# Latest Mods - RS4 Steering Wheel + Handbrake Cover



## Naresh (Nov 22, 2004)

Well I've had the B7 RS4 Euro Spec steering wheel for almost 3 months now and finally found a spare couple of hours to fit it this weekend. Now, first things first, much credit goes to RabTT (cheers buddy) who first carried out this mod on his Mk2 steering wheel a few months back and even though I partially doubted the airbag safety debate, deep down I really wanted to have this on my car. So after taking some well informed advice from Rab, I went on the search for the RS4 version as I loved the alumnium style trim on the flat bottomed edge. I also wanted to incorporate the buttons somehow to control my stereo.

Task 1 was to find a mint condition wheel within budget and I almost passed out when I came across one on german ebay that was hardly used + airbag and for less than the price of a standard Mk1 without the airbag!!  A couple of weeks of nail biting later (due to it being sent by courier Hermes which I found out later have a habit of losing parcels!) it arrived...










Task 2 was to get in touch with Rab and sort the airbag and horn wiring. The horn wiring was straight forward, as was finding power to light up the buttons at night. It's th dual stage airbag wiring that had me stumped for a while until Rab suggested something that although didn't work at first I managed to nail it in the end, but all credit goes to him on this part. This is what I came up against...



















I managed to find a spare Mk1 loom on ebay and modified it to connect up to the new airbag. It was basically 4 wires, 2 for the airbag and 2 for the horn...










Task 3 was to find a way to use the buttons on the new wheel to either control my stereo or something else in the car. I managed to solve the former but due to no room to pass additional cables through the steering column I couldn't achieve the latter. I changed the illumination on the "S" button to blue for a unique mod but as that didn't work out I left it blue as it went well with other blue illuminated mods in the car. Here's the OEM buttons I had to modify...



















Task 4 was to get the old wheel and airbag off which I had done previously to install cruise control...



















Task 5 was now to get the new wheel on, test the airbag and clear any fault codes with vagcom. Initially I kept getting a fault but after some minor changes to the wiring layout I got it sorted (without the obvious test) and all has been fine since. Oh, and I also fitted a nice GTT Tuning handbrake cover which I've been hunting down for ages, and rubbed it down slightly to give a more OEM satin finish. Here are the all importent fitted pics...

*Before:*










*After:*



















*GTT Handbrake cover:*



























































































*Airbag light cleared!* 










The overall wheel looks perfect in the TT and the inclusion of the aluminium trim goes perfectly with the rest of the interior. The steering wheel is a little thicker and slightly smaller than the original which gives it a great feel and the perforated leather is so much more tactile and better to feel than OEM. To say I'm happy with this mod is an understatment. On a more practical note, the flat bottomed edge give slightly more legroom whilst driving and getting in and out the car.


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## conlechi (May 6, 2006)

Great job Naresh ,
just reading the post has answered my question on your other post :wink:

Mark


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## wul (Feb 10, 2009)

hey naresh,how you doing mate??i cant see any after pic.u forgot to attach or is my computer goosed again :?


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## wul (Feb 10, 2009)

got them all now mate looking the dogs danglies,job well done


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## ELLIOTT (Feb 29, 2008)

Seriously Good work!!! 8)


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## stefan (Feb 21, 2010)

Damn....that's looks 8) 8) 8)


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## andyTT180 (Mar 19, 2010)

Im rather jealous of that it looks brilliant one of my fav TT mods I think


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## Gram TT (Aug 28, 2009)

Great job!! loving it. 8)


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## T3RBO (Dec 9, 2003)

Brilliant write up and definitely so worth it... looks amazing mate [smiley=thumbsup.gif]


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## Hallyfella (Mar 5, 2007)

OOOOO that just makes my visor steam up ! Thats the best Mod ive seen on here in ages . Well done matey first rate. [smiley=mexicanwave.gif]


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## Nilesong (Jan 19, 2009)

Love it. You DO know we're all going to want one don't you? 
Nice work. :wink:


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## DesignerDaveTT (Jan 19, 2006)

Great Mod! Welldone 

No chance in getting any of the buttons to function then?


