When browsing this forum some time ago I learnt some people made an interface to have cruise control working using the buttons on the steering wheel, specifically for cars who dont have a newer ECU and BCM (or SWCM) which can support this natively.
These CC enulators (as they are called) read out the cruise control buttons on the steering wheel and emulate the switches as found on the cruise control stalk, so the BCM (or SWCM) simply thinks the original stalk is being used so cruise control will be working as it should.
I found 3 different such CC EMUs which all have their own pros and cons.
I decided to develop my own CC EMU using the best features of them all, and more importantly it needed to work in both my Passat B6 (which uses the SWCM to control the MFSW) and our VW UP (which uses a BCM to control the MFSW).
The main reason is that I simply like figuring such things out and try and make some sort of solution for a certain problem
I tested many different button parts and firmware versions and they all work. I haven't encountered one that I couldn't make working.
The only thing is that some buttons like VIEW, MODE or ASSIST sometimes don't have a real function in a particular car, but such buttons can be given an alternative function if desired. The sky is the limit
Here was a test with some Passat B8 facelift buttons: Last week I already installed my CC EMU in my Passat B6: and today I finished the installation in our VW UP: Here is a picture of the first prototype: After I had both the BCM and B6 SWCM interface figured out and working I develop a nice small circuit board: On the Passat B6 it can be easily mounted below the SWCM itself:

