R171 : DIY : Replace steering wheel with one with paddles on
I finally managed to change my steering wheel (A171 460 22 03 9e37) on my slk55 2005 year model with the 7g tiptronic buttons on the back for the new amg 2007 steering wheel (A171 460 53 03 9e37) with the aluminium shift paddles on the back. There is also a 2006 non AMG model with black plastic paddles on (A 171 460 45 03 9E37)
Firstly i must say thanks to Danslk for his help.
To change the steering wheel:-
1. Move the steering wheel fully forward. Possibly lower the roof to allow easier access / more light. Next disconnext the battery. I then waited 1 hour to make sure the airbag system was deactivated (not sure if this is necessary or not but didn't want an airbag deploying or an airbag error when reconnecting battery).
2. Undo the two torx size 30 bolts on the back of the steering wheel. This releases the airbag unit which has five connectors on the back of it that need unplugging. Two on each side are for the buttons, these simply unplug and so does the one at the top back of the airbag. The two in the centre of the back of the airbag require the orange clips pulling up and then the two plugs can be pulled off. Put the airbag safely to one side.
3. Undo the large hex bolt (10mm) holding the wheel on. This is very tight, best for one person to hold the wheel while another undoes it. Once undone the wheel will simply pull off.
4. The new wheel was a direct replacement. Simply align the wheel with the marks on the steering column and replace the bolt (adding a little threadlock). Tighten to 80nm torque.
5. Plug the two new paddle cables back into the steering wheel (they are the same connectors as the buttons have). Plug the small connector back onto the top of the airbag. Finally the green and yellow plugs push back onto the centre of the airbag and the two orange clips on them need pushing down hard to hold the plugs back on.
6. Place the airbag back into place and retighten the two t30 torx bolts on the back of the steering wheel.
7. Reconnect the battery and all is done.
Finally i bought a fineliner permanent black pen and coloured the UP and DOWN engraving on the paddles to match the buttons on the steering wheel. In my opinion this then looked a lot better.
Pictures below show,
1. New steering wheel before fitting
2. Old Steering wheel on car before being removed
3. Bolt to remove steering wheel
4. Airbag
5. Air bag connectors (showing orange conenctors that need pulling out to remove sensors)
The Following 2 Users Say Thank You to aquascape For This Useful Post:
EXCELLENT work. I love it when the people who should be in "the know" say "it can't be done". You're a true innovator. One must ask the approximate cost. How much better are the paddles versus the buttons? Again, good job.
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-----------------1----------------- ---------SLK 55 ///AMG--------- ---THE MONSTER ON THE BLOCK---
Cost was £1005 for the steering wheel (enter the part numbers into www.mercedes-benz-parts.co.uk for a price), so not cheap.
Paddles are a lot nicer to use and feel better (nice aluminium metal feel) in my opinion than the plastic buttons, you can also see them rather than having to feel them on the back of the steering wheel (although they work exactly the same). I would prefer them to click a little when pressed as they are very quiet and quite soft so you are not always sure you have pressed them, if you see what i mean.
I also had to buy a torque wrench to be able to tighten the steering wheel up to 80nm pressure as i did not have one.
I think the non AMG steering wheel is cheaper (about £830) but has the plastic 2006 smaller paddles with + and - rather than the larger aluminium paddles with UP and DOWN on them (people seem to sell these on ebay for around £140 but like danslk says not sure how they can sell these so cheap).
There is a man called vrus on mbworld E55 forums. He has interesting projects on his cars and he is also selling the parts... One of the projects is shift paddles in piano black( sorry there is no alluminium..) You can check http://www.mbworld.org/forums/showth...ghlight=paddle
There is a man called vrus on mbworld E55 forums. He has interesting projects on his cars and he is also selling the parts... One of the projects is shift paddles in piano black( sorry there is no alluminium..) You can check http://www.mbworld.org/forums/showth...ghlight=paddle
Thanks for the tip. Black is OK, but I'd prefer matte black
rather than what appears to be gloss black. Long post, not sure where he stands.
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-----------------1----------------- ---------SLK 55 ///AMG--------- ---THE MONSTER ON THE BLOCK---
Is it possible to add paddle shifters to an SLK350?? I drive a BMW X5 and others on there have been able to retrofit a paddle shift by running the wires from the steering wheels down to the gear shifter in the center console. I would love to have paddle shifters on my wife's 350 if it is possible.
I have an SLk 200 with the 5 speed automatic gearbox.I also have the paddles in my steering wheel.The are a 2 way buttons.
i m asking you if i can put the amg s alluminium paddles.
At mercedes here in greece they told me that the paddles in my car are analog and at 55 AMG with 7g is digital.
Does anyone know something about that??
Is it possible to add paddle shifters to an SLK350?? I drive a BMW X5 and others on there have been able to retrofit a paddle shift by running the wires from the steering wheels down to the gear shifter in the center console. I would love to have paddle shifters on my wife's 350 if it is possible.
i don't think it's possible in SLK...unless it's factory installed
i don't think it's possible in SLK...unless it's factory installed
I have the same question, is it possible to add paddles of any kind to a slk 350 09' (facelift model) that doesn't have neither plastic paddles or buttons ?
SNikos - Can I suggest you look at the thread "r171 steering wheel". I replaced the standard buttons on my 350 with aluminum paddles. Needed a little work to get them to fit, but worked just fine. The aluminum paddles are part MB #A 171 267 00 46. Of course I am no MB specialist and in no way endorse others to take similar actions which may invalidate any warranty.
As Risen, i've done the same modification.
It has been longer than forecasted (the new part has not the same size). Therefore, i've reused a part of the original part to cover the hole (a lots of work!!). Hope it will helps ...
Note : A dremel is mandatory to remove the material. You must work with a great care. i've spent 1 week to do the job (removal the wheel saturday, think on the possibility on sunday, left modification on tuesday evening, right modification on friday evening, and wheel installation saturday morning).
Before :
On the left, the original. On the right the AMG new part :
I've wanted to replace the button shifters on the back of my steering wheel for some time now. I've read all the different threads and there are a couple good options to do this but I've decided to replace the entire wheel with a 2007 wheel (PN A171 460 53 03 9e37).
So my dilema is where to purchase the wheel. I've been watching the web site that Aquascape supplied and they finally offered an additional 10% discount in February and I decided to place the purchase. But I received a response back that they DO NOT ship outside of the UK (price would have been about 1100 GBPs or about US$1650 depending on the going exchange rate). I checked with a local MB dealer and they are quoting US$2320 ... quite a difference.
So my question is has anyone found a source inside the US or outside the US that ships to the States where you can purchase MB parts? I hate to spend an additional $700 when I don't need to. Thanks in advance for the help.
R171 : DIY : Replace steering wheel with one with paddles on 
EXCELLENT work. I love it when the people who should be in "the know" say "it can't be done". You're a true innovator. One must ask the approximate cost. How much better are the paddles versus the buttons? Again, good job. 
SLK 350 6 MT
