4 spoke wheel B8 A4 paddle shift retrofit??

[lp0525lp]

So I picked up the last 2012 A4 in ibis on the lot but it did not have the sports package. I really want the paddle shifters but it doesnt look like theres an easy way to get a 4 spoke wheel with shifters. I really don't want to put out 1G for the 3spoke with airbag. I've been looking on eBay.de like another post suggested but haven't had any luck. Anyways there are some b7 4 spoke wheels with paddle shifters on eBay. Any idea if it would fit? Any other options that won't cost so much? Best case would be for me to find a wheel where I can keep my existing airbag. Any info would be much appreciated.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Audi-A4-4-Sp...item3cc1b996df

[Highlander1010]

Hey there...so you cannot put paddles into the OEM 4 spoke. Not made for that. And you cannot switch to a 3 spoke with paddles and keep the airbag either. I don't know of an option where you can either. I kept my eyes on the forum and found someone selling an OEM 3 spoke with paddles and airbag and scooped it up for $400. That was reasonable to me. Look at the classified adds and see what you find. I saw another 3 spoke recently at a reasonable price too. Most folks post them and ask $1K or more, but in reality they won't get that because you can buy a new one from Alex@Europrice for a bit more than that.

[lp0525lp]

Hi, thanks for the heads up. I'll definite keep an eye on the classifieds. Hopefully I'll find one at a reasonable price also.

[Nison_Li]

how much are you looking to spend? i have a rs5 wheel and i'm looking to upgrade to one of those facelifted version. PM me if you're interested

[NPuter]

I bought a four spoke wheel with paddles (I reused my original airbag).

[lp0525lp]

Where did you get the 4 spoke with paddles? And how much?

[NPuter]

Where did you get the 4 spoke with paddles? And how much?

I bought it on the classifieds for $220. I think it was from a B7...

There is one small vag-com change you have to make in order to enable the paddles. It is in the steering wheel module, and there is a clearly labeled checkbox for the bit.

[lp0525lp]

yea i saw a b7 one on ebay but wasn't sure if it would fit or not. Thanks for confirming. I will look for a b7 one now. One question. The b7 wheel doesn't have the silver around the buttons like the b8. Any idea if those could be swapped before install?

[NPuter]

yea i saw a b7 one on ebay but wasn't sure if it would fit or not. Thanks for confirming. I will look for a b7 one now. One question. The b7 wheel doesn't have the silver around the buttons like the b8. Any idea if those could be swapped before install?

The short answer is yes. However, it is a major PITA...

You cannot simply swap the multifunction buttons assembly from your old wheel to the new wheel because your current multifuntion buttons do not have the connectors for the paddles. So I removed the casing from both sets of controls and put the B8 casings on the B7 controls. There are two circuit boards (connected by a ribbon cable) in each casing, so while the swap is not extremely difficult, it does require finite work. The B8 casings fit on the B7 controls. However, the B7 casings doe not fit on the B8 controls. I guess I got lucky that the B8 casings fit on the B7 controls... The process of swapping the casings took around 45 minutes.

It was well worth the work IMHO. The chrome border makes the steering wheel look a lot nicer. The all black controls are too boring.

The end result: (B7 steering wheel, B7 multifunction control internals, and chrome-bordered B8 multifunction control casings.

[Aloyouis]

Great thread. Question:
I have an 2008 A4 S-Line and a 2012 A4 Avant prem. I see from above it is possible to put the 08 steering wheel on the 2012. Can I put the 2012 wheel on the 08? Also, I want to swap the rear view mirrors as well 08 has auto (dim/compass). Is this possible?

Thanks!!!

[Aloyouis]

Great thread. Question:
I have an 2008 A4 S-Line and a 2012 A4 Avant prem. I see from above it is possible to put the 08 steering wheel on the 2012. Can I put the 2012 wheel on the 08? Also, I want to swap the rear view mirrors as well 08 has (auto dim/compass). Is this possible?

Thanks!!!

[b4a41point8t]

You can get OEM wheels with paddle shifters from Germany. I've been seriously debating it but i figure if Im gonna drop loot on a new wheel then I'd rather not settle and go with 3 spoke sport (thicker wheel) with paddle shifters. Here's one for you :)

http://www.ebay.de/itm/LEDERLENKRAD-...item3a90080947

[knightmare]

Do you know if this would fit my 2009 B8 A4? I can just install my existing airbag and enable the paddles?

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Audi-A4-Stee...15435e&vxp=mtr

[crash1121]

Do you know if this would fit my 2009 B8 A4? I can just install my existing airbag and enable the paddles?

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Audi-A4-Stee...15435e&vxp=mtr

The airbags on 4 spoke and 3 spoke steering wheels are not interchangeable. So if you've got a 4 spoke wheel, you'll need to purchase a different airbag.

[knightmare]

OK, thank you for that info. :)

[Constantine]

bump^

Sorry but you're wrong crash. A 4 spoke airbag DOES fit a 3 spoke and vise-versa... Tested and confirmed. Did this in my B7 with MFSW.

Swapped my old non s-line (4 spoke) wheel to an s-line (3 spoke) MFSW with paddle shift and used my original airbag from the 4 spoke. No problems what-so-ever.

