I came by my dealer this morning and inquired about the labor charge. The service advisor told me it would take 1 hour to do everything (remove airbag, remove wheel, swap the trim, and program PIWIS).

He gave me a quote of $109 for one hour of labor. Decent price.

 

Is there an inexpensive option for those with 2009 997.2 6 speed cars? I see on Suncoast there are 2 options and they both are $550 to $700.

 

If this is true then I wouldnt recommend doing the install yourself. When I went to my dealership with the upgrade their quote was for more than $109 and in fact they didnt even offer swapping my trim although maybe it had something to do with my car being a 997.1 and I was asking for removal of trim from another wheel into mine. All you guys interested in the clinic im still up for helping you but if you can get away with $109 for install/activation that may be the way to go. Im still available...just let me know.

 

Kaz,
I need a little help. I got the part and tried to install it myself. I got everything back together and the horn would only work if you applied extreme pressure. I tried to get the airbag out again to see what was going on and now I can't get it out. I put a tool into the whole at the bottom of the wheel like the first time. I heard a click but this time the airbag won't budge. It seems like the airbag is pushed to far in. Now no horn at all, even with pressure.

Any suggestions. Thanks

 

I'd be curious about this. I had basically the same thing happen with my 997.1. The airbag is now nearly flush with the switch panels and the horn barely works. I actually had the airbag out and put it back in to demo the removal. It seemed a lot harder to remove the second time. Since I've installed it now, I haven't attempted to remove it again, so I don't know how difficult it might be. I wonder what in the airbag clip mechanism might get affected?

 

Happened to me once before too. Dont worry nothing is broken...You need an extra set of hands to fix the problem. First have the extra set of hands push the allen wrench or whatever other device you used to click the airbag out of place. While they are pushing you need two levers (kitchen knives should work fine) one on each side of the airbag and you need to give a good pull and yank out the airbag. You will find that what happened was the spring mechanism that holds the airbag in place had a misalignment with the steering wheel.

If you have problems fixing it pm me and I can help you if you dont mind driving out to Pasadena.

 

Thanks Kaz, I will give it a try and let you know.

 

Success! Thanks for the tip Kaz. I was able to get the airbag out and reposition the springs. Now the horn works and all looks ok. The problem with the air bag was that the spring on the airbag locking clip, came loose at the bottom. It was kind of difficult getting it back on without removing the the whole MF part again. I was able to bend the part of the spring that connects to the clip (a little). It then went back on the clip and no problem after that. FYI -- I was able to do the whole job without removing the wheel. I used a mirror to see what was going on behind the wheel and get to the screws. I am going to the dealer today for programing.

Thanks again for your help and the offer.

Jared(green pdk)

 

Just got back from the dealer and all of the buttons on the new MF wheel work as advertised.

 

How long did the dealer take to reprogram? And did your shift buttons work when you drove to the dealer? Thanks in advance.

John

 

I'm not sure how long the actual programing took. I was waiting about 45min, but I think the car was done much sooner. I was checking out the new Panamera. On the way to the dealer the shifters on the wheel functioned as well as the heated wheel function.

 

Jared congrats on the upgrade and i think youll agree its alot more gratifying doing this DIY rather than having the dealer do it.

 

Thanks Kaz. One bonus wast that the buttons light up. I discovered that last night.

Jared

 

After 1.5 hour my MF steering upgrade is finish. Many thanks to Kaz and greenpdk, and now I just have to bring the car in Wednesday for reprogramming. I did run into the same problem Jared(greenpdk) did with the final airbag insert; the spring came loose/off and the airbag got pushed in a bit. I have to clamped down the spring to secure it to the locking mechanism. Also removing the faceplate did require some pressure and I was afraid to scratch the leather. Overall it wasn't difficult but if you are not a DIY guy, don't attempt this. Now the next project is replacing rear center console with the colored one(red of course).

John

 

Can a manual 997.1 with no multifunction be upgraded to a multifunction sport wheel obviously without the pdk pads ?

Tks for clarifying.