2017+ 8V Facelift A3/S3 Steering Wheel Removal

[kevin12]

Has anyone attempted this yet? Can't seem to find anything on the web about it yet.

I'm attempting to swap an S3 steering wheel over to my A3 but can't figure out how to remove the new facelift airbag. Doesn't seem to have clips like the prefacelift so I'm kinda stumped at the moment. I took off the case around the column and there's a hole on the rear of the wheel on each side that may be there to release the airbag but I've had no luck feeling for a clip to release. Any help or tips would be greatly appreciated!

[S3owner]

Take the airbag out first, unscrew the screw in the middle, it comes right out. Don't forget to unplug the cables though!

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[larbel]

The airbag is click into place with two strong springs which you can push them down with a screwdriver to release them from the back of the steering wheel. The holes are exposed by turning the wheels -90 and 90 degrees from the back.

http://i.ebayimg.com/00/s/OTYwWDEyOD...RXqZBS/$_1.JPG

This is what the back side of the airbag looks like, the two round spring thingy is what you need to push inward to release.

[kevin12]

Thanks for the feedback guys. I was finally able to get the airbag out after fighting the clips for an hour and a half. One side I could pop off easily but couldn't get the other side for the life of me. Sooo frustrating but glad I finally got it.

Wish I would have saw Iarbel's post with the airbag pic sooner for some reference but I had already gotten it off by that point. Never taking that fvcker off now haha! Looks great though and so glad to get the paddles back. Definitely missed them after having them in the B7.

[mrandrewau]

Thanks for the feedback guys. I was finally able to get the airbag out after fighting the clips for an hour and a half. One side I could pop off easily but couldn't get the other side for the life of me. Sooo frustrating but glad I finally got it.

Wish I would have saw Iarbel's post with the airbag pic sooner for some reference but I had already gotten it off by that point. Never taking that fvcker off now haha! Looks great though and so glad to get the paddles back. Definitely missed them after having them in the B7.

I will need to take out my airbag soon as well, to install the paddles. How hard was it to remove the steering wheel buttons to access the paddle, after removing the air bag?

[kevin12]

I will need to take out my airbag soon as well, to install the paddles. How hard was it to remove the steering wheel buttons to access the paddle, after removing the air bag?

I never touched the steering wheel buttons, I just did a direct swap between steering wheels. I originally had the stock A3 wheel without the paddles and switched over to the stock S3 wheel that has the better aesthetics and paddles.

[mrandrewau]

Today, it was my turn to remove the air bag, but I am absolutely stumped as to what I need to do. I see two tiny black holes, but I can't see any springs. I wanted to assess the situation with you guys a little more before spending hours and potentially damaging the steering wheel column or the wheel itself.

Am I right to assume that this is what needs to happen? What tool or shape of tool would be most ideal for dealing with this?



PS - I am super glad that this thread exists. Thank you OP. And yes, the new wheel looks fantastic!

[oblique]

Today, it was my turn to remove the air bag, but I am absolutely stumped as to what I need to do. I see two tiny black holes, but I can't see any springs. I wanted to assess the situation with you guys a little more before spending hours and potentially damaging the steering wheel column or the wheel itself.

Am I right to assume that this is what needs to happen? What tool or shape of tool would be most ideal for dealing with this?



PS - I am super glad that this thread exists. Thank you OP. And yes, the new wheel looks fantastic!

Yes that's correct those 2 springs need to move inward. The best tool is a medium length flat head screw driver. I linked a video below that explains, to make it a really clear on what to do.
I'm currently testing a 2017 face-lift steering wheel for Europrice for pre face-lift (2015/16) A3/S3's. I had to do this a few weeks ago and now I can do it in my sleep.

[kevin12]

Today, it was my turn to remove the air bag, but I am absolutely stumped as to what I need to do. I see two tiny black holes, but I can't see any springs. I wanted to assess the situation with you guys a little more before spending hours and potentially damaging the steering wheel column or the wheel itself.

Am I right to assume that this is what needs to happen? What tool or shape of tool would be most ideal for dealing with this?

PS - I am super glad that this thread exists. Thank you OP. And yes, the new wheel looks fantastic!

Exactly right, but I still struggled with the one side. Can't really give you any advice other than to keep at it and it'll eventually pop loose!
I used a medium sized screw driver as well like oblique mentioned.

