Retrofitting Heated Steering Wheel

[Kushdaiin]

Got this done today. Made a few screw-ups like 1) not coding my new Kostal clockspring (DOH!), 2) Not realizing that I had pulled a wire out of the connector for the shifter buttons after finishing the install, while snapping some of the steering wheel trim pins in the process. I never did get the mode button working (in place of the Cancel button), so I just swapped the MSFW buttons. Anyway, my biggest re-success was powering it through SC4, which turned out to be one of the quickest parts of the install. Anywho, fixed the connector, got the shifter buttons working and management to put everything back together nicely. Now I got some HEAT!

View attachment IMG_1382.jpg

 

[bobloblawGTI]

Nice work! There’s no way to do this without switching to either the Mk8 (capacitive) or standard Golf wheel, right? Mildly hoping the answer is yes so I can write it off the list

 

[Cuzoe]

Nice work! There’s no way to do this without switching to either the Mk8 (capacitive) or standard Golf wheel, right? Mildly hoping the answer is yes so I can write it off the list

Almost right... you can switch to Mk8 wheel with normal buttons.

 

[bobloblawGTI]

Almost right... you can switch to Mk8 wheel with normal buttons.

...dammit haha

 

[Nuje]

Heading out every morning at 5:30am this week (temps right around freezing), this is a definite "no future car of mine will be without this" feature going forward.

 

[Kushdaiin]

Just to top off the retrofit, I decided to go the lazy-man route and get the hard button HVAC panel from the Tiguan (5NN907044AGWZU - if you happen to have Climatronic). It's not necessary but I have a good relationship with the parts guys at my local VW shop (Thanks Julian!) and got the panel for less than $100. Had to do the run-in process (flap adaptation and then hold the rear defrost and AC button with the car at idle - for reference).

View attachment IMG_1405.jpg

 

[Meesters]

Winter is all but wrapped up here in the northern hemisphere, so what better time to post a heated-steering-wheel retrofit thread.

Around mid-December, I actually decided to dig into this, but could never find a straightforward how-to thread. Lots of bits and pieces scattered here and there, but keeping track of all of them, and discerning what was conjecture and what was known to work (and why)....couldn't find anything definitive.

And thus...

On a scale of "change the trim panel around your shifter" to "retrofit DCC", this skews much closer to the former. Big thanks to @Cuzoe for helping with parts and general "just-do-it"-ness, and this thread over at Vortex (that revolved a lot more around whether this would work in non-Climatronic cars, and had a lot of unknowns for a long time; hence this write-up).

Reader's Digest condensed version (note: North American GSW TDI Highline (SEL) trim, so has Climatronic - which may be a prerequisite):

1. Get the parts: Steering wheel, clockspring, 18G wire, 14-pin connector (or adapter harness). VCDS needed to do some coding.
2. Remove steering wheel (airbag first, of course; and whether you disconnect battery like you should or not, I will leave between you and your deity of choice) and trim around steering wheel, as well as lower under the dash to gain access to fuse panel.
3. Tap 12V and add a ground wire.
4. Move wires around on connector.
5. Replace clockspring.
6. Replace steering wheel.
7. Flip two bits in two bytes.
8. Turn it on.

Long-winded version:
Parts:

• Steering wheel
  • There are many Mk7 heated steering wheels out there, off of Passat, Atlas, Tiguan, etc. Part number I order was 5G0419091FH (although my research indicated that 5G0419091AA or 5G0419091AB also have heating element). You can tell from photos of the SW that there's a little two-wire connector (yellow arrow) under the airbag.
  • And I discovered that while there are numerous steering wheels that use that same shape of airbag, there are also at least a couple different iterations of the "hooks" (red arrow below) that hold the airbag retention spring wires. Look at the photos of what you're buying and make sure it matches what you have in your car.
    View attachment 242947
    
    
  • The "...FH" steering wheel I ordered had shifter paddles, but my car's a 6MT, so I had to remove the bezel to get at the screws that hold in the paddles, but having done that a few times in the past, it's pretty easy.
• Clockspring:
  • This is the part that had me confounded for the longest time. What you're looking for is a clockspring that has the heating element connector (accepts the above-mentioned two-wire connector from the steering wheel).
    • @Cuzoe (who I thank for his research and help, but also question (myself, if not him) for goading me into half of these retrofits....and then subsequently thank profusely again once I get it all together and working ) discovered that NAR cars (Mk7 Golf anyway) most typically have Valeo signal / wiper stalks, and thus come stock with a 5Q0953569A clockspring. Therefore, the proper clockspring for our cars is 5Q0953569B (since superseded by 5Q0953569C, if you're ordering through a dealer).
      (Part number on the stalks in my car, which I did not remove or change:
      
      
      
      
      
      
    • The other potential option is 5Q0953549D - which is much cheaper (at least in the USA - around $200 from the dealer, but for some reason, over $600 in Canada?!). These are apparently spec'd on RoW cars, and are paired with stalks made by Costal.
      (which can be had for as little as $60-$80 on eBay or ProxyParts or the like. Aliexpress also has the 5Q0953549D for about $100USD, so buying clockspring + stalks might be less expensive in some instances.
      General rule of thumb from what I've gathered: Do a scan of the car, and if the Module 16 - Steering Wheel returns a *569 part number, stick with *569 (B or C). If your scan returns *549, stick with *549 ("D" seems to be the appropriate appendage).
      
      (Comparison of the *569A clockspring that came stock on my car, and the replacement *569B - note the heater connection on the face, as well as the two heavier wiring pins on the *569B on the right).
      
      
      
      
      
      
      Stock *569A clockspring on left; heated *569B on right
      
      
      
• Wiring:
  • Our NAR cars come with a 16-pin connector on the clockspring (5Q0953569A), while the heated SW clockspring has a 14-pin connector, where two of the pins are much heavier-gauge (for the heating element wires).
  • I purchased a wiring adapter harness from Kufatec, but once I got it, saw what it was and what needed to be done, realized I could've saved myself ~$100USD by doing it myself. You'd need a 14-pin connector (5Q0972726), repair wire terminals for those two heavier-gauge wires (dealer from whom you'd order the 5Q0972726 connector should be able to tell you what terminal you'd need), and then transfer the other wires from the pre-existing 16-pin connector to the newer 14-pin iteration. (image taken from this post/thread over at the 'tex; big thanks to the folks there for providing inspiration that this was do-able)
    
    
    
    
    
    
    Or, put another way (colors may vary); stock = 16-pin:
    • Pin 1 (16-pin) red/white to Pin 2 (14-pin)
    • Pin 2 (16-pin) brown to Pin 4 (14-pin)
    • Pin 3 (16-pin) orange/brown to Pin 5 (14-pin)
    • Pin 4 (16-pin) orange/green to 6 (14-pin)
    • Pin 5 (16-pin) black/white to Pin 7 (14-pin)
    • Pin 6 (16-pin) black/red (if existing) to Pin 13 (14-pin)
    • Pin 7 (16-pin) purple/red to Pin 12 (14-pin)
    • Pin 8 (16- pin) purple/blue to Pin 14 (14-pin)
    • Pin 11 (16-pin) blue/grey to Pin 9 (14-pin)
    • Pin 14 (16-pin) black/grey to Pin 10 (14-pin)
    • Pin 16 (16-pin) black to Pin 11 (14-pin)
  • The only additional wires needed are +12V from a Terminal 30 connection, and ground.
    • Factory position is adding a fuse at position SC2, but that looks like a LOT of work, so I took the path of much lesser resistance (electricity pun not intended) and simply used a "add a circuit" fuse tap on SC24 (30A fuse for sunroof and sunshade - chances of me overloading that by using both of those at the same time I'm using heated steering wheel are fairly slim.
    • Ground wire I attached to one of the 10mm bolts that secures the fuse panel to the supporting metal substructure.
      Showing SC 24 position (disregard fuse tap in this photo; that's from a different retrofit)
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
    • Fuse tap added; ground wire attached to bolt similar to the grey bolt in upper-left
      
      
      
• Coding:
  • Really not much to it.
    (This was probably helped significantly by the fact that I was using used parts. I don't know how much (if any) parameterization would be necessary with new-new parts, but used were cheaper ($300 for SW; $150 for clockspring, half of which was shipping...which took three weeks), and worked well for me.)
    • Module 08 (HVAC) - Coding - Long Coding Helper (and say "yes" to the "trying experimental features" to see more descriptions of bits)
      • Byte11: Add check to bit2 and bit3 (not sure that bit3 does anything, but I figured, why not)
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
      • Byte13: Not sure if this adds anything, but I turned those bytes on as well.
        
        
        
• Activating:
  • Note: Car has to be running for heated seats and heated SW to heat up; simply turning on ignition will not activate those heaters
  • Press MENU button on HVAC controls (embarrassingly, as I was trying to get the heated SW option to show up in my MIB display, and being completely dumbfounded as to how to possibly do that, I had no idea this button existed, despite looking directly at it every time I've adjusted the heat or fan speed ).
  • Anyway, once you press that, you should get the steering wheel icon showing up at the bottom of the screen. Most likely white (off).
    Give it a tap, it turns yellow, and in a couple minutes, you've got heat!
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
  • And this can be verified in the Advanced Measuring Values of Module-16 (Steering Wheel):
    
    
    

Happy hot hands!

Thanks! This helps a lot, and saves me money buying not a cable from Kufatec, instead I only buy connector. Upgrade in total less than €220,-

 

[bobloblawGTI]

@Cuzoe is your heated wheel setup still working after reverting back to non-Climatronic?

 

[Cuzoe]

@Cuzoe is your heated wheel setup still working after reverting back to non-Climatronic?

Yes it is. I've seen a picture of a non-climatronic panel with the steering wheel heat icon on the same button as the seat heat. Would have been from an early ROW Mk7 with cold weather package. To this day I have not been able to find a part number for that panel.

I have the MK8 wheel which has a steering wheel heat button on it. But if I had the MK7 heated wheel it would turned on from the Vehicle page of infotainment.

And there's a Heating menu where you can adjust the level.




Once I finish the heated windshield retrofit I should get that icon on the vehicle page as well.

 

[bobloblawGTI]

Yes it is. I've seen a picture of a non-climatronic panel with the steering wheel heat icon on the same button as the seat heat. Would have been from an early ROW Mk7 with cold weather package. To this day I have not been able to find a part number for that panel.

I have the MK8 wheel which has a steering wheel heat button on it. But if I had the MK7 heated wheel it would turned on from the Vehicle page of infotainment.
View attachment 303136
And there's a Heating menu where you can adjust the level.


View attachment 303135

Once I finish the heated windshield retrofit I should get that icon on the vehicle page as well.

You’re gonna need to move to Alaska or something with this car after all is said and done

 

[Cuzoe]

That will not be happening. I'm not even moving north of SoCal, haha.

This is the climatronic panel with steering wheel heat. Somewhere I thought I saved a picture of the manual with steering heat, can't find it (maybe doesn't exist, haha)...

But this thread from 2015 is someone with factory heated wheel and manual HVAC... https://www.golfmk7.com/forums/index.php?threads/heated-steering-wheel.326070/

 

[Meesters]

So, finally the right connector for clockspring is here. Yesterday I did the conversion using the guide in the first post of this thread.

But, it is not working, I have the following information.

-All buttons and lights are working on steering wheel.
-Soft button is visible in menu clima, and turns on when pushing.
-Pin 6 of 16 pin connector did exist.
-Pin 11 of 16 pin connector did "not" exist.
But most important, and that is where I think the problem lies.
-The steering wheel temperature sensor reads a steady 204°, but the threshold to heat the wheel is under 45°.

So it seems that it just don't heat because the temperature reading is above the limit.