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## stevebeechTA (May 16, 2009)

Sh..t, think i have just messed in my underpants. Excellent work mate.


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## bigsyd (Jul 9, 2008)

1st class m8, very nice work 8) 8) 8)


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## Naresh (Nov 22, 2004)

DesignerDaveTT said:


> Great Mod! Welldone
> 
> No chance in getting any of the buttons to function then?


Hi Dave, the buttons currently work for me as I've connected them up to my steering wheel remote which is now mounted inside the steering wheel. As there are only 4 buttons on the new wheel I decided to connect them to disc up and down and track up and down. It links via a small remote sender which is mounted to the back of the wheel pointing at the stereo. There is potential to make use of the rest of my remote such as volume, attenuator and source buttons but would involve drilling into the new wheel to fit additional buttons behind it F1 style. Something for another time if I find suitable buttons and feel up to it. Needless to say, I think I'm done on new mods for now. [smiley=smoking.gif]

Normally these multi-function steering wheels send signals to an RNS double-din type stereo via specific slip ring and controller unit. You're then looking at spending hundreds of more £ just to get that working, plus a new stereo. I really wanted the S button to double up as an engine start but couldn't find a way to get additional cables through the steering column and get around the fact the wheel rotates several times lock to lock.


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## DesignerDaveTT (Jan 19, 2006)

Naresh said:


> DesignerDaveTT said:
> 
> 
> > Great Mod! Welldone
> ...


Great effort anyhow  Best steering wheel mod I have seen.

If you could have got the 'S' to be a start button that would have been amazing


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## Smeds (Oct 28, 2009)

Naresh that looks bloody awesome, much Kudos to you!


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## rabTT (Nov 14, 2006)

Naresh, thanks for the mention :wink: and I'm really chuffed for you mate as I know you've put a heap of time into this project. I have to say, although I've got the non-MFA wheel in all leather, there's definitely something tastier about the aluminium finish on your wheel that really compliments the aluminium of the MKI interior - it looks SO much more trick and gives your car a real 'expensive' sports car look, if that makes sense . . 

Well done! 8)


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## Tim G (Feb 16, 2005)

Nice one Naresh, looks very 8)


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## itsmeagain (Jul 11, 2008)

Very good install, looks great


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## Charlie (Dec 15, 2006)

That looks awesome 8) can the RS4 bit be removed and replaced, or is it impossible?

Charlie


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## nikos525 (May 15, 2006)

Naresh you seriously keep on impressing with these tasefull mods, interior looks even cooler now.

Damn you where's my credit card!


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## Naresh (Nov 22, 2004)

Charlie said:


> That looks awesome 8) can the RS4 bit be removed and replaced, or is it impossible?
> 
> Charlie


What happened to the forum, haven't been able to log in all morning.  Anyway back to your question Charlie, the badge is removeable by taking off the aluminium trim panels but I'd rather keep the RS4 logo as it is, rather than replace it with an S-line or TTS. It's an RS4 steering wheel after all, and what a car too! 8)


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## TTQ2K2 (Jun 25, 2009)

Very nice mate. Pure class. :wink:

cheers.


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## GEM (Jun 21, 2007)

Hi Naresh.
As always...a lovely mod. Well done mate. [smiley=dude.gif] [smiley=sunny.gif]
John.


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## mac1967 (Sep 8, 2006)

Hi Naresh,

How r u keeping my friend!!

That really is an awsome mod buddy and so suits the tt interior!!

Very well done!!

God I wish I still had mine!!

Regards as always,

Martin


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## Hark (Aug 23, 2007)

Looks fantastic mate. Glad you got it sorted after our chat, looks really good, wouldn't mind seeing it in the flesh.


