heated steering wheel kaput

[David Corcoran]

Hello all,new to the list with 1999 A6 Avant Quattro in Saginaw ,Mi. I
visited my local dealer for the 60k service yesterday and was advised
the cure for my non-functioning  heated steering wheel was "replace
steering wheel" (give or take $500 since I'm a second owner and out of
warranty). Any collective experience  from the list on an alternative
fix for this problem? There is a TSB out  on this so Audi knows this is
a frequent problem.
I did give a call to Audi customer care but don't have much hope of
assistance although I once got Land Rover to split an out of warranty
repair with me on my Rangie.
I'd hate to spend $500 on this only to have it crap out again after the
repair warranty expires in a year. Audi doesn't seem to have engineered
this  very well if the fix is to replace the  entire assembly. Anybody
with a heated wheel that is still working?