What would/will you pay for heated steering wheel?

[Durzel]

I fitted my heated steering wheel this morning, to my 2020 M3P.

I found the procedure quite stressful, despite how easy it appears on YouTube instructional videos. My car basically fought me every step of the way. The airbag wouldn’t unlatch without me pushing the clip that secures it via the two holes on the steering wheel on both sides at the same time, and even then it was difficult. The connectors for the steering wheel controls and the airbag didn’t want to come out, and are pretty tricky to pull out (pinching and pulling). The screw securing the wheel (with locktite) was on there like a vice. And even pulling the wheel off involved a lot of rocking. Stressful!

I didn’t disconnect the 12v battery to remove the airbag. I probably should’ve but I’ve seen enough videos of people not doing that to figure it would be fine. I did completely power down the car via the screen though, and waited a while for it to sleep (door left open, no sounds from it at all, no reaction to me sitting in the driver seat)

The good news - the wheel is a straight swap, the connectors are identical. Everything works as expected there. The car didn’t moan or even react to me removing and plugging things in, it just stayed asleep.

The bad news, which I was expecting, is that the car doesn’t acknowledge the presence of the heated wheel. I assumed this would be the case given that MIC SR+s have the same wheel but don’t have heating enabled. I’ll need to get it coded to my car, if I can, somehow.

So - £975 for basically metal scroll wheels and a no-cut steering wheel. Not exactly a shrewd purchase, but I was willing to take a punt

Will update thread if I can ever get it activated… have added some photos of my old wheel and new one (part numbers, extra blue connector for heating, etc)

 

[CMc1]

Very brave @Durzel. Whts your plan? Ask service to try and enable it?

 

[Durzel]

Very brave @Durzel. Whts your plan? Ask service to try and enable it?

Yeah. From what I’ve read of another guy doing it in the States on his Model Y, the tech that was there with him couldn’t even see the option.

At some point soon MIC SR+ owners will get the option to pay for an OTA upgrade, like rear heated seats. There has been a memo going around USA service centres to that effect. The option might be available to me at that point, if the car says “hey I’ve got a heated steering wheel that’s not activated” (perhaps unlikely), or via a tech/SC being able to see and code the option at that point, a bit like people on here who had been getting MIC cars with inactivated front fogs, rear heated seats, etc.

I might try my luck on Tesla live chat too, before then.

 

[MrBadger]

Will update thread if I can ever get it activated… have added some photos of my old wheel and new one (part numbers, extra blue connector for heating, etc)

So all connectors seemingly already present - no additional wiring for heating other than that built into the new wheel - blue connector?

How long did it take you? Or more of interest, how long do you think it would take a Tesla technician should it ever be offered as an upgrade. I guess, all things remaining equal, that £1125 likely to be a ball park figure.

 

[Durzel]

Took me ages, probably 45 mins at least, mainly because not one part of the process was simple. The YouTube videos make it look simple. Perhaps I was being too gentle.

And yes - all of the required hardware is in the wheel itself. I bought a whole wheel assembly, so it came complete. As far as I can see the wiring in the single brown plug that connects the wheel to the car is the same (the airbag isn’t part of the steering wheel, and connects through it)

You’re probably right there £1125 is about what I imagine it would cost if it ever did become an official retrofit option.

 

[GeorgeSymonds]

Intersting, thanks for the update It would be good if they do allow it. I assume you've tried the voice command on the wild off chance?

I think someone worked out the manufacturing code thats linked to the car config for the heated wheel (ST3? can't recall) but as you say the SR+ doesn't have it activated even with that code so I doubt getting that updated, even if you could. would be enough to make it work.

 

[Durzel]

Intersting, thanks for the update It would be good if they do allow it. I assume you've tried the voice command on the wild off chance?

I think someone worked out the manufacturing code thats linked to the car config for the heated wheel (ST3? can't recall) but as you say the SR+ doesn't have it activated even with that code so I doubt getting that updated, even if you could. would be enough to make it work.

Not tried voice command, no.

The parts guy I bought the wheel from (who is excellent, and very enthusiastic about my retrofitting antics) was at pains to point out that it probably wouldn’t work, and was I absolutely sure that I wanted to drop that much money on it knowing that, etc.

