highlander wrote:..Seems an early D9 is a world apart from a 2003 model..
That is indeed the crux of the matter.
The 2003 and 2004 model 406s are Multiplexed and have a Com2000 system which basically makes them as good and incompatible for most electrical items.
The airbag on the steering wheel has two elextrical connecters as opposed to the one connector for the D8s and earlier D9s.
There are screw holes on the Multiplexed steering wheels, they are just further inward and a swine to get at once the wheel is in place. Or so I have seen on the late models I have come across in the scrapyard.
I suggest getting a steering wheel from a 2000 or 2001 406. That is what I did for my D8 Saloon. Worked a treat.