# Audi B7 RS4 Steering Wheel Disassembly Tutorial



## Artifacts in Motion (Jul 2, 2013)

I scoured the net for a tutorial on how to do this, and found little to no help regarding the issue. I called professionals, service departments, owners, and no luck. So, I figured it would benefit the community to put my experience of disassembling the steering wheel on the web, so other can potentially give it a shot. 

I purchased this B7 RS4 steering wheel from a friend, talondisanti, when he parted out his B5 non-quattro A4. The Alcantara was absolutely beat to ****, and closer to the feeling of Styrofoam than suede. Other than that, the steering wheel was in pretty damn good condition. It had been sitting in my room for almost a year before I finally had a snowy day to work on it. 

To begin, you have to remove the airbag. There are two tabs on the back of the steering wheel that can easily be removed with a small flat head screwdriver (or your fingernails). Removing them will reveal two torx screws. Simply unscrew them to a point where you can pull them to the edge of the housing they are contained in (they will not come out completely). Then you will be able to remove the airbag. The airbag will be connected to a cord that attaches to the multifunction buttons on the steering wheel. Simply disconnect it and set the airbag aside. 

Take your now significantly lighter steering wheel and find the three light-grey plastic tabs that surround the inner part of the airbag housing. They rest right on the edge of the silver ring. Simply lift up the top edge of the tab and gently push down towards the basin of the steering wheel until they pop out. Then flip the steering wheel over. Remove the four small torx screws on the back part of the lower portion of the steering wheel. 

Now you are ready to separate the two pieces of plastic that compose the "flat bottom" area of the steering wheel. They are held together by a total of 9 tabs— 4 small near the edges of the plastic, and the larger tabs along the bottom edge, and sides of the center fork. These tabs are evidently, very well put together. If you have a trim separation tool, I would recommend using it at this point. If not, find a small flat head screwdriver and cover the tip with tape to prevent scratching the plastic. Insert the tool of choice into the edge of the plastic and start wiggling through to the center. You should hear and feel each tab click out as you proceed. Be gentle, and be patient. This will prevent snapping the small tabs at the edges. Once all tabs are separated, you will be able to pull the two pieces apart and off the steering wheel. 



Another angle (forgot to mark the broken tabs with the blue Xs)


Pictured above is the top portion of the two plastic pieces that has the tabs. The red arrows indicate a tab, the green arrows indicate a torx screw housing, and the blue X's indicate a broken component. As you can see, I broke all 4 small tabs upon separation, and found two of the screw housings to be broken. I suspect that the screw housings were over-torqued from the factory, as they did not unscrew normally from the beginning. Thought those four small tabs were broken, the 5 large tabs were perfectly intact, and the pieces fit back together with no panel gap. 

Next, you will move onto the control ring that has the 4 multi-function buttons. This piece has 8, cone-shaped tabs that are inset into the soft inner plastic of the steering wheel basin. With your trim separator or screw driver, simply insert at the locations marked below, and pry up gently. You may have to go around a couple times before they all separate; just take your time. This part was much easier to remove. 



Then, treat yourself to a beer (or soft drink of choice)! You're done.


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