[Guide] T6.1 MFSW Steering Wheel Upgrade

[MK2Golf24v]

Just noticed yours is the same as mine with the travel assist on the bottom right of the left side. As std the T6.1 has driver assist, so should really have 1EA959442A buttons.

Does your travel assist button bring up the dash driver assist menu? Mine doesn’t.

 

[Pauly]

Yes it does

 

[Joshyoung93]

Hi there I’ve done your mod on the steering wheel on a new t6.1 but can’t code out the light and also the cruise control and assist does work. Do you have any ideas ??

 

[Pauly]

A bit more info would be handy

What wheel have you fitted ?
Did the loom come with the wheel ?
Does your horn work ?
Do any of the buttons work ?
Did you already have a MFSW fitted or is this a new install including wiring ?

 

[MK2Golf24v]

Hi there I’ve done your mod on the steering wheel on a new t6.1 but can’t code out the light and also the cruise control and assist does work. Do you have any ideas ??

If it’s like mine, the vcds coding in the post doesn’t work.

Try coding AD2B00

 

[Gsixty]

Hi, do the DSG flappy paddles work? I've been told the wont?

Thansk

 

[MK2Golf24v]

Hi, do the DSG flappy paddles work? I've been told the wont?

Thansk

Yeah, they work.

 

[DMcCook]

Removing the airbag

This picture shows what the airbag retaining clips on the wheel look like from the inside, these im going to call the steering wheel 'hooks'

View attachment 169647

and this is a rear view of the wheel with the airbag attached, note the metal pieces over the steering wheel 'hooks'

View attachment 169648

with the engine running we turn the wheel 90 degrees to put one of the airbag clips at the top so it can be accessed from behind at the top of the steering column plastics in front of the instrument cluster

with the engine turned off use a small to medium flat blade screwdriver to release the first airbag clip

View attachment 169650

to do this we just need to get the screwdriver behind the metal clip and press it downwards and off the steering wheel hook

View attachment 169651

once the first clip is released i start the engine and turn the wheel back 180 degrees so the opposing clip is at the top and accessible from behind then turn the engine off and repeat

when both clips are released i start the engine again and return the wheel to centre making sure the steering is central and the front wheels are pointing straight ahead, the engine can now be turned off and the ignition wont be touched again now until we are done

it is generally recommended to disconnect vehicle batteries when working on airbag systems so this is the point that can be done as we dont need power anymore

now the airbag has been released we can see inside the steering wheel and the yellow airbag connector can be undone

View attachment 169652

all airbag plugs have safety catches so they cannot be unintentionally disturbed so removing the plug takes a double action
firstly the white clip needs to be partially withdrawn outwards using a small screwdriver or similar

View attachment 169662

once the white piece is lifted we squeeze the white bit from above and the yellow plug from below and give the plug a wiggle and a pull and it will pop out

the airbag can then be moved to the side to access the plug for the steering wheel buttons

View attachment 169653

the plug has a small catch at the rear that needs to be depressed to release it

View attachment 169654

and this is what you end up with

View attachment 169645

Hey Pauly, How did you reconnect those wire hooks for the airbag?
That bit worries me, seeing how inaccessible they are.
I want to be sure I can do that reliably before I take my wheel off!
Cheers,
David.

 

[Pauly]

They are spring loaded and just snap back on when you push the airbag back into place

 

[DMcCook]

Thanks Pauly, that sounds easy. Good to know!
Next question - if I’m re-using our existing airbag, then the two plugs are attached to the car and the airbag, aren’t they?
So I dont need to check what plug versions are on the new wheel, do I?

 

[DMcCook]

They are spring loaded and just snap back on when you push the airbag back into place

Hey Pauly,
Am I right that I don't need to worry what plugs were on the new steering wheel, since I'm re-using my existing airbag?

 

[Pauly]

Depends what wheel you are using, the one I showed in this thread is not compatible with the existing setup so requires new airbag and wiring loom

 

[DMcCook]

I bought a steering wheel that looked identical to mine, with the same part number except for a T at the end of the new wheel’s part number.
So I fitted the wheel, went to plug the small black T6 plug on my airbag into the socket on the new wheel… and the socket is different!
I really hope someone has an easy solution to find the correct plug so I can swap the plug! Or am I going to have to buy a new airbag??
This was the one bit I never considered because I’d only ever seen the same black plug in any MFSW discussions during years of research!

