Aleks1

The following is a step by step walk through on how to retrofit the Decorative Heated steering wheel available outside of the US on a US model car. Link to pictures https://goo.gl/photos/ABDT2UW2GuuWHyR97

Note: This won't necessarily work on your car I recommend removing panel piece A (Mentioned below) and looking for the connector before ordering anything.

You will Need:

1x Clock spring compatible with heated steering wheel
1x Relay for Heated steering wheel
1x Heated steering wheel assembly
1x Steering wheel heater on/off button
1x Steering wheel removal kit (Available for free rent at most auto parts stores)
Basic wrenches, screw drivers, socket set and socket extension.
2 hours minimum of time if you are good at this, or set aside a weekend day just in case it gets too complicated for you so you have plenty of time to get it all back together before you need to drive again.

Step 1: Disconnect the battery and set your wheels and steering dead straight then follow the instructions available on this forum to remove the driver wheel airbag. Remove the two bolts holding the driver knee airbag and knee kick panel with the TPMS reset button. Unplug all connectors and set the airbags and panel aside. To remove the airbag connectors you must first pull the small yellow tab piece out a little from the connector then it will pull right out.

Step 2: Pry up the side panel piece that is between the dash and the door with your driver side door open all the way. The plastic panel pry's up and then pulled out towards the back of the car. (You don't have to remove it all the way just pry it up if you want). Then Remove the Philips head bolt down below where the knee airbag was that is holding the panel (Panel piece A) that has the fuel door opener, mirror position etc.

Step 3: Look for a foam pouch that has a free black connector attached to the wiring harness that is just behind panel piece A. Remove the third option button blank in panel piece A. Install the new on/off switch in to that slot, it will only go into the third or middle slot. Plug in the free connector in to the back of the button (There should be only one connector that fits the button).

Step 4: Once you have the driver airbag removed, unplug all the connectors and mark the center steering wheel bolt and the steering wheel so you can line these back up later. Unscrew the center steering nut and use the steering wheel removal kit to remove the steering wheel. Disconnect anything that is keeping your old steering wheel from coming completely off and feed any wires through the holes to remove steering wheel completely. You may need to transfer your cruise control stalk and plastic cover with hole to the new steering wheel, look for cruise control install thread on this forum to show you how to do this (5 minute job)

Step 5: Then you will need to unscrew the two philips screws holding the plastic clam shell shield just behind the steering wheel, you will need to completely remove the bottom piece. Look below and you should see a metal tab that holds the bottom piece in place, make sure you move the plastic piece towards the front of the car to remove then down. The two plastic clam shells simply un clip apart but it may help to squeeze them a bit.

Step 6: Tape the existing clockspring together so it cannot spin, then unclip the three clip areas holding the clockspring to the car. IMPORTANT: FIGURE OUT THE DEAD CENTER OF THE CLOCKSPRING BEFORE INSTALLING, REALLY HELPS TO WATCH VIDEOS ON YOUTUBE ABOUT CLOCKSPRING REPLACEMENT, THIS IS VITAL, GET THIS WRONG AND THE NEW CLOCKSPRING WILL BE TRASH THE FIRST TIME YOU DRIVE AGAIN, I am not responsible for anything you do and don't come crying if you chewed up your clock spring while turning the steering wheel really far.

Install the new clock spring on the center rotation and clip all three sections back in place (EXTREMELY IMPORTANT): Clockspring must be set on center rotation BEFORE it is plugged in, then connect all the harnesses back together. IMPORTANT: There is a harness connector with a light blue wire, darker blue, pink and white wire that is just below and towards the front (Of the car) of the clock spring, this connector is plugged in to a white dummy connector, unplug the connector and plug it into the slot that fits perfectly on the bottom of the new clock spring.

Step 7: Double check all your connections, and make sure it is fully seated in place. Feed all necessary wires through the new steering wheel and reinstall the new steering wheel on to the shaft and line up the marks you made previously, re-tighten the center nut to secure the new steering wheel in place. Plug in all connectors back into the steering wheel ports and clockspring ports on the front of the clockspring.

Step 8: Reinstall the driver wheel airbag making sure all connections are secure and that the horn connector is plugged back into the airbag, the airbag just clicks back in firmly, no screws. Replace panel piece A and put philips head bolt back in place. Reseat the side panel piece mentioned in the beginning.

Step 9: Before reinstalling knee airbag and bottom kick panel, you will need to install the relay under there. The relay box is above the fuse box and is hard to see, there should be one or two blue relays that you will see if you get on your back with your head by the pedals with a flashlight. Once you found the blue relay you can look on that same box towards the engine area and you should see a brownish square piece attached to the relay box, reach up there and plug in the blue relay (Kind of tough). If you have only one blue relay up there with a blank right next to it, don't plug in the new relay into the blank right by the existing blue relay, it is tempting but that is not the correct location, although it is on the same box.

Step 10: Reconnect knee airbag and kick panel, and put the two bolts back in place. Test the button by pressing and looking for a yellow on light.

WARNING: You may end up with a traction control light on or worse after this install if you do not fully follow and understand the instructions.

Otherwise you should be good to go with these instructions, I post these because I really wished someone would have before me, knowing what I know now would have saved hours and hours...

Aleks1

Okay so I got my traction control issue resolved, unfortunately zero point calibration, clearing codes nothing worked. I did get me an alignment and oil change.

After much reading and feeling a bit defeated I stumbled across a thread in russian where I figured out the problem. Basically not only does the clockspring has to be in the exact spot but also the steering angle sensor attached to the clockspring has to stay within its boundaries of measurement. Basically the clockspring gives you more turns then the steering angle can, so what I did wrong was plug in the clockspring and then decide to double check my centering by dialing it all the way back and counting, this resulted in the steering angle sensor to go over its measurement point which triggered the sensors computer as if the car was in an accident, i.e. steering wheel went way past where it should stop.

Unfortunately with these sensors they log this and turn on Traction control light until replaced. There is pretty much no way to reset it, fortunately I was able to pull of my sensor off the old clockspring, plug it in and voila no traction control light on my car again.

Now I have all functions 100% and the heated steering feels great, and after taking this apart for the 3rd time I Think I can do the whole job in an hour.

NickTee

If only they made a cooled steering wheel for these 100 degree summer days.

Aleks1

Right! I wish it was cooled too! But oh well, heated is better than nothing and the steering wheel is much nicer looking too.

nacke

Nice report, thank you for the effort!

DreamerzCC

iTrader: (1)

I just grab an oven mit......lol

hdave

thank you so much for this!

where did you get the parts and what was the cost for everything?