FYI, I bought a bare steeringwheel with heat function but without buttons. I installed my own buttons which apparently already had connectors for sw heater and flippers, where the car is a manual. The wheel had also flippers, so I connected just everything, and the flippers light up in the dark, but for the rest they don't do anything . The connector from left flipper was torn off, and the wires were all white, but based on right flipper, I flattened the cabling and reattached the connector in that order, and like I said light is working. But who knows what influence it could have.

Does anyone have any suggestion what I could try? Great thanks for any suggestions.

Greets Chris.

 

[Meesters]

So, finally the right connector for clockspring is here. Yesterday I did the conversion using the guide in the first post of this thread.

But, it is not working, I have the following information.

-All buttons and lights are working on steering wheel.
-Soft button is visible in menu clima, and turns on when pushing.
-Pin 6 of 16 pin connector did exist.
-Pin 11 of 16 pin connector did "not" exist.
But most important, and that is where I think the problem lies.
-The steering wheel temperature sensor reads a steady 204°, but the threshold to heat the wheel is under 45°.

So it seems that it just don't heat because the temperature reading is above the limit.

FYI, I bought a bare steeringwheel with heat function but without buttons. I installed my own buttons which apparently already had connectors for sw heater and flippers, where the car is a manual. The wheel had also flippers, so I connected just everything, and the flippers light up in the dark, but for the rest they don't do anything . The connector from left flipper was torn off, and the wires were all white, but based on right flipper, I flattened the cabling and reattached the connector in that order, and like I said light is working. But who knows what influence it could have.

Does anyone have any suggestion what I could try? Great thanks for any suggestions.

Greets Chris

SW heater is working now, it turned out the sensor was probably broken. I contacted the seller if I could swap the steeringwheel for another, and pay a little extra for a complete wheel. I had planned a trip to the Netherlands anyway, which was close-by the seller and swapped the wheel at their shop, and it was working directly.

 

[Meesters]

Hello, I have a nother question on this subject.

Everything just works fine. I have a soft button in the menu screen to activate steeringwheel heating, if activated the wheel heats up. I also can adjust the heating to 3 different levels. So nothing wrong with that.

But, I didn't replace the clima panal (HEX08). Normally factory installed, sw heating is also activated by pressing the seat heat button. Of course my seat heat button does not have the sw heat logo, but I thought maybe that this is not necessary. I figured when "copy" the coding from factory installed for all modules, and the button might just function the same way.

But it doesn't. So is it correct that if your climatronic regulator pannel does not support sw heating, this not can be coded to work that way? Or does this involves the outside temperature, since this is also coded? Another thought was to flash the firmware to a model that does have support for sw heater, but I couldn't find any source for that.

If anyone has any suggestions, I would be happy to hear.

If not, maybe I will again spend to much money for a "stupid function", what's never worth the costs. But hey, I guess a lot of people on this forum know how that works.

Greets Chris.

 

[Kushdaiin]

Hello, I have a nother question on this subject.

Everything just works fine. I have a soft button in the menu screen to activate steeringwheel heating, if activated the wheel heats up. I also can adjust the heating to 3 different levels. So nothing wrong with that.

But, I didn't replace the clima panal (HEX08). Normally factory installed, sw heating is also activated by pressing the seat heat button. Of course my seat heat button does not have the sw heat logo, but I thought maybe that this is not necessary. I figured when "copy" the coding from factory installed for all modules, and the button might just function the same way.

But it doesn't. So is it correct that if your climatronic regulator pannel does not support sw heating, this not can be coded to work that way? Or does this involves the outside temperature, since this is also coded? Another thought was to flash the firmware to a model that does have support for sw heater, but I couldn't find any source for that.

If anyone has any suggestions, I would be happy to hear.

If not, maybe I will again spend to much money for a "stupid function", what's never worth the costs. But hey, I guess a lot of people on this forum know how that works.

Greets Chris.

Hey Chris, from my experience you will need to get the Climatronic panel with the combo heated seat/steering wheel button. I'm not sure if you could load a dataset onto your existing panel to get that function active.