 

[nemesis03]

Thank you, Pauly, for this guide, which helped me a lot. This week I changed the steering wheel in my 2023 T6.1 California Beach from the standard multifunktional steering wheel (2G0419089B) to a steering wheel with paddles and hands on detection (and potentialy heating), Part No. 3G0419089CR. I did a bit of documentation in the german forum: Bericht Umbau auf Lenkrad mit Schaltwippen und kapazitiver Berührungserkennung

I also had the problem that the new wheel has a 5 pin connector and the Airbag has a 6 pin plug. I bought a 5 pin plug from VW and wanted to switch the pins from the 6 pin plug to the 5 pin plug, but the pins are different sizes and cannot be switched from one plug to the other.
I solved this by buying another set of multifunctional steering wheel buttons, part. No. 3G0959442S. This model has a 6 pin connector and also the connectors for paddles, hands on detection and heating.

After switching the wheels I had to do some coding to make the hands on detection work for the adaptive line guidance:
In control unit „19 Gateway“ in long coding „Sollverbau_KLR“ auf „installed“ (Byte 01, Bit 3 to activated). After that you can clear the error "additional installation detected“ in the gateway.

In control unit „A5 Driver Assistance“, long coding „Klr“ auf „coded“ (Byte 05, Bit 2 to activated)

In control unit „13 Adaptive Cruise Control“ is a long coding for „Capacitive_steering_wheel”, but I did not manage to activate this (keeps switching back to not activated).

Hands on detection is working and will prevent the alarm message that comes when the driver did not make steering inputs for some time.

I had no luck so far to get the button for travel assist working.

 

[DMcCook]

Thank you, Pauly, for this guide, which helped me a lot. This week I changed the steering wheel in my 2023 T6.1 California Beach from the standard multifunktional steering wheel (2G0419089B) to a steering wheel with paddles and hands on detection (and potentialy heating), Part No. 3G0419089CR. I did a bit of documentation in the german forum: Bericht Umbau auf Lenkrad mit Schaltwippen und kapazitiver Berührungserkennung

I also had the problem that the new wheel has a 5 pin connector and the Airbag has a 6 pin plug. I bought a 5 pin plug from VW and wanted to switch the pins from the 6 pin plug to the 5 pin plug, but the pins are different sizes and cannot be switched from one plug to the other.
I solved this by buying another set of multifunctional steering wheel buttons, part. No. 3G0959442S. This model has a 6 pin connector and also the connectors for paddles, hands on detection and heating.

After switching the wheels I had to do some coding to make the hands on detection work for the adaptive line guidance:
In control unit „19 Gateway“ in long coding „Sollverbau_KLR“ auf „installed“ (Byte 01, Bit 3 to activated). After that you can clear the error "additional installation detected“ in the gateway.

In control unit „A5 Driver Assistance“, long coding „Klr“ auf „coded“ (Byte 05, Bit 2 to activated)

In control unit „13 Adaptive Cruise Control“ is a long coding for „Capacitive_steering_wheel”, but I did not manage to activate this (keeps switching back to not activated).

Hands on detection is working and will prevent the alarm message that comes when the driver did not make steering inputs for some time.

I had no luck so far to get the button for travel assist working.

Hey @nemesis03 , thanks for that information, it gives me hope that I can get my new wheel working after all!.
I’ve translated your documentation from the German Cali forum and that looks fantastic, thanks.
Can you please confirm the part number for the 5 pin plug you bought? I’d like to investigate if I can change the pins - that sounds cheaper than the new set of buttons!
How on earth did you work out which buttons have the 5 pin plug and which have the 6 pin plug??? (It’s incomprehensible to me that one manufacturer changes a detail like this in components that all look identical otherwise!)
Of course, I don’t have permission to see the links and photos from your German forum post, so I’m hoping you would be so kind as to copy them here so I can see the details in your photos and see which links I need.
I’m guessing you found the Instructions on the Erwin website? I have an account there so it would save me some time if you were so kind as to confirm where to find the specific instructions you used.
Many thanks for your help.
David.

 

[DMcCook]

Can someone please confirm whether the lower right button on the left side of our existing wheel is the ”Assist Menu” or “Travel Assist”?? It brings up the Driver Assist menu so it’s not obvious which this is officially called!
If I have to buy a new keypad, I want to make sure it’s the right one!!
Many thanks!