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## triplefan (Sep 3, 2008)

I absolutely refuse to make a post saying how good the wheel looks, jealous as hell


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## Johny D (Feb 27, 2010)

Gobsmacked....truly gobsmacked.......saw the steering wheel in the box and thought "What's the point"...saw the after picture and said...."That's why"........incredible...well done.


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## andyTT180 (Mar 19, 2010)

sorry for the random question but is that an s line badge on your old steering wheel, did u replace the audi sport badge with the s line badge or did your car come with the s line mk1 steering wheel?


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## TT51 (Feb 28, 2009)

Totally transforms the look of the interior.

Stunning 8)


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## ian222 (May 4, 2007)

Yeah very nice, very up to date. As someone said can the s button be made a starter button?


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## Super Josh (May 29, 2009)

Looks the absolute nadgers Mate    

Josh


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## Naresh (Nov 22, 2004)

andyTT180 said:


> sorry for the random question but is that an s line badge on your old steering wheel, did u replace the audi sport badge with the s line badge or did your car come with the s line mk1 steering wheel?


Hi my old steering wheel was plain and I added the S line badge myself but cutting a small section out and fitting it flush.

Thanks for the comments guys, I did the mod in stages and only managed to sort the airbag fault this weekend. Ever since I felt the perforated leather on the newer style S line steering wheels at the TT shop I had to have one, plus being about an inch smaller in diameter gives the steering a slightly more sporty feel, if that's a right way to describe it. This isn't a mod for the fainted hearted though because you are tampering with an explosive device (airbag), and as Rab mentioned during his install post - a lot of research is needed to make sure you know what you're doing.


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## Naresh (Nov 22, 2004)

ian222 said:


> Yeah very nice, very up to date. As someone said can the s button be made a starter button?


I doubt this can be done without changing more expensive components in the system such as the slip ring and airbag controller. You're looking at a heck of alot more cost, something I couldn't justify for a button. The way I was planning this was to feed additional wires though the steering column but I couldn't find any easy access at all. You also have to factor in that the wheel turns several times lock to lock so a new cable would get tangled easily and prone to wear as the airbag takes up all the space inside the steering wheel. The current method uses the slip ring which the airbag plugs into and makes connections through a series of circular tracks as you turn the wheel. It's not an easy job and I've yet to see anyone overcome it. If anyone has any other ideas or know it's been done somewhere before feel free to post up here.


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## GEM (Jun 21, 2007)

I have to say Naresh...that is one of the best Mk1 mods I've ever seen 8) 
Top man [smiley=dude.gif] 
John.


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## Guest (May 11, 2010)

Hi Naresh.

Firstly, I'm still sitting on the OSIR carbon mirror mod for now due to cash flow issues related to the inability to do overtime because I'm off work on LTS but if you're happy to bide your time, you can still have my QS Phantom Black ones when I get round to it. I haven't forgotten.

Secondly, I can only echo the previous comments on how good that looks in the Mk1 TT. A Mk2 wheel had been at the top of my next to do mods list for a good few months for reasons of look, size/access and feel in that order, but I wanted to be sure the airbag situation could be dealt with properly before committing. There seemed to be a steady stream of standard ones on eBay for about £589 from a Hungarian seller with or without buttons/paddle shifters, etc. but now that I've seen an RS4 one installed, I think that has to be the way to go. It's an excellent call on the cosmetic match of the aluminium trim with the TT.

Excellent photos and how to. Can I probe a bit more on the tests you carried out to satisfy yourself that the airbag will deploy as per the design intent? That part of the process is still a bit unclear for me at the moment. The Mk1 is a single stage and Mk2 a dual stage but what signal/voltage fires off the charge and are you 100% sure that yours & RabTT's test & commissioning method has proven full deployment functionality [as much as you can of course without a destructive test!] rather than just clearing the airbag fault light and accepting that as indicative of success? I PM'd Rab a while back to discuss it and found out he lives a few miles from me which gives me a lot of confidence to give this a go.

I don't mean to be cheeky in asking just that I can tell you're both extremely fastidious in your approach and Rab has substantial experience through his work of deactivating vehicle airbags yet my natural caution and questioning attitude is holding me back. 

