accomodate the new stalks and then do some VAGCOM wizardry.

Turn the steering wheel 90 degrees from centre to the left (counter-clockwise) and remove the cover in the image below.



This will reveal a torx screw which should be removed.
It will not come out, but loosen it until the airbag starts to wobble.


Turn the steering wheel 90 degrees from centre to the right (clockwise) and repeat the procedure.

Once both torx screws have been undone the airbag should just come off.

Disconnect the yellow connector by pulling out on the orange tab.
If you have the MFSW you will also need to disconnect theblack tab to the right.




Set the airbag aside with the Audi logo facing up so that if the airbag does go off it won't shoot off like a rocket!

The steering wheel should now look like this



Next remove the bolt in the centre using a 12mm 12pin bit. When the bolt is out you need to mark the wheel and the slip ring so that when you put the wheel back on it is in the same position.



Next remove the top of the steering column by unclipping it and then remove the two torx screws from the lower surround.



Then remove the three torx screws from the underside of the steering column.
One of these holds the surround the the column and the other two hold the column lock to a metal bar.
Once the scews are off the column surround should come off.



Next you will need to break the seal on the steering ECU and remove the small silver torx 11 screw from under the slip ring



Once that is off the next step is to carefully remove the printed circuit board.
It can be pried down using a small screwdriver.

Once you have it down remove the black and yellow connectors from the PCB.
The yellow one can be removed by pusing back on the orange lever.
The black one can be removed by releasing the red clip and then releasing the clip.

if you're not sure about doing the above then you'd be as well to get the dealer to do it for you.

if you want to check if you have the right ECU yourself you can do the following quick check:

All Tdi models are suitable past 1997. All petrol models with EPC light when the ignition is on but the engine is not running.

 

[JohnS3]

The "kit" is the same (all you get is the cruise stalk and a new lower cowl trim to fit around the extra stalk)
The new controller is normally required so that signals from the cruise stalk and MFSW get converted and passed onto the cars CAN (controller area network) system and onto the ECU. Audi appear to save themselves some money by fitting a basic controller into cars without cruise and MFSW. As you have an 08 car this might have changed so it's worth checking.

Some dealers are very inexperienced when it comes to retrofits, some even refuse to believe that this stuff can be done.

Here is a pdf guide for fitting an A4 cruise kit. The procedure is very similar in an A3. There is some vagcom coding to do to set it all up when the parts are fitted to the car.
http://www.harddrive.plus.com/Documents/A4/A4 Cruise Control.pdf

Have fun!

 

[aristides]

Got to thank both of you for the quick responses.
I will do a bit more search just to be certain, and probably fit it by myself.

Marq if i break the seal on the steering ECU will this compromise my warranty?


Edit: Did the check u told me Marc, and i got the EPC light with the ingnition on and the engine off! Good news right?

 

[MarcQuinlivan]

Got to thank both of you for the quick responses.
I will do a bit more search just to be certain, and probably fit it by myself.

Marq if i break the seal on the steering ECU will this compromise my warranty?


Edit: Did the check u told me Marc, and i got the EPC light with the ingnition on and the engine off! Good news right?

That would suggest that you have the right steering wheel controller.

it is possible to remove the black cover under the steering wheel controller without breaking the seal, but it takes a bit of work. It will probably invalidate the warranty, but only for the steering wheel controller maybe. it wouldn't void any other warranty. You'll still need to remove the controller in order to replace the indicator stalk.

 

[Trev241]

I still dont get why i should buy this controller. Asking my dealer about the cruise control kit,and mentioning twice that i dont have a MFSW he said that its the same thing for both steering wheels.
Is he that much misinformed or is it actually the same thing?

Anyone ever retrofitted a cruise control by himself in this forum?

Just retrofitted cruise to my S3 it's not difficult just take your time removing everything, reassembly is easy.

The part number of the correct ECU is 8P0953549F.

