MikeD612

Well, my 01 2.7T 6MT lease is up and I can say that I have never owned a better car. And having looked at the X5, Treg, Cayenne, FX and SRX, there is still nothing that does everything we're looking for in the way that the AR does, so I am looking to get into another 2.7 6MT...one question: looks like the heated steering wheel option is no longer available on the 2.7T...manual is a must, so if I had to make the choice I'd forego the HSW though we came to love it. But I'm wondering if it's technically possible to buy the wheel & related parts and have it installed...anyone know?

Thanks in advance. Though I have mostly lurked on this forum I can't describe what a great resource it has been over the years.

TeddyBGame

you'd need the new wheel...which is probably $400+...without airbag. Then you'd need the appropriate self-cancelling wring...figure $300. Then you'd need to figure out how to wire it into your drivers' side heated seat button....figure $65 for the bentley manual...and 10+ hours to figure out the wiring. Next comes the install....

This is the Cliff Notes version of how to do it...and it is all theory based. I've read enough posts...and upgraded my 4 spoke to a sport three spoke to know part of what is involved.

Hope I didn't sound too discouraging.

Keep up posted!
-ted

MikeD612

No, I expected that it wouldn't be trivial. Thanks...I'll keep everyone updated if I decide to go down this path.

markcincinnati

The dealer will do it for you, or perhaps I should say the dealer can do it for you.

Your decision is how high a stack of $100 bills is this worth to you.

What pisses me off about this is I would gladly pay Audi the $150 option box choice if it were to be made simply a factory option.

Audi, take my money, please.

The profit margin on "options" so we've been told, is higher than the PM on the base car. You would think a company would want an option list as long as your arm to increase their margins. Moreover, in this age of virtual mass customization, this is hardly a difficult or expensive task.

UnionJK76

Recently purchased a 01 auto AR certified from a dealer. Shifter buttons on steering wheel are a bit beat up and falling off... we asked to have them replaced... Dealer now saying that they may have to replace the whole wheel.... Now after reading your post followups, if I could get them to convert to HSW and I could pick up extra cost... humm.... thanks for the thoughts. Sounds like you are really attached to the option to go through the expense/time. Never felt it, but must be nice to have in an icestorm.....

Good luck!

MachineMan

and wind up with about $10,000 in 25 years.

MikeD612

Didn't give it a thought when we got the car; even then, 6MTs were hard enough to find that you weren't going to quibble over a $300 option. But we came to appreciate it so much on winter mornings\nights that it was a real disappointment when we found that it wasn't offered anymore.

MikeD612

I guess by the same token we could buy Subaru Outbacks instead of Allroads and invest the $15,000 saved in the market. That said, I don't think I'd spend $1,000 to get this done, but it can't hurt to ask the question.

MikeD612

That's part of why I asked; it's hard to understand why they'd turn the money away without a technical reason...I know that there was an effort a couple of years back to offer a "lower-end" Allroad with the 2.7T, cloth interior, low-end audio and so on to compete with the Volvo etc. but you would think they'd let someone load the car if they wanted.

s4master1

you need the control unit, cancelling ring and steering wheel
installation should be about 2 hours