You'll also need a T25 Torx to remove the lower plastic cover, the top just pops off from clips, and a 12mm Triple Square to remove the wheel itself.

Good luck and thanks for the compliments!!

[mrandrewau]

Yes that's correct those 2 springs need to move inward. The best tool is a medium length flat head screw driver. I linked a video below that explains, to make it a really clear on what to do.
I'm currently testing a 2017 face-lift steering wheel for Europrice for pre face-lift (2015/16) A3/S3's. I had to do this a few weeks ago and now I can do it in my sleep.

Exactly right, but I still struggled with the one side. Can't really give you any advice other than to keep at it and it'll eventually pop loose!
I used a medium sized screw driver as well like oblique mentioned.

You'll also need a T25 Torx to remove the lower plastic cover, the top just pops off from clips, and a 12mm Triple Square to remove the wheel itself.

Good luck and thanks for the compliments!!

Thank you!! I will attempt again next weekend, but with that video and confirmation of what I need to do, it should be no problem.

[mrandrewau]

Just as a tip to anyone else coming across this - remove the spring clip on the lower right first (the hole at the 4 o'clock position when facing the wheel at the driver seat). The reason is that this spring is responsible for the clips on the right hand side AND the clip on the bottom. Whereas, the other spring on the lower left (8 o'clock position) is only responsible for the clip on the left hand side.

I was able to remove the airbag after struggling for one hour. But I had no idea how to remove the black bracket that houses the steering wheel buttons. 😔

[JonnyQ]

When replacing the A3 wheel w/o paddles to S3 w/paddles is any coding required with VCDS?

[pnetel]

So I was in same boat, my 2017 Audi A3 came without paddle shifters, but I wanted them. Bought a round (not flat bottom) steering wheel on ebay in Germany with paddle shifters. FYI, the part number for the steering wheel I bought was 81A419091C, it is for the Q2 SUV sold in Europe. The part number for the A3 according to Audi is 8V0419091C. As far as I could tell, they are identical, except for the part number.

So onto the swap. I continued to do google searches on some more detail on the removal process as it relates to the air bag removal, it is pretty sparse. I did find one more video that showed how the springs function for the air bag, but not too much detail on the actual process from the back of the steering wheel. Initially I tried a screwdriver as has been mentioned without much success. As a retired mechanical engineer, I was determined to figure this out, so after pondering this for many days, I came up with modifying a simple tool which worked very well. I took a standard awl, ground the nose down, and bent the tip a bit. The awl cross-section diameter I used was ~.200” (5mm).

What seemed to work for me was that you have to insert the tip of the tool approximately 1 inch inside the slot on the back of the steering wheel, coming in roughly horizontally. Then pivot the awl upwards until you feel the blunt tip of the awl make contact with the spring. Then pry the awl upwards. The tip of the awl is in contact with the spring, and the shaft of the awl approximately 1 inch away from the tip makes contact with the uppermost portion of the slot of the steering wheel, acting as the fulcrum. As you move the end of the awl (the end with the wooden handle) vertically, the fulcrum allows the blunt tip of the awl to push the spring towards the center of the wheel. As you do this you have to pull out on the airbag module, and it will release. I followed “mrandrewau’s” advice and did the 4 o’clock position first, then the 8 o’clock position.

For me, it was plug and play, no recoding with VCDS required. I got a bunch of lights that came up initially with a whole litany of car functions were disabled/not working. However once I started driving for at most 5 minutes, they all cleared.

Thanks to all that posted previously on this thread, it was very helpful, hopefully my post continues to help.Modified Awl.jpg

[1killera4]

When replacing the A3 wheel w/o paddles to S3 w/paddles is any coding required with VCDS?

Great question! Inquiring minds want to know!

[R1ce]

I referenced this post to install an RS3 wheel on my '17 A3, thanks for the links and advice above! I found this PDF from ECS tuning documenting the process which was super helpful, so passing it on to others here.
https://bd8ba3c866c8cbc330ab-7b26c6f...stallation.pdf

Getting the airbag out was a pain, but after reading the above instructions helped on the order of steps. I did have an issue with re-installation and had to remove and retry a few times until all of the wire paths cleared as the bottom clip wouldn't lock. It's all good now.

[off_set]

Anyone selling there pre facelift bag pm me


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