So last Tuesday I drove into a second-hand car dealership with a 2006 A4 and I left driving a... 2006 A4! Only this one is the Avant model (I had the sedan before), it's also got the Tiptronic instead of manual and it has about a year's less mileage than mine did. It's cherry-red which I'm not crazy about (I had a silver car before) but I'll live with that until I have the cash for a respray.

One of the things I've wanted to have for a long was an RS4 steering wheel, you know the aluminum-and-leather flat-bottomed one. So I decided to pull the trigger on that, located a "reasonably"-priced one in the UK that also has aluminum shift paddles so I can go around town pretending I'm an F1 driver . According to what I've seen on audiworld it's a simple matter of replacing the wheel and changing one setting in VCDS. Too easy.

The not-so-easy question, at this point, is the airbag. Currently I have the tri-spoke multi-function sports steering wheel. It's definitely a different external shape from the RS4 wheel, but I've heard that Audi three-spoke steering wheels use the same airbag. Does anyone know if that includes the RS4/R8 wheel?

 

I looked into this a while ago (for a B6 S4, but should be applicable for you). The B6 uses a one stage airbag. The B7 uses a two stage airbag. So putting a two stage airbag in a system designed for one stage... unsurprisingly no one has tested it

My conclusion was that my face and chest were more valuable than a fancy steering wheel!

 

Actually the steering wheel is likely made for an R8 (the B7 RS4 was never available in auto) and ended up as an extra spare in someone's garage in England. Shipped without the airbag as required by law. I can't wait to have it in my hands However it's looking likely that I'll have to shell out a few hundred for the correct model airbag, I certainly don't intend on modifying anything myself lol

 

As an update, it turns out I got a B8 Allroad steering wheel with an S4 badge (wtf). I don't know if it's going to fit on the B7 stalk, even looking at the diagrams on Audi's parts app we couldn't determine. However the same model steering wheel is also used for the early S3 which were made at the same time as my A4 and were likely to share components. As for the airbag you just order it from the dealership. I'm having other service done this week and will get this looked into.