Steering wheel mod

BeezerDiesel · Post by **BeezerDiesel** » Thu Oct 04, 2007 5:54 pm

Latest addition: mk5 Golf GTI steering wheel

Easy straight forward modification, but beware which wheel you buy!
I got a DSG wheel as it was fairly cheap and incomplete, I would recommend anyone putting one of these in a 9N3 to be more patient than me and get a non multifunction or DSG wheel as it will fit far more easily.
Big thanks and a thumbs up to alexperkins our resident parts expert and here's the wheel all fitted:

When I had my mk5 Golf I needed a grey steering wheel and all I could find was black ones with red stitching (from the Ed 30) on German ebay and it took me ages to track down an anthracite grey wheel, now a year later when I wanted a black one with red stitching to match my Polo's colour scheme all I could find were black ones with orange stitching from the Pirelli edition. PITA or what. Finally managed to get hold of a black with black stitching wheel which looks okay but not 100% match with the rest of the interior. I'm more than happy with it though as it's really nice to use and look at!!!
Definately a recommended modification for any 9N3 owner with a 3 spoke steering wheel airbag, it would even make a 1.2 owner feel like he is driving an R8 (until the traffic lights go green that is).......

flyfs6 · Post by **flyfs6** » Thu Oct 04, 2007 7:40 pm

Couldn't even think of this one. Very, very nice mod

Did you need to buy a new slip ring and is there any coding to do?

andy947 · Post by **andy947** » Thu Oct 04, 2007 8:01 pm

So all you gained was black sticking instead of the better looking red?

Cant see the point myself

BeezerDiesel · Post by **BeezerDiesel** » Thu Oct 04, 2007 8:06 pm

Couldn't even think of this one. Very, very nice mod

Did you need to buy a new slip ring and is there any coding to do?

No slip ring and no coding required. Takes about half hour at the maximum to fit.
I don't think there is provision for multi function on the Polo so it's just a bolt on job.

So all you gained was black sticking instead of the better looking red?

Cant see the point myself

What I gained was a much better looking steering wheel, that is much nicer to hold and gives the steering a much more direct feel and all completely OEM. If you can't see the point then you can save yourself a few quid and not bother with it

dino · Post by **dino** » Thu Oct 04, 2007 8:46 pm

andy947 wrote:So all you gained was black sticking instead of the better looking red?

Cant see the point myself

theres loads of points to that mod!

Personally i love the mod - looks fantastic, nice flat bottom wheel with good shape for a nice grip.

ModifiedMadness · Post by **ModifiedMadness** » Thu Oct 04, 2007 8:49 pm

BeezerDiesel wrote:If you can't see the point then you can save yourself a few quid and not bother with it

Couldn't have said it better myself.

I haven't seen the standard one myself, but I should imagine it's not as good as the new one if you went to the hassle of changing it

BeezerDiesel · Post by **BeezerDiesel** » Fri Oct 05, 2007 6:51 am

ModifiedMadness wrote: I haven't seen the standard one myself, but I should imagine it's not as good as the new one if you went to the hassle of changing it

The standard Polo GTI wheel is just a normal 9N3 or mk5 Golf wheel covered in perforated black leather with red stitching. It's a perfectly good steering wheel as steering wheels go but the mk5 Golf GTI wheel is just a little bit special. It's hard to quantify in words and my poor photography but it's a tactile thing. For any doubters go visit your friendly local VW dealer and sit in a mk5 Golf GTI and see what is the first thing that impresses you about the interior. Mind you the seats in the Golf are nicer than the Polo too, and the radio, and the 18'' Monza 2s, and the engine

but the Polo just happens to be 5 grand cheaper and a better size for me

KennyPOLO_Gti · Post by **KennyPOLO_Gti** » Fri Oct 05, 2007 8:13 am

Nice mod matey!!! Where u get it from and how much?

daa709 · Post by **daa709** » Fri Oct 05, 2007 8:22 am

What about removing the airbag? Did you have to reset anything on vagcom? post instructions dude!!

BeezerDiesel · Post by **BeezerDiesel** » Fri Oct 05, 2007 10:24 am

Where'd I get it? Good ol' ebay. They go for anywhere between Â£120 and Â£200+ just be patient, I spent a few months waiting for one to come up at the price I wanted to pay. German ebay is best by far but many Euro sellers won't accept PayPal.

To fit: Disconnect battery (many profeesionals don't do this but as a DIY-er I recommend you definately do!), unclip the two airbag clips at rear of steering wheel. Then pull out the airbag unit and unclip the big yellow multi connector where it's loom connects through the wheel hub. Undo the spline drive, pull off wheel. Align new wheel, do up spline drive, connect big yellow connector to airbag and push it back into place. Faff about with airbag clips to rear off new wheel. Re-connect battery, set steering angle sensor by turning wheel fully one way then t'other and viola. Disclaimer: This is how my wheel was fitted, and I recommend that if you're not 100% confident of fitting it get someone who is to do the work. If anything is missing from the above information then don't blame me as I'm a scatterbrain. My wheel was actually fitted by someone with full VAG-COM with me 'assisting' by hiding away in-case the airbag blew during fitting!!!! Seriously though, it's a popular retro fit for non GTI mk5 Golf owners and full instructions appear on uk-mkivs.net and I got a professional to do mine whilst the car was in for other work as I don't have VAG-COM, and I'd have had to pay for a diagnostic if a warning light did come on which probably would have cost just as much as the fitting itself. Literally is takes a techie about quarter of an hour to do at the most.

Dennis · Post by **Dennis** » Wed Oct 10, 2007 4:19 pm

Great upgrade-I'm in the process of getting one 2!Black and orange

It will be hard because, allthough I've found one on the german E-bay for good price, they don't send the wheel 2 Croatia because we're not in the EU....

BeezerDiesel · Post by **BeezerDiesel** » Wed Oct 10, 2007 4:44 pm

It's worth the wait Dennis.

Hope you can get around the postage to Croatia okay.

The orange stitching should go well with your paintwork.

MateyGuv · Post by **MateyGuv** » Mon Oct 29, 2007 12:16 pm

I have just swapped over my steering wheel for the Golf GTi one - I was lucky and got one with red stiching. Looks the part and feels really nice too. Dont think it would be too difficult to get the multi function steering wheel to work with my Alpine stereo after seeing how its all put together. The clips seem to be in the steering colum to accept the multi ring, so it could just need to be wired in.
Anyway thanks Beezer Diesel for a great mod, really makes the car look and feel the part

BeezerDiesel · Post by **BeezerDiesel** » Mon Oct 29, 2007 3:35 pm

Ah well done for getting one with red stitching!
Makes a big difference to the feel of the car don't you think?
I got impatient waiting for one to come up with red stitching. My wheel has all the stuff inside for the multi function but I just used the plain side bits from the Polo wheel. I can't be bothered to get it all set up as I have the factory SAT-NAV so I'm sure that will only complicate matters more.
You got any photos with your red stitched one in situ?

MateyGuv · Post by **MateyGuv** » Mon Oct 29, 2007 4:09 pm

Just had a run in the car and the wheel really does make the car feel different - or maybe thats just in my head

Seriously though I'm loving this steering wheel