I guess I’m about 30% confident that it’ll eventually work. I’d be a bit more down about it if I didn’t know before fitting it that the heating part wouldn’t work.

 

[Gatsojon]

I fitted my heated steering wheel this morning, to my 2020 M3P.

I found the procedure quite stressful, despite how easy it appears on YouTube instructional videos. My car basically fought me every step of the way. The airbag wouldn’t unlatch without me pushing the clip that secures it via the two holes on the steering wheel on both sides at the same time, and even then it was difficult. The connectors for the steering wheel controls and the airbag didn’t want to come out, and are pretty tricky to pull out (pinching and pulling). The screw securing the wheel (with locktite) was on there like a vice. And even pulling the wheel off involved a lot of rocking. Stressful!

I didn’t disconnect the 12v battery to remove the airbag. I probably should’ve but I’ve seen enough videos of people not doing that to figure it would be fine. I did completely power down the car via the screen though, and waited a while for it to sleep (door left open, no sounds from it at all, no reaction to me sitting in the driver seat)

The good news - the wheel is a straight swap, the connectors are identical. Everything works as expected there. The car didn’t moan or even react to me removing and plugging things in, it just stayed asleep.

The bad news, which I was expecting, is that the car doesn’t acknowledge the presence of the heated wheel. I assumed this would be the case given that MIC SR+s have the same wheel but don’t have heating enabled. I’ll need to get it coded to my car, if I can, somehow.

So - £975 for basically metal scroll wheels and a no-cut steering wheel. Not exactly a shrewd purchase, but I was willing to take a punt

Will update thread if I can ever get it activated… have added some photos of my old wheel and new one (part numbers, extra blue connector for heating, etc)

Wow, what can I say? Thank you for your service!

i really hope it comes good for you. Hard to imagine there won’t be a fix, official or otherwise, at some point in the future. Thanks again.

 

[RedMod3]

£0 as I would never use it even if I had it.

 

[Aikidoka]

I live in Florida and wouldn't pay anything for a heated steering wheel. I would pay extra for vented front seats. That being said my prior BMW and my Pacifica Plug-in hybrid cost less and had heated steering wheels and vented seats.

 

[browellm]

Heated steering wheel is life.

I freeze by balls off watching football every week in the winter and the thought of coming back to a toasty wheel and warm cabin is fabulous.

 

[Drew57]

Heated steering wheel is life.

I freeze by balls off watching football every week in the winter and the thought of coming back to a toasty wheel and warm cabin is fabulous.

Yes, last winter I preconditioned climate early morning and also when returning to the car. Not sure a heated wheel would add anything to that for me because the entire inside was nice and warm - it will definitely be a 'nice to have' if I purchase a Model Y but I could easily live without it.

 

[Rooster6655]

Heated steering wheel is life.

I freeze by balls off watching football every week in the winter and the thought of coming back to a toasty wheel and warm cabin is fabulous.

Precondition car and just buy some gloves probably be less hassle!

 

[browellm]

Precondition car and just buy some gloves probably be less hassle!

LOL, you've really never sat at a football match for the best part of three hours in the freezing cold, have you? Gloves don't do s**t.

It is also demonstrably not "less hassle", since I already have the heating steering wheel

 

[s88ats]

I fitted my heated steering wheel this morning, to my 2020 M3P.

I found the procedure quite stressful, despite how easy it appears on YouTube instructional videos. My car basically fought me every step of the way. The airbag wouldn’t unlatch without me pushing the clip that secures it via the two holes on the steering wheel on both sides at the same time, and even then it was difficult. The connectors for the steering wheel controls and the airbag didn’t want to come out, and are pretty tricky to pull out (pinching and pulling). The screw securing the wheel (with locktite) was on there like a vice. And even pulling the wheel off involved a lot of rocking. Stressful!

I didn’t disconnect the 12v battery to remove the airbag. I probably should’ve but I’ve seen enough videos of people not doing that to figure it would be fine. I did completely power down the car via the screen though, and waited a while for it to sleep (door left open, no sounds from it at all, no reaction to me sitting in the driver seat)

The good news - the wheel is a straight swap, the connectors are identical. Everything works as expected there. The car didn’t moan or even react to me removing and plugging things in, it just stayed asleep.

