I'm thinking of working on a mod for my Touring 5AT.

Steering wheel paddle shiffter. I'm going to see about putting some momentary buttons on the backside of the side spokes of the steering wheel. One for upshift and one for downshift.

I'm assuming I can tap into the existing switches in the shifter for the manual mode... Since the steering wheel turns I can't just run wire up to the wheel for the switches.... I'll have to work on some form of brushes or something.....

I just think it'd be slick to shift in manual mode without taking hands off the wheel.

 

Keep us informed on how the project goes.

 

I pulled the trim panels to gain access to the shifter... This is gonna be easy on the shifter side of it... there are two micro switches that are used to shift up and down. I just need to tap into these wires...

the hard part is now getting the momentary switches into the back side of the steering wheel.

now, I gotta figure how to get the stering wheel off....

 

Best idea I've heard in a while. Keep us posted!

 

NICE......ive had this idea running around in my head for a while.... too lazy to look for a place start...defintely keep us posted!!

 

N74DV do you have a fsm? that would be extremly helpful in removing the steering wheel.

 

OK... here's probably how this is gonna work... It's going to be too difficult to work up some contact brushes for the switches in the wheel, so I have another idea....

I'm going to use a 2 channel rolling code UHF transmitter/reciever.

The transmitter (very small) will be placed in the steering wheel and two momentary switches will be run to it...

The receiver (also small) will be placed in the center console... the receiver has two relays built in, so I just need to tap the shifter microswitch wires into it....

What's nice is it uses rolling codes, so if you happened to pull up next to another Z with the same setup(not likely) he won't be shifting your Z

here's a pic of the setup... the transmitter will be disassembled and only the pc board used.

 

Interesting idea. Keep us informed.

 

have you thought of a failsafe/backup idea if you are in the middle of a race and something goes wrong with the wires in a race? Im sure you could always just reach down and shift, but its good to have something to fall back on. Also, what happens if you press one of those buttons when the tranny is in auto?

 

http://www.bmw-paddleshift-retro.com/

He will be able to get you to where you need to be. You have already figured out the hard part. But, it is not going to be cheap. He will help you make a kit for retailing.

 

got it working.... it's sweet!

One button on the back side of the steering wheel for upshift and one on the other spoke for downshift... They are activated by index finger.

There is about a .1 second delay between pushing the button and the relay closing the circuit, but it's not bad.

I used a 4 channel remote system and I still have 2 unused channels.... hmmmm.....

 

N74DV....Where did you get the transmitter/reciever and how did you mount the transmitter on the wheel....tell me what i need to know to do this my self if ya dont mind...ive been waiting for this mod from somebody......also is the .1 second on top of the normal delay of manual shifting?....thanks a million.

 

I got it here:

http://electronickits.com/kit/complete/elec/ck1616.htm

You can buy the unit assembled or save a few $$ and build it yourself.... I built mine.

The slight delay is the time from pushing the button until the relay clicks the tiptronic circuit closed... it's very minimal so you have to plan your shifts ahead by about 500 rpm.

 

N74DV....Where did you get the transmitter/reciever and how did you mount the transmitter on the wheel....tell me what i need to know to do this my self if ya dont mind...ive been waiting for this mod from somebody......also is the .1 second on top of the normal delay of manual shifting?....thanks a million.