Ladies and gentlemen, start your engines, with an "In Your Face" red start button... Again, the person that let a Volcano Black, with Black/Red interior leave the factory with a black start button should be relegated to lug nuts... Now, let me tell you friends and Alfisti, replacing the button is not for the faint hearted, or impatient.
First off, the whole front and guts of the steering wheel have to be removed - ie., center air bag unit, and surrounding switch facia unit, that includes both sides of the steering wheel controls, including that most perfectly placed volume control.
Second off, the leather and fitting of the facia are so tight, that Sandy (shown below) worked for about 10 minutes after all the screws and connections were removed, just to remove the unit. (The air bag unit came out much easier.) A bit scary, more to follow...
I'd say there were about six or so screws in all, and a lot of tight hand work taking about 8 or 10 electrical connectors apart, along with the other work (disconnecting the battery, very first thing - cool quick disconnect wire harness). Three of the main screws are on the back of the steering wheel, requiring mad contortionistic skills, so if you are planning to do this project by yourself, unless you are a seasoned tech, plan for a bunch of time, do a good stretching warm up, maybe some yoga, and have a bang head here poster around for when you try to get the switch facia out - and be careful - the middle lower part of the facia is not that thick - Sandy really took his time on that and I was very glad - it just looks like one of those things that you could mess up real easy if you're not careful.
So, after about two hours of hanging out, chatting and working through all the steps, bam, IN YOUR FACE. The new button just looks right.
RE other things we've been discussing...
CAR PLAY - see the last picture, which is close to the end of the window sticker on a 2018 Giulia, clearly showing the charge for both Apple and Android systems. In speaking with Ken, one of the super sales folks here in Greensboro, and the guy I worked with, he says this is the first indication he's had that the systems are getting closer to being up and running. He also says that he has never seen a purely "software" charge on a sticker, so he believes that if you have those items showing on your window sticker, the hardware is installed, and you are only waiting on the software to be completed (if not already and just not released yet). He speculates that it will not be easy to obtain or install the car play systems post purchase, so if you are waiting - the hardware is starting to show up now, and the software will come along in time.
Touch Top Rotary controller - with respect to the touch top rotary knob and the HK upgrade, Ken's thinking the hardware is already installed, and the software delayed. In speaking with Sandy (lead Tech at Greensboro Alfa (FCA) on Wendover Ave), he's unaware of any recent bulletins on the software releases, and can't really speculate on timing. If you have more info, please chime in.
Sun Roof - with respect to the double sun roof, it is designed to have a two stop automatic opening function, hit the right-most button once, and it opens about 6 inches, and hit the button a second time, and it opens another 6 inches to its widest opening, so mine may have been working as designed, I just did not know the design...
Accessories - with respect to hitches and roof racks, Sandy could not speculate on when we'll see more in the USA on that. I have still not found the right Thule connectors/bars, but I think I saw an audi suv with a similar rail system, so my hopes are up - if anyone can add to that discussion, please do.
Mileage - I have just over 2k on my Stelvio now, and was hitting the 21.1 MPG mark - not a lot of highway miles, and I love to drive in manual, so hey, there you have it. I'm heading down to Charlotte to referee several soccer matches tomorrow, and will reset the averages (hold in on the aluminum tip of the windshield wiper arm for three seconds or so), before I take that drive, which I intend to do mostly in the A mode for comparison purposes - will try to drive all day in that mode, if I can keep from slipping it into manual... could be tough...
(I do have the old start button; someone was interested in that, juzlemmeknow...)
Ciao,
Frank
(And a huge grazie mille to Amis (service front man), Sandy (lead tech), and Ken (sales) for all there time and help - the Greensboro FCA team is really excited about Alfa, and shows it.)
