I have detached the base plate from my existing steering, which has steering wheel controls, and transferred it to the new steering. I have connected the new paddles to identify the problem. If the shifters begin functioning, it may indicate a defective plug at the connection point of the shifters. whether they remain nonfunctional, I will disassemble one to see whether I can detach the elongated shifter handle from the replacement one and substitute it with my original equipment manufacturer shifter's rear component. I believe it is only the backplate cover, allowing me to use my existing one with the extended shifter grip.
The subsequent step is to test the shifter with my OEM baseplate and controls. I will publish the findings.
It would be appreciated if you could provide further thoughts. The steering wheel and its components are straightforward to handle, if quite delicate. It is certainly simpler than I anticipated.