Regards,

Doug


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## rabTT (Nov 14, 2006)

Hi Doug
You're quite right to be cautious and seek clarity about certain mods and to never be overly optimistic or pessimistic and figure your conclusions on balanced well informed approach.

I spent a lot of time researching this and came up with the conclusion that, in layman's terms that, in my case (MKII TTS FBSW), with both stages of the MKII dual stage wired into the MKI single stage would provide the correct resistance to the control module, that it would apply the correct 'signal' to the airbag. Through trial and error, I found that my ECU picked up no airbag fault doing it this way.

I have heard a story about a guy who did something similar in his A3 and it didn't deploy but I've seen images of the apparent vehicle and it hadn't suffered a near head-on or head-on collision, suspecting that this may have been the reason for the non-deployment. Plus, who is to say that this guy's wiring was up to the job - he doesn't mention about having a 'fault' showing in anything that I've read either!

This is an extremely popular mod Stateside and i would've expected to hear a lot more if there was a trend on non-deployment, hence MY decision to do it.

I hope this helps.


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## Guest (May 11, 2010)

That's cool. I'll have a look through ELSAWin to see if there's any information on the airbag deployment sequence, control parameters, etc. on both 8N & 8J models.

Personally, I'd be fairly satisfied to assume that all was well if there was no airbag warning or any fault codes standing after the mod.

Shame the 8N & 8J modules aren't interchangeable without making major physical mods to the chassis.

Maybe I'd better start saving and look at DeutscheBay.

Doug


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## Naresh (Nov 22, 2004)

Thanks for stepping in Rab, I was going to refer Doug on to you anyway. As for the airbag wiring, it is fairly straightforward as there are only 4 wires in the Mk1 plug. Two of these are for the airbag pins 1 and 2 on one plug. The latest style airbags being dual stage have 2 plugs on the airbag, each with their own pins 1 and 2. The idea is to combine both 1's and 2's on the Mk1 airbag and marry them up with pin 1 and 2 respecively on the Mk1 plug, as per Rab's instructions. When I did mine I found that the resistance was too high so couldn't clear the airbag error. I resorted to connecting to just plug 1 of the Mk2 airbag (stage 1) and this sorted it. For information purposes, stage 1 deploys under low impact I understand and stage 2 deploys to keep the airbag deflated for longer under high impacts. As mentioned before very little of these mods have been tested in a crash test - the A3 scenario coming up time after time. As most people will agree, it's a 50/50 mod in terms of confidence but I'm going with Rab on the basis there is no airbag fault code appearing.


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## rustyintegrale (Oct 1, 2006)

Looks really, really cool Naresh... 8) 8) 8) 8) 8)

Brilliant!

Cheers

Rich


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## Guest (May 11, 2010)

That's good info guys. Thanks for that. I haven't looked at ELSAWin yet. I suppose if it deploys at all then that's a good thing. If it's a low speed impact, there'll be a benefit. It it's a high speed impact, chances are you'll chunky salsa anyway and therefore beyond caring, eh? :wink:

Doug


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## Jansen (Oct 8, 2009)

http://www.edition38.com/gallery/gary-brant-4motion-mk4










Another one in a MK4 Golf :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: ....... TT wannabe :lol:

Nice work Naresh, transforms the look of the interior.


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## praxis (Jan 4, 2011)

What year is your TT? Everyone tells me that I cannot put a RS4 steering wheel on my 2001 coupe. Is your tt a MKl?


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## safariTT (Dec 15, 2010)

Such a nice job. Now I am going to put this one on my mods list.
If it is not too late to ask, where did you get your handbrake cover?


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## markusdarkus (Jan 9, 2009)

Whaaaahh! Best mod i have seen in a TT - amazing work! I want one!!


