VW Vortex - Volkswagen Forum banner
Cancel
Create thread New Garage Forums

Retrofitting Paddle Shifters to a Phaeton

Jump to Latest
321 - 340 of 340 Posts
#323 ·
Ah, would that be the whole new plastic body panels conversion or the grinder-and-3D printer job?
 
#326 ·
What an easy and great retrofit! Just installed paddle shifters in my MY09 3.0TDI CEXA Phaeton.

My 2¢ regarding the paddle shifter retrofit:

1) easy and fast to retrofit, everything should be this easy 😉
2) wiring harness/connector was taped to other wires, easy to locate, as if it was waiting for paddles (car MY late 2008/early 2009)
3) cleared codes and did the gearbox adaptation reset with VCDS+ROSS-TECH -> gear changes work flawlessly through paddles, while the actual knob is in "D"
4) as mentioned in this topic on page 16, part numbers have changed from having "B" in the end, to "D" for the trim parts
5) 4A1-brown plastic trim pieces were 49 €/piece here in Finland (naturally stocked only in Germany)

General thanks to this topic, great insights! (y)
 
#327 ·
Juho said:
What an easy and great retrofit! Just installed paddle shifters in my MY09 3.0TDI CEXA Phaeton.
Click to expand...
I would recommend that you turn off the wheel retraction function if you use it. It will reduce the wear on the steering wires (known issue), and it will also prevent your paddle shifters going bad over time (I'm on my second set, when they started going bad I turned off the wheel retraction and it's almost solved the problem, if I'd done it sooner I think they would have been fine).
 
#328 ·
invisiblewave said:
I would recommend that you turn off the wheel retraction function if you use it. It will reduce the wear on the steering wires (known issue), and it will also prevent your paddle shifters going bad over time (I'm on my second set, when they started going bad I turned off the wheel retraction and it's almost solved the problem, if I'd done it sooner I think they would have been fine).
Click to expand...
I do use it. And I wondered why the previous owner had switched it off , as I immediately turned it on and have enjoyed it since. As the previous owner was somewhat aware of things, he might have also had the same idea in mind as you do. Yes, all movement must wear the wiring, I'll have to switch it off and see if I can live without the function.
 
#329 ·
Hello everyone,

I did not really mean to revive an older thread but please hear me out.
my name is Peter and i come from Belgium, since 4 years or so i have been the prowd owner of a 2006 4 seater LWB W12.
Now recently i have decided to also do this paddle shift conversion, i have bought on ebay the complete clockspring for the heated steering wheel including the chrome tipped stalks and the paddle shifters from a 2006 Bentley Flying Spur.
The heated steering wheel al went somewhat well, i have changed my wood steering wheel for the all leather wheel with heating and the adaption for the module behind the wheel and the abs was a success allthough not super easy but i couldn't for the life of me figure out why the paddle shifters would not work.
That was until i read about possible faulty microswitches, almost every Bentley has them so it is plausible to assume that they are used quite often during the lifespan of the car hence the wear. And sure enough when testing they did not give a signal so i decided to replace them myself instead of buying new or used paddles. Just a few Euro's each for the microswitches so it was worth a shot but you will have to feel comfortable to solder smd parts. All in all at least for me an easy job and saved me a lot of money.

I just wanted to share my experience whenever used paddle shifters do not work as they are supposed to, it may not always be the coding as i found out. I have tried every code that would take but in the end i did not have to change any anything to make them work but that may have been related to the year of production, works in drive, sport and tiptronic as intended. It was as simple as a tiny microswitch times 2, go figure.
Anyway i wanted to express my gratitude to all the people on this wonderful forum who makes all this stuff possible as you go discovering it, whether mechanical or coding. You have my deepest respect.

So thank you to all, regards Peter
 
#330 ·
Thanks for that info Peter. I recently swapped the paddles from one of my Phaetons to another and forgot to recode them so they didn't work initially. After the recording they worked just fine so I got lucky, no issues with the microswitches.
 
#331 ·
Hello Stephan, thank you for your reply.

After reading a lot of posts about paddle shifters i always found it very strange that all NA Phaeton's always had to do a recode as where ROW Phaeton's do not. Even after changing it to the "Dresden" area. Must be some programming into the real core of the car when they were new at the factory i suppose.
But still i am curious, did your old paddles go bad for some reason?

Regards, Peter
 
#334 ·
I am afraid i would not be much of a help there since my code was and is 0000101 all of the time. I never had to change anything.
It looks like this is only applicable to NA Phaeton's unless the ROW production year was before 2005. I can't prove it but it looks like there was a significant change around that time, some other programming in the module maybe? I have read somewhere that ROW Phaeton owners before 2005 did have to do a recode otherwise it would not work or only when shifted the lever to tiptronic.
 
#335 ·
As I recall, the transmission controller really doesn't like it if the paddles are removed. My conclusion is that the paddle shifters are there to stay. I plan to keep 7579 so it's not that big a deal for that particular Phaeton.

Also see post #170.

I am going to avoid recoding on other Phaetons so the paddles would be removable. Putting it in Tiptronic Mode is not hard to do if you want to use paddle shifters. I'll have to ask my brother if the paddle shifters in his C7 can be used in D.
 
#336 ·
Thank you for pointing out that post, i have read that also and honestly it had me worried but since mine is a 2006 it thought i would try it regardless and it worked out great.
But i do feel the pain that every other owner before 2005 would have to do to make it work in all modes, shifting down when you are in drive is an extended plus for me. If i had to move the lever to tritonic first i probably would not use it as much, makes it so much easier and quicker but that depends on the person.
 
#337 ·
Looking for some help on this one, I've had a good read through here and tried a few things now but my 04' v10 isn't having any of it. My car is coded from factory as 0001101 which from what I've read would tell me that it is already coded for paddles? I've retrofitted flying spur paddles and stalks and this is the first time I've tried to code them as they haven't worked since they were fitted (apart from the stalks - they work flawlessly 🤣). Anyway, originally it wouldn't let me alter the code in anyway at all until I put in the Dresden workshop code and that did the trick, I was able to change the code now. However, I am still as of yet to find a code that will make them work at all in D or Sport or both. I'm wondering if maybe it is necessary to code the steering column/squib unit itself?? Any help appreciated 👍🏻
 
#339 ·
On the Phaeton W12, the shift paddles will work without recoding but you have to put the shifter in the Sport position. If you recode the transmission controller, you can use the paddles in Drive.

I think it's the same with the V8 but I don't plan on adding paddle shifters to my V8.

See post #283.
 
321 - 340 of 340 Posts
About this Discussion
339 Replies
55 Participants
Last post:
valmesplus
VW Vortex - Volkswagen Forum
posts
85M
members
1.5M
Since
2001
A forum community dedicated to all Volkswagen owners and enthusiasts. Come join the discussion about performance, builds, modifications, classifieds, troubleshooting, maintenance, new releases, and more!
Full Forum Listing
Explore Our Forums
The Car Lounge Golf IV & Jetta IV Golf III & Jetta III Golf II & Jetta II Golf IV/Jetta IV Parts