azbanks

The original steering wheel in my S2 cab was faded and worn on the top edge so I have been thinking about a replacement. I've got a Momo tuner and a 968Cs replica(it may be a 930S replica) sitting in the garage but I wanted something else, preferably with an airbag. The Momo and the CS replica are for sale if anyone wants them.


I was wasting time browsing the RL for sale section when I found a wheel off a 997.1(2008 Carrera C4S). It is a tiptronic wheel with multifunction. RL member gregeast did a great writeup on using a 996 tiptronic wheel to control his stereo. A plan was forming but there were some questions I did not have answers too...

I had heard somewhere that the shaft size had changed with the 997 but I wasn't 100% sure that was correct. The price for the wheel was really low compared to other new wheels I've seen so I decided to take a chance on it.


The shaft size IS different. The shaft size on my car and Porsches up to 996 versions is about 3/4 of an inch in diameter. the 997 shaft is about 1 inch in diameter. I can mount the new wheel in my car but turning the wheel will not turn the shaft. That could be a problem.
The mounting hole in my S2 wheel is about 1 and a half inches deep front to back. The mounting hole for the 997 wheel is only about 7/8 of an inch deep.

I am meeting with a few machine shops on Tuesday(The lazy bums think they should get labor day off) to start the process of having an adapter made. It will correct the diameter issue and the depth issue.


I am trying to decide if I should just make one or if I should have a batch made. I expect that other people may want to upgrade to newer wheels on older cars at some point and I could supply adapters for those situations.

My question for RL is how many adapters should I have made?

V2Rocket

how much was the wheel?

Indy Rev

That's sweeeeeeeet.

MAGK944

Good little project. I've always thought that the cruise control stalk (I ripped cruise out a while ago) would be a good radio control switch, volume and channel change, just never got around to looking at the wiring diagram. GL

azbanks

I got it for $350 shipped to my door.

Suncoast has them new for $1395 plus the airbag for $725. I think I did pretty good on this deal.

Thanks Indy. I can't wait to see it in the car.

darenchu

http://www.ecstuning.com/Search/191_419_514/ES295082/ << slip that on your steering shaft spline. i believe stock spline O.D. is 18mm and the adapter increases it to 26mm. These are stock volkswagen/audi parts. You can get em for free at the junkyard. You might want to check the inner and outer diameters first though.

edit: nvm that part is NLA from that website, but you can get em at any VW/AUDI dealer. It's the same part so I would suggest vw if you can (pricewise). Or pull one off a golf/passat at the junkyard

azbanks

Darenchu, You ROCK!!!! I found one online from a different vendor but these are no longer made and there are none left in the Volkwagen parts inventory worldwide.

darenchu

Glad I could help

azbanks

Does anyone have source for the wiring diagram for the 997.1 multifunction tiptronic wheel (part number 997.612.637.00), airbag and horn. I want to know what each wire does and the voltages involved. The airbag has two connectors. I assume one is for low speed and one is for high speed. One of the connectors has the same shape as the connector on the 944 airbag but I am worried that the signal or voltages might be different. I don't want the airbag going off when I connect the battery.

azbanks

Played with some dark grey plastidip today and tried out the wheel to see how it would look. the steering wheel is not properly attached and the airbag is not properly attached.

Crappy cell phone pics.

gregeast

So, not to be a parade rainer but I am fairly certain that the 997 airbags are dual stage, which is going to be a challenge. I am not an expert on the subject but check the airbag wiring, I suspect you'll have 4 wires instead of two. I think some of the BMW's guys have played around with wiring up a dual stage to work with an older single stage bag, you might nose around on Bimmerforums.

Good luck and let me know if I can help.

Gawernator

That is really neat. I would feel strange having a new 997 wheel in a 944, ha...

azbanks

Greg, it's all your fault I'm in this mess.
You and your DIY threads and perfect interior were more inspiration than I could control.



It's too late for you to rain on my parade, I've already gotten three feet of softball size hail on this project and I am bound and determined to dig out of it and you may need to man a shovel.

You are correct about the dual stage airbag. There are two airbag connections. One of them is almost the exact size and shape as the original 944 airbag wire. I think I could just plug it in and it would fit. But I realize that being able to fit the physical plugs together doesn't mean they are using the same signal and/or voltage. I need to know exactly what signals and voltages are being sent by the car to the plug and what signals and voltages are being accepted by the airbag module. I don't want to connect them up and have the airbag POP when I connect the battery. That would really suck.

I am hoping I can get my hands on a wiring diagram for the 997 wheel that includes voltages and such. At this point, my first priority is to get the horn working. If I get that far I will be happy. My 86 didn't have an airbag and I don't "have" to have one in this car. It would be nice but I can live without it. The second priority is to figure out how to get the airbag to work if possible, and my last priority is to get the multi-function controls set up to control the stereo.

Thanks for the heads up about the bimmer forums. I will check it out.

gregeast

Ok, glad to hear your parade will continue come rain or snow or dark of night. My understanding of "dual stage" is that basically there are two different levels/power of airbag discharge. A lower speed impact would trigger the first, less strong deployment and of course the higher speed would give your mug the full power treatment.

What I don't know is what you're going to get if you plug your car's connector into the bag. I seriously doubt that it will deploy the bag (assuming you disconnect the battery first!) but whether it's going to be the low power or high power I don't know. Or maybe there are two separate explosive charges and you need both for high power?

As for the horn, our cars ground through the steering shaft but the later wheels use a separate ground wire. I suspect you won't have too much trouble with that one.

I can probably help you with the stereo controls, I just did this recently on my '93 BMW 740i, using a multi-function steering wheel from a '98 740i and a Kenwood stereo, using a Pac-Audio SWI-Jack

Dino V

Nice progress.