oCarbon Flat Bottom CF Steering Wheel Trim

As regular readers of this blog may know, I’ve worked with oCarbon in the past to commission some custom made interior trim and B- and C-pillars for my S4 to replace the OEM parts – and now oCarbon has outdone themselves once again with a new surround for my flat bottom steering wheel, completing the look I was going for.

It’s a direct swap for the OEM piece, and the install process is fairly painless. I couldn’t find a DIY online to replace the steering wheel trim on a TT, A3 or similar flat bottom steering wheel, so I thought I’d create a quick one here with some help and pointers from Alex at Europrice, who I bought the original wheel from as well as a spare trim piece for oCarbon to wrap.

Installation Instructions

For A3, TT and other similar pre-facelift flat bottom wheels: 

1. Remove the steering wheel by remove the two torx bolts behind the airbag, much like you would to install the wheel in the first place. Be sure to have the car turned off and you may also want to disconnect your battery too…
2. Disconnect the airbag harnesses so the airbag is loose
3. Gently, and I mean VERY GENTLY, pull the trim out. The tabs are very fragile, but they will remove just by tugging at it – there is nothing to push in or undo.
4. Remove the MFSW controls using a flat head screwdriver to press in the tabs and the controls fall out through the back of the trim piece
5. Remove the emblem by pulling up and pushing in the mounting tabs on the side
6. Re-install the emblem/lower piece and the side MSFW controls
7. Gently press the trim back into the wheel, making sure everything snaps into place
8. Re-install the airbag and voila! all set.

Note: you may notice the right side of the radio/phone controls isn’t sitting fully flush in these pictures. I failed to push it in all the way, so I had to remove the airbag again and push it in further. It fits flush now, so when installing yourself be sure to push it in all of the way until it clicks into place, otherwise there will be a gap. 

The end result pulls together all of the carbon fiber nicely at the central focal point, the steering wheel. Like other parts from oCarbon, the craftmanship of this is superb and they’ve made molds of this part to make it easier to crank these out in the future. Contact them for pricing and options to have one made for your car that will match your trim – regardless of whether you have OEM trim or aftermarket, they have tons of different weave options so you can have it built to your liking.

Thanks again to oCarbon for creating the part for me and Europrice for supplying the wheel and helping with the installation!