Fitting the Brabus steering wheel frame

Paying for a complete Brabus steering wheel is not cheap. However, it is possible to convert a standard paddle wheel to a Brabus one by swapping all the components into a Brabus wheel frame. You can order a Brabus frame directly from smart for about £160 which is hundreds of pounds less than a complete wheel.

We would like to thank 2minits for providing the car and parts to allow us to bring you this guide.

The part number for the Brabus frame is A451 464 06 02 CV5A.

You do not need to disconnect the battery to remove the wheel. Just ensure that you do not switch on the ignition with the wheel disconnected as this will cause an airbag system fault.

Park the car with the wheel straight.

The steering wheel is secured with a single bolt underneath. You will need a long reach T40 tool to access it. When you start to feel some resistance, stop as the bolt is on its final turns.

The wheel will now pull free from the steering column. As it comes away, remove both connectors by pressing the tabs indicated below.

Remove the wheel from the car. Remember, do not be tempted to turn on the ignition!

Place the wheel face down on a table.

Warning! Do not be tempted to twist the steering angle sensor. The orientation of the sensor must go back on the car the same way it came of. If it is 360 degrees out, you will break it when steering to full lock.

Remove the paddles which are each held in place with a single T20 bolt.

Unhook the paddle from the outside edge of the frame. Disconnect it from the wiring.

With both paddles removed, observe the connectors. The left paddle connector only has two pins but the right one has four pins.

With the paddles free, remove the T20 bolt from the bottom of the frame.

The backing cover will now lift off.

To remove the front silver trim, remove the two T20 bolts indicated in the locations below.

The frame will now be free.

Now, turn your attention to the airbag. This is held in place by 3 T40 bolts shown as follows. Be careful when removing these. Turn each bolt in turn, a few turns at a time. Each bolt is held captive in the frame so you won't be able to loosen a bolt in one complete go.

With all bolts removed, carefully lower the airbag so as not to damage the wiring. There are three things you need to do. Their numbers correspond to the image.

1. Unhook the black wire from the plastic frame and remove the ring crimp from the stud.

2. Pull the spade connector from the horn contact wire.

3. Remove the airbag connector by carefully lifting the orange centre piece with a flat blade screwdriver. It should lift bu about 3mm. Once it won't lift any further, pull the connector free from the airbag.

Just to explain how it works, the wire on the back of the airbag is part of the horn circuit.

When the horn is pressed, the wire makes contact with the pegs circled below. The wheel frame is then connected to the return path of the circuit. The springs (arrowed) keep the wire and the pegs apart.

The wiring now needs to be removed from the wheel frame.

Unclip the paddle wiring from the white plastic frame. Remove the frame earth connection by squeezing the contact together.

The contact will then slide out.

The final component to remove from the wheel is the steering angle sensor.

The steering angle sensor hooks into the wheel frame as circled below. As it comes away, feed the wiring loom through the opening.

Remove and retain the three springs from the white plastic frame.

The old wheel is now completely stripped down.

Take your new Brabus wheel frame.

The new wheel comes complete with the airbag retaining bolts.

The white plastic wiring frame is also included.

Fit the steering angle sensor. Remember, do not be tempted to turn it. If you do, ensure you turn it back to its previous position.

Clip the paddle wiring to the white plastic frame. At either end, hook the wiring underneath the white plastic tabs. If you don't, your horn may not function correctly. Remember to get the paddle connectors the correct way around! The 2 pin connector goes to the left.

Fit the horn earthing connector into the socket on the new frame. Fit the springs also.

With the springs in place, reconnect the wiring to the airbag and both parts of the horn circuit.

Carefully bolt the aibag to the frame. Remember to turn each bolt a few turns at a time. Otherwise, they will bind with the frame.

Refit the front silver trim section and fasten with the two T20 screws.

Fit the back section and secure with the T20 screw.

Plug the paddles back into the their respective wiring connectors. Refit the the paddles and screw in place with their T20 screws.

The wheel is now ready for refitting to the car.

Double check that you didn't move the steering angle sensor before reconnecting the wiring. You will see that the steering column is 'keyed' and will fit exactly the same way it came off.

Secure the wheel with the T40 bolt underneath.

Fire up the ignition and test the horn and paddles for correct operation. If you have done everything correctly, you will not have an airbag fault either. Compare how much chunkier the Brabus wheel is compared to the old one. Much nicer!

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