Upgrading the standard B6 steering wheel to B6 MFSW

I have a 2004 A4 B6 1.9 TDI SE Avant Multitronic that a previous owner has retro-fitted with an RNS-E. He did a good job and the stereo, radio and satnav work fine.

I've decided to fit a multi-function steering wheel, just the standard B6 4-spoke model but I'm struggling to find any definitive guides to help me get it together, most I've found are for fitting B7 wheels into B6s.

I kept my original wheel and after a few wrong turns and money wasted I ended up with the following components ...


MFSW Airbag - 8E0880201AB

Steering wheel control module - 61340351

Steering wheel airbag harness - 8E0971589S

Multi-function buttons wiring harness - 8Z0971589E


As my car is an SE Avant it has all the stalks (indicators, wipers (incl rear wiper), trip computer and cruise.

I haven't physically seen the Slip-ring but I believe it's 8E0953541E and the Steering column combination switch is 8E0953549N


Today I took the airbag off and fitted the MFSW airbag with the new control module and both harnesses. I put it all back together, reconnected the battery and the buttons are dead. Plus I'm not sure if they're supposed to illuminate when the lights are on but if they do then that doesn't work either.


Before I spend any more money can anyone that's already done this swap point me in the right direction please?

Do I need to replace the combination switch and slip-ring to something else or do I need to do something with my VCDS-Lite to get the stereo to talk to the MFSW?


It's doing my noggin in.

Many thanks for you post @SemedoB6 , very helpful.


I can't really afford to change direction and go with another wheel and airbag to be honest. So far I've had such a hard time finding a definitive guide to swapping a B6 MFSW for a standard B6 wheel. Going down blind alleys I now find myself with two steering wheels, three airbags, three slip-rings, two airbag looms, two sets of stalks, two steering control modules and one column control module. I'm not spending another penny now until I know exactly what part I'm buying.

Gotta say though, if I'd seen your setup before I started down this path I'd have gone with what you've got, it does look good.

I've checked and double-checked the part numbers and they're definitely correct in my post.

So you reckon the slip-ring needs replacing do you? If you can point me in the right direction of which to change to that would be great. I know four years is a long time to remember these things though.

I don't think I should need a wheel with gear paddles as that was an optional extra and most Multitronic cars just made do with the standard gear selector. I never use the 'Tiptronic' selector to be honest so I'm happy to not have paddles.

I think my first job is to pop the airbag off again and just make sure I've not pinched any of the harnesses behind it. I know that can happen when putting the airbag back on.

After that I'll try and code the stereo using my VCDS-Lite. I'm still quite new to it so will no doubt do a bit more blundering. There'll probably be a guide to doing it somewhere on the VCDS forum anyway.


Guaranteed though ... I'll be back for more brain picking. If I can get mine up and running I'll make an idiot's guide to help others avoid the bear traps I've been blundering into.

Well, sussed it in the end. I thought my car had a slip-ring part number 8E0953541E but it turns out it had 8E0953541C. Switched it for an E and boom!, a fully working MFSW at long last. Very happy.