Steering Wheel removal and replacement B8.5

[aaronz]

I finally had some free time to install my carbon fiber surround for my steering wheel, replacing the black plastic that comes stock.

There are some short write ups with how to get the wheel off but most applied to B8 (T30 torx), the B8.5 uses a method of retaining clips (2).

This picture shows those clips:



First start with getting your wheel lined up. One clip should be visible at the bottom and one at the top (there's a little indent on the column at the bottom to know when you are lined up properly). Next start with disconnecting the ground terminal in the trunk, insert your key to drain any residual power.

Look under the steering wheel and column and use a long and skinny flat head to "pry" ever so slightly the clip out of the retaining part - clip is on the airbag, retainer is on the car/column. Your going to be prying "inward" if that makes sense. As you are doing this put your fingers under the edge of the airbag and pry it out about 1/4 of an inch to prevent the the clip from springing back in.

Next move to the top of the wheel and take your key fob, remove the metal key part and use it to pry the other clip. It's the perfect size for this task and made life easier than trying to find the perfect flat head.

Again put your fingers under the airbag so secure the clip from going back in. Once you have both "released" give a firm but CONTROLLED pull in order to remove the airbag. STOP NOW!

There are still some connections you need to remove before you can pull the airbag out further than 2-2.5 inches.

The main one is this yellow clip with a green locking clip built in. The second is the control connector coming out of the yellow clip and to your steering wheel controls.







First pull the green locking clip towards you, then like all Audi clips there is a tab you need to push in and the yellow clip comes out.

Then press in on the metallic , tiny micro clip in the connector piece from the yellow clip to the steering wheel controls.


If you are just removing the airbag you are done! If not, continue on!



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[aaronz]

Next for me came the removal of the surround.

Most of it is retained by these nubs that press fit into the rubber "gasket" on the steering wheel. Where the controls are it is held in by a "barbed nub" that is also press fit.





The ones not by the controls are easy to pry up and out. The ones by the control take some gentle but firm work. I used a flat pry tool (radio installs and wire tucking etc.) to work my way around. Once it's lose be careful to slowly pull if you have DSG because those connections need to still come out and the wires are short.







Once you have the unit out we need to remove the controls: They push out towards the driver (push from the back) but first you need to depress the clips (4) that hold it in place. Those are located where the cloth backing covers the sides. See picture below:


Once they are out pop them into the new surround. I had to do some sanding to make them fit because my piece was a one off from Matt @ O-carbon as far as I know and needed some fine tuning. Same with where the S4 badge goes in.

Reverse install everything.

Reminder that when putting the airbag back in there are special recesses for the wires to sit in. It's kind of hard to see in this picture but easy to recognize when you are in there.





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[aaronz]

Finish the reverse install and all is well!










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[Buckeye_S4]

I guess it's a steering wheel kind of day. Nice mod.

[raudiace4]

Sweet! Nice write-up as well, thanks.

[matt@oCarbon]

Looking good.

[atodosic]

I actually ended up using a very usefull tool to remove the air bag clips.

I used the right angle one to push in the slot then turned it and was able to push out the two metal clips with no scratches and practically no effort. All in all it was a 25 minute job at most. Happily riding a flat bottom S Line wheel with shifters now on my B8.5.
Here is the link:

http://www.canadiantire.ca/en/pdp/ma...l#.VNDyu0Kr89o

[ojmcneill]

Hot DAMN! That looks pretty sweet brother! Damn good work there.

[Mr.Tan]

so much carbon good-ness. Looks dope

[ColtS5]

Great DIY! I've done many swaps, including the newer airbags with the clips. Last night though, was the first time removing the airbag was hard. The clips were moving far off the tabs, but the airbag would not budge.

I gave up, and took a break, before tackling it again. And, it came right off with some help of a plastic trim tool. I used the tool with which has a comeback, hook at the end, about 1/2 wide. I used that to grab the lip of the airbag, and gave a really hard tug, to pop the bag out on that side, and again on the other. The cold weather might have had something to do with it, as the plastic "feet" on the airbag rest in the rubber cups in the wheel.

https://www.crutchfield.com/S-G0EMNb...nel-Tools.html


I used the tool on the bottom from the picture in the link.

[steampunkjunker]

Great DIY! I've done many swaps, including the newer airbags with the clips. Last night though, was the first time removing the airbag was hard. The clips were moving far off the tabs, but the airbag would not budge.

I gave up, and took a break, before tackling it again. And, it came right off with some help of a plastic trim tool. I used the tool with which has a comeback, hook at the end, about 1/2 wide. I used that to grab the lip of the airbag, and gave a really hard tug, to pop the bag out on that side, and again on the other. The cold weather might have had something to do with it, as the plastic "feet" on the airbag rest in the rubber cups in the wheel.

https://www.crutchfield.com/S-G0EMNb...nel-Tools.html


I used the tool on the bottom from the picture in the link.

Does anyone know if it’s just possible to replace the airbag cover / horn molding piece with the chrome ring and Audi logo? I noticed that my metal ring has a cosmetic defect at the 3 o’clock position.


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[fmzip]

I need to pull my controls off my wheel B8.5

Do you need to remove the entire surround to do that, or can I pop them out once I remove the airbag?

ANSWER: Yes you do need to remove the trim!