 

[nemesis03]

hello @DMcCook
I just realised that I made a mistake. The part number of the 5 pin plug mentioned in the T6.1 wiring guide is 8R0973605 and that is the plug I boughed. I then saw that this plug is slightly bigger and that the pins don't fit. I did not double check that this plug really fits the connector in the steering wheel. Now i tested the plug with the multifunctional steering wheel button connector that I had removed from the steering wheel: although the plug fits the housing of the multifunctional steering wheel button housing it does not fit the connector itself. So there must be another 5 pin connector that is smaller and maybe then the pins are compatible from the 6 pin plug to the 5 pin plug.
The problem is that I cannot find the part number of another 5 pin plug in the VW documents. I called the VW spare parts department at my local VW dealer and they could not provide a part number for the 5 pin plug. It seams that that plug is part of the airbag (or the airbag wiring loom) and cannot be bought separately.

I found a picture of a white 5 pin plug in a russian forum: Установка сенсорных кнопок мультируля для платформы MQB
I think that might be the correct plug for your new steering wheel. But it does not solve the problem of where to get this plug.
EDIT: maybe that is not the original plug but a different plug that is connected to the wire and compatible to the pins.

In the german forum is one guy who soldered the 6pin connector from the old keypad onto the new keypad: Schaltwippen nachrüsten/Lenkrad Wechsel (maybe you should create an account to view the pictures)
That would be another cheap approach if you have soldering skills.

You might be able to buy a airbag wiring loom that ist compatible with the airbag and the 5 pin connector on the keypad. I decided that I do not want to change parts in the electric where the airbag is involved.

What part number does your new steering wheel have and what is the feature code (M/T/H/HOD)?
If you want to have HOD (hands on detection) and your new steering wheel does support it, you only have the choice of a keypad with travel assist and without the assistant menu. The original keypad has the assistant menu. If you have a keypad without the button for the assistant menu, you can configure the assistants either using the infotainment system or you can navigate to the assistant page in the digital dashboard using the left/right keys on the right keypad and then pressing up or down on the right keypad to access the assistant menu. So the assistant menu is not completely lost and I don't usually use the assistant menu while driving and so it is not a problem not having a seperate button for the assistant menu.
The travel assist button is currently without function.

How on earth did you work out which buttons have the 5 pin plug and which have the 6 pin plug?

I googled the part numbers (guessing the letters at the end) and looked at pictures, e.g. on ebay. Often the black housing of the 6pin connector can be seen on the picture. The assumption is that the black connector housing is always a six pin connector. I do not have prove that there is no connector with a black housing and 5 pins (I just hope that there are only two connector types).

Of course, I don’t have permission to see the links and photos from your German forum post, so I’m hoping you would be so kind as to copy them here so I can see the details in your photos and see which links I need.

I did not make many photos, I can show the photos of removing the silver frame from the steering wheel.


In erWin in the repair instruction there is a guide for removing the keypads ("Multifunktionstasten im Lenkrad −E441− / −E440− aus und einbauen"). You need the removal tool T10383 and a torx T9 screwdriver and some tape so that you do not damage the front of the steering wheel.

 

[nemesis03]

You can have a look at the airbag wiring loom with the part number 5G0971584J or 5G0971584L (and maybe some more). Those have a white 5-pin plug. The wiring of the loom does not fit the T6.1, because the wire from the horn goes to the yellow connector and not to the keypad connector (like in the T6.1), but you might be able to use the 5-pin plug and connect that to your airbag. But this will not work if the 5-pin plug uses different sized pins compared to your 6-pin plug.

 

[DMcCook]

Thanks heaps @nemesis03.
My original wheel is the 2GM 419 089 M/-/-/-
and the new one is the 2GM 419 089 M/T/-/-
So when the part numbers are SO similar it is incredible to me that they have this annoying difference.
I only wanted to add the tiptronic buttons, which is what I got.
Hopefully with your helpful tips above I can find the plug or the buttons to suit.

 

[DMcCook]

In the german forum is one guy who soldered the 6pin connector from the old keypad onto the new keypad: Schaltwippen nachrüsten/Lenkrad Wechsel (maybe you should create an account to view the pictures)
That would be another cheap approach if you have soldering skills.

That’s a great idea except I don’t know enough German to create an account!
Thankfully I do have a German friend who can help me do that.