[NPuter]

bump^

Sorry but you're wrong crash. A 4 spoke airbag DOES fit a 3 spoke and vise-versa... Tested and confirmed. Did this in my B7 with MFSW.

Swapped my old non s-line (4 spoke) wheel to an s-line (3 spoke) MFSW with paddle shift and used my original airbag from the 4 spoke. No problems what-so-ever.

I don't see how that can be? Unless you removed the front facing piece from that airbag mechanism which I didn't think was possible. They have different cutouts for the different spoke arrangements

[Constantine]

I may have goofed, my fascia just popped off and I ended up using a backing ring (with the 3 spoke cut out) from a blown airbag.

[KompressorLOgic]

hmm well since this thread was bumped back up!

I just did the b7 4 spoke with paddle swap into my b8, using the chrome cased buttons out of my b8 wheel.



each button has 1 little screw and the plastic casing come off, must be swaped onto the circuit boards inside from the b7 wheel but they snap right on. they are pretty thin plastic so be careful when taking them apart!


installed, works great after recode to enable!

[NPuter]

hmm well since this thread was bumped back up!

I just did the b7 4 spoke with paddle swap into my b8, using the chrome cased buttons out of my b8 wheel.

each button has 1 little screw and the plastic casing come off, must be swaped onto the circuit boards inside from the b7 wheel but they snap right on. they are pretty thin plastic so be careful when taking them apart!

installed, works great after recode to enable!

You did the same exact thing as I did. Great result!

[Constantine]

So this worked great in my b7, and now I'm running into an issue in doing the same to my b8 (2009)

Got a b7 mfsw + paddles, installed (seemingly plug and play). Same connectors and fitment, BUT when I go in with vagcom, 16 - instruments>7 - coding> byte 2, check off tiptronic, exit and click "do it!"

It accepts the coding, but then when I open up coding again to confirm it has the old value stored (000016) and the paddles don't work :( (not in D, S, or M).

For some reason the 000036 coding isn't sticking!

Any ideas about what's going on?

[Anthony1491]

So this worked great in my b7, and now I'm running into an issue in doing the same to my b8 (2009)

Got a b7 mfsw + paddles, installed (seemingly plug and play). Same connectors and fitment, BUT when I go in with vagcom, 16 - instruments>7 - coding> byte 2, check off tiptronic, exit and click "do it!"

It accepts the coding, but then when I open up coding again to confirm it has the old value stored (000016) and the paddles don't work :( (not in D, S, or M).

For some reason the 000036 coding isn't sticking!

Any ideas about what's going on?

Had the same problem, switched to a windows 7 pc instead of using windows 10 fixed it. Is it a real cable or fake? If its fake make sure your using the correct version that you bought it with. For example, my 12.12.3 cable came with 14.14.10 (or something) software but it only worked with the 12.12.3 file

Hope that helps

[Constantine]

That was it! Cable reads 11.11, I'm also on Windows 7, but using vcds 11.11.3, found 11.11.0 software and it worked :D

[TheOriginal]

So just want to clarify:
I have 2 options for getting paddle shifters on my b8 a4; b7 4 spoke or b8 3 spoke wheels. If I got the 3 spoke then I would need a matching airbag? Or can i switch the face plates?

What is the vag com coding to activate the paddles?

[buelldozer]

Hold up here, am I reading this right? You can take a B7 4 spoke with paddles, swap the switches and airbag from your B8 4 spoke, and with a bit of VAGCOM magic get the paddles to work?

I'll uhhh be at the junkyard...

[TheOriginal]

Yes I've done a bit of research, the b7 steering wheel with paddles can be swapped no problem. But ignore the part I said about air bags on 3 spoke wheels... The guy above got lucky and had a blown 3 spoke laying around haha.

[NPuter]

Hold up here, am I reading this right? You can take a B7 4 spoke with paddles, swap the switches and airbag from your B8 4 spoke, and with a bit of VAGCOM magic get the paddles to work?

I'll uhhh be at the junkyard...

Yes, but you can't swap the multifunction controls exactly per say (the non paddle controls do not have the connecters for the paddles), but you can swap the casings of the controls (I did so because I like the alu border around the B8 controls).

Sent from my Nexus 6P using Tapatalk

[flyerpretender]

Hi all

New to the forum. I have an a4 b8 2012 2.0t with a 4 spoke steering wheel, just swapped for a 4 spoke with paddle. I got lucky on ebay and found a 2009 b7/b8 4 spoke steering wheel w paddle for $100. It's definitely rare these 4 spoke with paddle. It took me a good two weeks of repeat search on eBay to find this. I definitely didnt want to spend alot for a new 3spoke which would require a new airbag, runs around 300-450 from eBay depends on how you buy.

I used the new wheel, paddle, and the mfsw circuits with my plastic housing from my non-paddle wheel. The swap isn't too difficult. The difficult part is finding the right wheel if you want to use your old 4spoke airbag.

On side note, I'm in the process of researching to see if I can reverse the paddle so that left is up shift. Anyone with info, please advise. Thanks

I'm happy to help anyone around SoCal who needs help w this or need to use vcds for coding.