Flappy paddles steering wheel in Tiguan.

[Tiggy1]

I think it depends whether you hold the wheel at 9 and 3 or more 10 and 2. But yes agree that longer paddle shifter could come in handy in low speed corners.

I've had my eye on a few stick-on types but none have really appealed - either carbon look or with writing all over them.

Would rather have something that blends in more with the rest of the interior of the car.

Yes - agree with you Tigger73. Looked at the ebay ones, but appear to be only available in carbon fibre or german flag look. Yours look really good RyanR - I presume they are the ECS ones?
Cheers

[Ryan_R]

Yep $200 from ECS iirc. Blend in very well. Only once did they reflect the sunlight and become annoying, but then there are other things in the car such as the HU that do the same thing.

[Tiggy1]

Yep $200 from ECS iirc. Blend in very well. Only once did they reflect the sunlight and become annoying, but then there are other things in the car such as the HU that do the same thing.

Ok, thanks - will think on it.
Cheers

Just checked ECS - they actually have them on special at the minute...

http://www.ecstuning.com/Search/Maniacs/ES1892534/

Have already spent too much though dammit - maybe early X-Mas present

[ninja2]

one extra white thingy

Only thing is, the airbag was missing one of the little white plastic thingies that go over springs where it locates in wheel - otherwise I could probably hock mine on ebay to recover some $$$. Anyone got any lying around they don't want? Cheers

I suggest you ask HaywireTig - check out the photos he (or she?) posted on page 9 (post #85) with an extra white thingy...

[tigger73]

I suggest you ask HaywireTig - check out the photos he (or she?) posted on page 9 (post #85) with an extra white thingy...

Hey good spotting!

Though if it was me I would have just chucked it as you need to remove it to install the new airbag. Worth asking the question though.

Alternatively you could get one as a spare part and then sell the steering wheel and airbag as a set.

[ninja2]

ready to convert

OK so I'm almost ready to do this conversion on my 118TSI.
I've purchased
1) a Scirroco R wheel from USA ($589 shipped)
2) an airbag (5K0 880 201 N 81U) from Czech Republic ($270 shipped)
3) xmaniacs paddles from ECStuning (about $180 shipped) yeah I just missed their special price!

I need to get hold of a 12mm triple square socket to pull the wheel nut off

and I've got Transporter (www.viezu.com.au) lined up with VCDS to code enable the paddles in Adelaide.

Reading this whole thread again, I notice some have done the swap without touching the battery, others disconnected the battery. I guess there are pros and cons either way ... my preference is to disconnect the battery, mainly to avoid potential for accidental shorts while poking around with screwdrivrs etc. But can anyone suggest a good reason to leave it connected?

Regarding the four little white nylon thingys on back of the airbag, they look to be a very tight snap fit into the black grooves in the wheel. So do I need to separate these from the airbag and insert them manually into the steering wheel before fitting the airbag? Or do they just pop into the grooves with a good push on the airbag?

My plan assumes I will be able to drive the car as soon as I fit the wheel. I will then drive the car about 20km to Transporter so he can apply the VCDS codes. Should I expect any fault codes on this trip?

[tigger73]

I bought the 12mm triple square bit from this seller: CTA Tools 8514 Triple Square Socket Bit 12mm 1/2" Drive, 12 Point | eBay

Though there are a couple of other similar items on ebay. I didn't investigate but you may also be able to find the bit at a local auto shop. From memory I think it took a week or 2 to get shipped from the US. I on-sold my bit with my old wheel otherwise I'd have offered it to you.

If you're going to do this yourself I strongly recommend disconnecting the battery and draining the system of all electrical energy - hit the brakes, turn radio on, interior lights etc. Also discharge any static from yourself and the vehicle. Make sure everything is fully de-energised and that there are no "stray" voltage sources around that could accidentally trigger the airbag.

This is about as serious as it gets as people have been fatally injured by having an airbag deploy when they were too close. If you're still not sure, I'd get someone that does know what they're doing to do the swap out for you.

Leave the little white things on the airbag. These locate it in the wheel. There are 2 metal clips that fit over the back of the wheel which you'll need to flick off and push out to get the airbag off. To fit the airbag make sure you've connected everything up electrically and then just push the airbag onto the wheel - about as simple as that.

I recommend practicing on the wheel that is out of the car first before trying to remove the airbag from the car as you'll be doing this one "blind". If the wheel is out of the car you can at least see what you're doing so at least then you have a good idea of what you're trying to do with your screw driver when you can't see it.

Regarding driving the car once the wheel is installed it's not going to cause any problems - just the flappy paddles won't work until they have been recoded. There shouldn't be any fault codes if you currently have a multi-function wheel - at least there weren't any when I did mine. Transporter knows what he's doing - he recoded my buttons for me a couple of months back and it took him all of about a minute.

[ninja2]

ready to convert

OK thanks tigger73. I can see the retaining clips on the replacement airbag and how they fit the into replacement wheel and they are the same as pics in your original post. But I've had a pre-peak on my 118TSI and the retaining clips are the other type/orientation, same as picture in post #11 by Ryan_R. So I can't really practice airbag removal using the replacement wheel, but I can see how they work and Ryan_R found these quite easy to remove so I'm expecting them to be easier than the type you had.

BTW I assure you I'll be doing my best not to blow the airbag off in my face!

[Tiggy1]

Hey good spotting!

Though if it was me I would have just chucked it as you need to remove it to install the new airbag. Worth asking the question though.

Alternatively you could get one as a spare part and then sell the steering wheel and airbag as a set.

Hi guys,
thanks for the info - have PM'd HaywireTig. As to getting one as spare part: 1 - don't know if they would sell that little bit separately; 2 - not on good enough terms with any dealer to get them to look it up (wish I could get ETKA working dammit). Will see what HaywireTig has to say first.
Cheers

[ninja2]

so ... what is EKTA?

[Transporter]

so ... what is EKTA?

Parts catalog.

[Tiggy1]

so ... what is EKTA?

Hi,
sorry - for the unitiated, it is VAG (Volkswagen Automotive Group - including Skoda, Audi & VW) electronic parts catalogue system. Got a bootleg version from the UK, but can't get it to work on my computer (more computer problem I think - running crap Vista OS)

[ninja2]

Ekta?

can anyone buy a valid copy of EKTA, or it reserved for VAG staff ?

[tigger73]

If you're good at reading Russian, have a translation program, or just want to click until you get the right part then here's an ETKA link: Èíôîðìàöèÿ îá àâòî - ETKA-online, îíëàéí ïîäáîð äåòàëåé ïî íîìåðó

Otherwise get friendly with you VW spare parts dept and they can look it up for you.

[tigger73]

For anyone looking for a flappy paddle steering wheel with airbag and cable there's a new supplier:

VW Multifunction Steering Wheel with DSG - GTI R-Line - Flat Bottom 1K8419091 5K0419091 - Golf Scirocco

They have either black with red stitching or black with black stitching. Make sure you get the ones with the DSG paddles.

Works out to about $900 landed in the country for a brand new wheel and airbag.