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MFSW = Multi Function Steering Wheel
Wanting to augment my RNS-E install with the factory Bluetooth phone interface, I soon realised it was all going to work a lot better with the MFSW on my B6 S4 (which currently has the 3-spoke sports wheel without buttons).
Problem - the MFSW from a B6 is one ugly s0n b1tch with four 'grandad' spokes and the aesthetic appeal of a slug wearing a tutu frock. I won't waste time posting a picture.
So I started searching and sure enough there are plenty other prettier MFSW wheels from other / later models which can be physically connected to the B6. The next problem is that almost all of them have a dual-stage airbag which is incompatible with the single stage B6 airbag wiring... well ..... one could just connect up one of the two stages from a dual airbag to the single stage controller but that doesn't sound sensible to me.... other threads talk of wiring both stages up to the single output, but the only way to know if that will work is to drive the car into a wall. I'm all for being a guinea pig but not THAT much.
I then looked at swapping out the B6 airbag controller for a dual-stage controller from a B7 but this is problematic for a number of reasons:
- they are not 'pin compatible'... in fact a total of 50 (fifty) splices would be required... its not like you can just drop in a B7 airbag loom as many of the connector types around the vehicle are different... you would have to create a 50-pin splice block to adapt the B6 car loom to connect correctly to the B7 controller.
- the B7 controller doesn't use a K-wire so OBD is run via CAN bus (which may not work in B6 without swapping to a B7 CAN gateway)
- the B7 controller needs coded a particular way regarding some optional features.
- the clincher is that the B7 controller also uses dual stage passenger airbags, so you need a B7 dashboard with a good airbag to make that all happy... otherwise you still have an airbag light with a B7 controller that doesn't see both stages of both airbags - at this point you find yourself wishing you had bought a B7 (facepalm) !
I eventually found that the airbags in the A3/S3 models (and maybe some TT models) are single stage and its those wheels which probably make the best source of MFSW conversion for the B6. I am not 100% sure yet, but I think those wheels have an extra button on the wheel which doesn't integrate with RNS-E.
Just posting this because I spent a good few hours this week (including poring over schematics, umpteen parts listings and other factory data) to get this far.
It might shorten the confusion for others looking into this. I will post more specific data when I have a working solution... Sure there are existing threads about this in other forums but I haven't yet found one that is 100% clear & complete for the B6 situation.
Wanting to augment my RNS-E install with the factory Bluetooth phone interface, I soon realised it was all going to work a lot better with the MFSW on my B6 S4 (which currently has the 3-spoke sports wheel without buttons).
Problem - the MFSW from a B6 is one ugly s0n b1tch with four 'grandad' spokes and the aesthetic appeal of a slug wearing a tutu frock. I won't waste time posting a picture.
So I started searching and sure enough there are plenty other prettier MFSW wheels from other / later models which can be physically connected to the B6. The next problem is that almost all of them have a dual-stage airbag which is incompatible with the single stage B6 airbag wiring... well ..... one could just connect up one of the two stages from a dual airbag to the single stage controller but that doesn't sound sensible to me.... other threads talk of wiring both stages up to the single output, but the only way to know if that will work is to drive the car into a wall. I'm all for being a guinea pig but not THAT much.
I then looked at swapping out the B6 airbag controller for a dual-stage controller from a B7 but this is problematic for a number of reasons:
- they are not 'pin compatible'... in fact a total of 50 (fifty) splices would be required... its not like you can just drop in a B7 airbag loom as many of the connector types around the vehicle are different... you would have to create a 50-pin splice block to adapt the B6 car loom to connect correctly to the B7 controller.
- the B7 controller doesn't use a K-wire so OBD is run via CAN bus (which may not work in B6 without swapping to a B7 CAN gateway)
- the B7 controller needs coded a particular way regarding some optional features.
- the clincher is that the B7 controller also uses dual stage passenger airbags, so you need a B7 dashboard with a good airbag to make that all happy... otherwise you still have an airbag light with a B7 controller that doesn't see both stages of both airbags - at this point you find yourself wishing you had bought a B7 (facepalm) !
I eventually found that the airbags in the A3/S3 models (and maybe some TT models) are single stage and its those wheels which probably make the best source of MFSW conversion for the B6. I am not 100% sure yet, but I think those wheels have an extra button on the wheel which doesn't integrate with RNS-E.
Just posting this because I spent a good few hours this week (including poring over schematics, umpteen parts listings and other factory data) to get this far.
It might shorten the confusion for others looking into this. I will post more specific data when I have a working solution... Sure there are existing threads about this in other forums but I haven't yet found one that is 100% clear & complete for the B6 situation.
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