The bad news, which I was expecting, is that the car doesn’t acknowledge the presence of the heated wheel. I assumed this would be the case given that MIC SR+s have the same wheel but don’t have heating enabled. I’ll need to get it coded to my car, if I can, somehow.

So - £975 for basically metal scroll wheels and a no-cut steering wheel. Not exactly a shrewd purchase, but I was willing to take a punt

Will update thread if I can ever get it activated… have added some photos of my old wheel and new one (part numbers, extra blue connector for heating, etc)

So that only took a few months to arrive then!

That is a real shame it didn't work right out of the box. There has to be a coding option that needs to be enabled for your car now. I'd try contacting the SC and try and see if any of the senior techs can help with that - a face-to-face visit be more fruitful? They may not want to as it's not the 'norm' and some might not even know how to. The only gamble if they were to code it, with any future updates it may be removed again as it's not in your original configuration

At least you have a no-cut, metal scroll wheel now along with the original spare one

 

[ACarneiro]

You

LOL, you've really never sat at a football match for the best part of three hours in the freezing cold, have you? Gloves don't do s**t.

It is also demonstrably not "less hassle", since I already have the heating steering wheel

You just need proper gloves

 

[ACarneiro]

So that only took a few months to arrive then!

That is a real shame it didn't work right out of the box. There has to be a coding option that needs to be enabled for your car now. I'd try contacting the SC and try and see if any of the senior techs can help with that - a face-to-face visit be more fruitful? They may not want to as it's not the 'norm' and some might not even know how to. The only gamble if they were to code it, with any future updates it may be removed again as it's not in your original configuration

At least you have a no-cut, metal scroll wheel now along with the original spare one

It’s almost certain that there will be some software enabling required.
When I had my rear window replaced, my demister wouldn’t work and it turned out that they’d forgotten to re-enable it in software.
If even a bog standard feature has to be enabled then surely a slightly more premium one has to be as well?

 

[s88ats]

It’s almost certain that there will be some software enabling required.
When I had my rear window replaced, my demister wouldn’t work and it turned out that they’d forgotten to re-enable it in software.
If even a bog standard feature has to be enabled then surely a slightly more premium one has to be as well?

Yes, you're right and will depend on if they want to entertain it.

That's v bizarre - I wonder which models don't have a demister enabled for it to be an option that needs to be toggled.

 

[Durzel]

So that only took a few months to arrive then!

That is a real shame it didn't work right out of the box. There has to be a coding option that needs to be enabled for your car now. I'd try contacting the SC and try and see if any of the senior techs can help with that - a face-to-face visit be more fruitful? They may not want to as it's not the 'norm' and some might not even know how to. The only gamble if they were to code it, with any future updates it may be removed again as it's not in your original configuration

At least you have a no-cut, metal scroll wheel now along with the original spare one

Looking at eBay I ought to get around £300 for the original wheel, but it's still quite an expensive retrofit even if it does ultimately work.

I have already spoken to the SC that I bought the part from and the guy said he wasn't able to do anything, and my local SC (Bristol) simply said that it wasn't an official retrofit - end of story. I'm popping over there later in the week so will try asking in person. I did also try asking on Tesla live chat but was just pushed towards speaking to a service centre.

I think if anything is going to happen it's probably going to rely on the option being something that is actually available to be coded. Right now, as far as I know, even MIC SR+ owners can't activate it, even though they've certainly got the hardware (the parts guy confirmed that there's just one wheel part code being fitted to cars now). If/when it becomes an upgrade in the app perhaps I'll get a bit further. It might even appear for me automatically...

It’s almost certain that there will be some software enabling required.
When I had my rear window replaced, my demister wouldn’t work and it turned out that they’d forgotten to re-enable it in software.
If even a bog standard feature has to be enabled then surely a slightly more premium one has to be as well?

That's pretty crazy.. why would that be something that needs to be activated?

 

[ACarneiro]

It’s The Tesla Way…