FiestaMk7.com Owners Resource

I've just bought a leather steering wheel for my 2012 fiesta...I assumed the air bag would just have bolts from the back of the wheel to undo....wrong!
Do I really have to cut holes in the sides of the steering wheel base to get the airbag clips undone? Seems a bit brutal plus the leather wheel I bought hasn't been butchered in this way, so it came off somehow!

The other question is regarding de activating the airbag: I assume again that just disconnecting the battery and waiting a bit would be safe.
On enquiring at my local ford dealer they informed me that they would charge £80 to do the swap and on asking why a fifteen min job was eighty quid they started on about having it re programme the airbag on the computer....
Is it me?...can anyone please confirm this is as dubious as it sounds...

I've changed airbag steering wheels on past cars so am reluctant to pay for something i could do myself
Cheers guys

How did you get on. I know that the steering wheel leather has to be cut to get the steering wheel off. Don't know much about the programming. I would have thought that the programme module would be attached to the steering column and not the steering wheel.