Trev

 

[MarcQuinlivan]

8P0953549J will also work.

 

[aristides]

Just retrofitted cruise to my S3 it's not difficult just take your time removing everything, reassembly is easy.

The part number of the correct ECU is 8P0953549F.

Trev

Just another quick question Trev
Did u buy the parts (kit + column trim) from your local dealer or vagparts.com?

What build year has your S3 and how did u figure which unit to buy?

 

[Trev241]

Just another quick question Trev
Did u buy the parts (kit + column trim) from your local dealer or vagparts.com?

What build year has your S3 and how did u figure which unit to buy?

Bought the stalk and trim from vagparts, took delivery of S3 in January 2007.
I had the MFSW as factory fit so the car had the correct ECU I just happened to make a note of the part number in case of any problems after reassembly.

 

[aristides]

Bought the stalk and trim from vagparts, took delivery of S3 in January 2007.
I had the MFSW as factory fit so the car had the correct ECU I just happened to make a note of the part number in case of any problems after reassembly.

Hmmm this doesnt help me much , u having a MFSW from the factory i mean.
Im still looking to find out if the kit for the MFSW is the same for me too. I will pay a visit to my local dealer tomorrow to find out, cant find anything on the internet and vagparts didnt answer my email yet.

Thx anyway

 

[Trev241]

Hmmm this doesnt help me much , u having a MFSW from the factory i mean.
Im still looking to find out if the kit for the MFSW is the same for me too. I will pay a visit to my local dealer tomorrow to find out, cant find anything on the internet and vagparts didnt answer my email yet.

Thx anyway

The guys at vagparts are good but don't respond quickly to e mail, give them a ring with your chassis number and they will give you the info straight away.

Trev

 

[MarcQuinlivan]

they're usually about 3 days behind on email. since you're not in the UK your best bet is to pop into your dealer and give them your chassis number. they'll be able to enter that into ETKA and see what steering wheel controller you have.

 

[aristides]

they're usually about 3 days behind on email. since you're not in the UK your best bet is to pop into your dealer and give them your chassis number. they'll be able to enter that into ETKA and see what steering wheel controller you have.

Cant i do that alone @ home using my own copy of ETKA? (version 7,1) or am i talking nonsense?
And talking about ETKA, how can i search for parts using the numbers u ppl are providing?

 

[MarcQuinlivan]

no because you need to enter the VIN and then connect to the central server to query it.

to find a part, open etka select the model from the left, the year from the middle and then press the binoculars button. if you then enter the part number in the part number field it will show you what the part is.

 

[aristides]

Seeing again your pictures about removing the steering wheel etc etc what worries me actually is not taking the parts off (airbag ,trim) but taking the steering wheel off with that special 12mm 12pin bit tool. I have never heard of that tool and im worried that trying to fit the SW back i would mess things up.
A little heads up before i take the parts off would be very helpful so i don`t put the sw wrong!

Also you mention that i have to turn the steering wheel to remove the first 2 torx screws, should i unplug the battery before making that or could this be done later on?

 

[MarcQuinlivan]

yes, you should disconnect the battery first.

the bit is a 12mm spline bit. you should be able to get it from your local motor factor or halfords type store.

to see the full notes on removing the steering wheel and steering ECU take a look at my rs4 start button notes: http://audiretrofit.quinlivan.net. you can ignore the first bit about removing the centre console and doing anything with the ignition wiring.

if you decide to go ahead and do it yourself you'll be able to run any questions by us during the process.

you'll also need access to vagcom for the installation.

 

[aristides]

Ok back to basis.
I just phoned my dealer and found -finally- out that my version of the ECU is
8P0953549F and the slipring 1k0959653D.

Does this actually mean that all i need for the CC retrofit is the Kit and the
lower trim column? I guess so.

And as an addition, am i now possible to retrofit a MFSW (or FBMFSW) without bein in trouble?
What looms would i need to make the buttons work?