How to check whether FBSW is plug & play?

[Lingo89]

Hey guys,

Have a 2004 8P2 A3 sportback, looking to convert to the 8P3 S3 Flat Bottom Steering. I believe I'm pretty lucky in that I have the dual stage airbag as my steering wheel is not the older type (so from what I've researched thus far, this should be a plug & play swap?)

I have VCDS, so could you advise on what's required to check for sure whether I have the single stage or dual-stage airbag? am I right in assuming if it's dual-stage, this is a simple swap?

Cheers in advance for all helpful replies!

Lingo

 

[Keram]

Hmmm.
I believe Audi switched to newer style steering wheel somewhere 2005.05, but possibly you have something other

 

[Lingo89]

Lol...

Well basically, this is a photo I just took of my current steering wheel:

I would like to replace it with something like this (I don't mind with/without buttons, my original doesn't have buttons and my radio is not OEM so I'm unsure if it would work anyway):

I'm sure there have been many before me who want to do the exact same thing, but I can't find a thread where they discuss working out whether you have a dual-stage/single-stage airbag, so if anyone could advise or point me in the right direction I'd be extremely grateful. Don't just want to throw hundreds of pounds at a steering wheel that is not correct. I want to make sure it works without dash errors etc.

 

[Veedubnoodle]

As far as I was led to believe from doing a lot of research the sportbacks all came with dual stage airbags so you should be able to remove your standard steering wheel, fit the FBSW and that's it

I have a non-multifunction flat bottom steering wheel I'm selling with new airbag for £400 if you would be interested?

 

[Lingo89]

As far as I was led to believe from doing a lot of research the sportbacks all came with dual stage airbags so you should be able to remove your standard steering wheel, fit the FBSW and that's it

I have a non-multifunction flat bottom steering wheel I'm selling with new airbag for £400 if you would be interested?

This is really good to hear! Can anyone else confirm this is the case with sportbacks? (That they're all dual stage and thus plug and play?) also (I'm not sure I will, but if i was to retrofit an mfsw is this particularly hard? My radio is aftermarket).

I may well be very interested in your steering veedubnoodle. Could you kindly send me pics and details? Cheers.

 

[Veedubnoodle]

I'll send you a few pics later on mate when I get home

 

[Lingo89]

Cheers Veedubnoodle, will have a look and let you know.

Also does anyone know if I did fit a MFSW FBSW whether I could leave the buttons disconnected if they're not compatible with my steering module? or whether this would throw up some sort of error?

Finally, are there part numbers I need to be looking out for? ones that do/don't fit? I'm only interested in fitting an 8P equivalent, I've read about people fitting 8V steering wheels but it seems to be a lot of effort comparably, for a pretty minor difference.