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## Petrolthreads (Jul 2, 2010)

rabTT said:


> Naresh, thanks for the mention :wink: and I'm really chuffed for you mate as I know you've put a heap of time into this project. I have to say, although I've got the non-MFA wheel in all leather, there's definitely something tastier about the aluminium finish on your wheel that really compliments the aluminium of the MKI interior - it looks SO much more trick and gives your car a real 'expensive' sports car look, if that makes sense . .
> 
> Well done! 8)


Hi Rab,

I don't know if it would work but I replaced the bottom half of my RS4 wheel, because the badge was scratched, I still have the old one, do you want it, you might be able to get it to fit?


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## jakejbar (May 20, 2012)

how did you get the lights on the wheel to come on as there are only 4 wires, are they on all the time?
Im desperate to know, im doing this myself right now!!


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## merlin c (Jan 25, 2012)

Damn that's sweet, well done............ [smiley=thumbsup.gif]


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## Naresh (Nov 22, 2004)

You need to test which of the feeds to the buttons power the LEDs on the pcb. Once you have the +ve and -ve feeds you can splice into the wires that power the horn. Those are on with the ignition so the lights would be lit during the day too but not a problem for LEDs with such a long running life.



jakejbar said:


> how did you get the lights on the wheel to come on as there are only 4 wires, are they on all the time?
> Im desperate to know, im doing this myself right now!!


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## gogs (Dec 22, 2010)

Naresh said:


> Thanks for stepping in Rab, I was going to refer Doug on to you anyway. As for the airbag wiring, it is fairly straightforward as there are only 4 wires in the Mk1 plug. Two of these are for the airbag pins 1 and 2 on one plug. The latest style airbags being dual stage have 2 plugs on the airbag, each with their own pins 1 and 2. The idea is to combine both 1's and 2's on the Mk1 airbag and marry them up with pin 1 and 2 respecively on the Mk1 plug, as per Rab's instructions. When I did mine I found that the resistance was too high so couldn't clear the airbag error. I resorted to connecting to just plug 1 of the Mk2 airbag (stage 1) and this sorted it. For information purposes, stage 1 deploys under low impact I understand and stage 2 deploys to keep the airbag deflated for longer under high impacts. As mentioned before very little of these mods have been tested in a crash test - the A3 scenario coming up time after time. As most people will agree, it's a 50/50 mod in terms of confidence but I'm going with Rab on the basis there is no airbag fault code appearing.


Hi Naresh,

Do you have any pics of the actual wiring connected from mk2 to mk1 loom? I have had a mk2 wheel with airbag for around a month now but have not yet worked out the wiring, I was informed as you said all 1's together & all 2's together using numbers on the plugs but I can't find these numbers of the plug of the airbag, I also have paddles to connect as I have the DSG I have all the wiring diagrams but am a bit lost :?

Gogs


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## Leebo310 (Sep 22, 2011)

Fair play, that looks awesome! 
Good work! [smiley=dude.gif] [smiley=dude.gif] [smiley=dude.gif]


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## Charlesuk (Mar 12, 2012)

Such a beautiful mod, and so clean!!!! 8) 8) 8)


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## roughready28 (Aug 6, 2011)

I want one........

better do the suspension first though :idea:


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## jakejbar (May 20, 2012)

Sorry to be a real pain, do you have any pics of how you did it? i know which is +ve and -ve for the leds but splicing into the power for the horn? if i took a feed from the =ve and -ve for the horn and light the leds wont that put the horn on? :!: any pics or even a diagram would be so appreciated! i just want this to work now!!! 
Cheers, jake


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## Naresh (Nov 22, 2004)

I'll check tomorrow if I have any more pictures of the install but as for the button illumination one of the wires to the horn goes live when you switch on the ignition (but engine off). That can be used for the +ve feed.


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## jakejbar (May 20, 2012)

Well i am pleased to say that i have done it! horn works, lights work and no fault codes, only took 1.5 hours once i sat down and looked at it properly. Im sooooo pleased with it!  :wink: will post a pic tomorrow. thanks again!


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## Naresh (Nov 22, 2004)

Good job, post up pics when you have them.


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