# Steering wheel controls - help!



## Charolastra (Aug 30, 2004)

I just bought a 2016 3.0T S-Line A6 a few weeks ago; so far, I am very happy with how the car drives, but I am perplexed with the lack of thought put into the interior, specifically, the steering wheel + center console. For the life of me, I can't figure out why the car is so "basic" in some ways, specifically:

1. Is it just me, or is it impossible to skip tracks using the steering wheel when listening to music via bluetooth, i.e.: Pandora, Amazon Music, etc.? I have the cold weather package, so instead of the programmable asterisk button, I have a heated steering wheel button. Is there any way to fix this? I'm amazed that the only way to skip tracks is to use the center console buttons next to the volume knob.

2. Can I not get a PSI reading for my tires anywhere? It looks like I will only get an alert if pressure is too low.

3. Why no touch screen? The center stack controls are not nearly as easy to use.

It's amazing to me that a 2016 Audi would not have the features/user friendliness of my 2015 VW Touareg. All of the above items are available/included with my Touareg. So disappointing! Fortunately, the car drives like a dream....

Appreciate if anyone knowledgeable can weigh in here!

Thanks!


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## Jimbuffalo (Sep 1, 2005)

hope this helps



Charolastra said:


> I just bought a 2016 3.0T S-Line A6 a few weeks ago; so far, I am very happy with how the car drives, but I am perplexed with the lack of thought put into the interior, specifically, the steering wheel + center console. For the life of me, I can't figure out why the car is so "basic" in some ways, specifically:
> 
> 1. Is it just me, or is it impossible to skip tracks using the steering wheel when listening to music via bluetooth, i.e.: Pandora, Amazon Music, etc.? I have the cold weather package, so instead of the programmable asterisk button, I have a heated steering wheel button. Is there any way to fix this? I'm amazed that the only way to skip tracks is to use the center console buttons next to the volume knob.
> 
> ...


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## zymol75 (Jun 23, 2007)

Some additional info to add to Jim's response.

1. There are some packages that eliminate certain options in the options lineup. ie. the cold pkg eliminates the asterisk options button. additionally the sport seats pkg cannot have the cooled seat feature as in the hot weather pkg. there are others too.

2. The tire pressures in the Audis are not measured in PSI as there are no active sensors in the wheels. They are determined by an algorithm in the ABS module and other modules by wheel rotation speed and consistency of that speed accounting for temperature. A change in the speed is calculated to determine the outside diameter of wheel as determined by setting the TPMS system and the changing diameter in the event of pressure loss. It isn't as exact as the individual psi readings but it greatly reduced the number of components and wiring needed for additional parts and a completely separate system. Also it works very well. So why change it just so you can see numbers on a user selectable screen?

3.None of the 2016 Audi are touch screen. Different designs and technology platforms. They aren't meant to compete with the Touareg which isn't even close to any vehicle the Audi brand has. The Q7 is not even remotely the same. VW Infotainment is not based on the same principals of operation as the Audi MMI systems. You will find that there are more and more differences in the Audi brand vehicles and the VWs as years progress. The target markets are different and the types of buyers are different demographics more and more. The Atlas is more in line with a large Mazda SUV or a Grand Cherokee type trim and feature-wise, than the European vehicles one might think it compares to. The Touareg competes with these high end American and Japanese off road capable SUVs as well. The Audi models do not aspire to compete with these designs. If you notice, most Audi are substantially different in design than every other brand out there. Although none of the ultra high end brands, MB, Bentley, Jaguar/Rover(for the most part), Rolls, Aston, Porsche, Ferrari, have touch screens and eve fewer active buttons and more and more haptic feedback screens entirely. 

Now that being said... the new model A6 and A8 and Q8 all have touch screen entirely with as few buttons as possible and it is very in-depth and user customizable. But it also requires you to look away from the road to use. All the buttons are synthetic and give feedback but cannot be discerned by touch without sight.

Your A6, if you look at the layout, has the physical layout of the buttons in a fashion to resemble the layout of the MMI screen, so in theory you never have to look away from the road to use the features.

In any case the A6 isn't competing with the VW brand in any way. So you may as well compare it to your John Deere rider. They are that different.
I mean really.. its 2019 and Audi cup-holders still suck beyond reason.


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## RocknRolla (Jul 19, 2006)

I just traded in my 2017 S3 for a 2018 A6 and the steering wheel button layout is the biggest disappointment for me. Luckily I have the programmable asterisk button, but how do you not have default back/forward buttons. It's so crazy to me.


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## Saleen8927 (Oct 22, 2019)

Don’t get me started on the 2016 MMI design...it’s pretty awful compared to any others I have used. I was able to get used to most of it over time, but I still hate it. That said, the rest of the car is so well designed that I have to shrug it off and accept that there’s no perfect car I guess!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## dobie01 (Nov 22, 2011)

Thanks for the original poster and responses. I've been a member but infrequent poster in the VW forums for some time. I picked up a 2017 A6 3.0T last week have been perplexed the same by the lack of functionality on the steering wheel controls. Could be due to the fact I'm not yet accustomed to the MMI, but sounds like familiarity won't make much difference based on other users experience.


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## RocknRolla (Jul 19, 2006)

It’s so ridiculous, isn’t it? At least I’m able to program the star button, but I’m not totally satisfied with that solution since you still lack the rewind button. Thankfully, I found out you can retrofit the C8 wheels that have both. That’s going to be my next big mod after new wheels.


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## ClarkThaShark (Jun 8, 2015)

RocknRolla said:


> It’s so ridiculous, isn’t it? At least I’m able to program the star button, but I’m not totally satisfied with that solution since you still lack the rewind button. Thankfully, I found out you can retrofit the C8 wheels that have both. That’s going to be my next big mod after new wheels.


I had no idea a C8 wheel would fit. I have that steering wheel in our 2018 SQ5 and love the track seek/skip buttons but I've always been fine reaching over to the seek/skip buttons under the volume knob.

To bad the touch pad can't be programing to do seek/skip.


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