Be the 1st X5 in the U.S. to have cool paddle shifters installed

[watrob]

Originally Posted by jlam86

I will try to look for an article that teaches you how to retrofit paddle shifters to the x5 and i don't think you need to code it. The only thing you have to do first is move the gear shift leaver to the sport mode and then it's equivalent to upshifting and downshifting with the lever but with the paddles. I read it a long time ago and considered it. let me do some digging and get back to you guys.

The module will have to be coded for the paddle shifts to work. The code will not be in your X5 as they only just started to come with paddle shifts. If you have added the module and it is wired correctly then the module will need to be added to you VO, then the code download and then activated.

You may even need a FSC to activate it also - not sure?

[SpaceGrayM]

is there any reason why this Coding customization would be any different then the other mods out there? Ex. on my E53 4.8is i had the coding updated to remove the air ride suspension.
on my E60 550i i was going to add paddles, but ended up selling it first. but it was feasable. I have the X5M steering wheel, i liked the look better, so it has paddles already, so i'd like to activate them if possible.

on this subject the Steering wheel subjet, i had the steering wheel on my 07 E70 X5 4.8 and recently purchased a 11 X5 50i Msport. According to BMW, the Msport = htd steering wheel delete, even though i have cold weather package. so i'm hoping when i install the X5M wheel with htd option that it will just work, or is coding required?

I also have Lane Departure, so i have to tackle that too, the steering wheels are different, not sure whats different/where the vibration feature is located. The X5M does not have Lane departure.

Would be nice if there was a sticky on the forum for factory added Mods and how to's in this regard. So we don't have to read through pages and pages of post to get to the point.

[philooo]

so did anyone manage to get paddle shifter retrofitted to the X5 E70?

I mean especially since the paddle shifter is a factory option.

I have the M steering wheel without paddle shifter (2011) and would have love to have the paddles.

If only the gear level did not feel like a cheap piece of plastic about to break each time I use it, I'd be fine without the paddle but I hate using the flimsy plastic gear lever for manual shifting. Even better I'd love to have an M button To get a stage higher than the DS mode, which shift a little early to my taste.

[x5mad]

Was doing some coding yesterday and noticed that my 2008 X5 EGS module has a line of code for paddle shifters. Same as my 135 which does have paddle shifters.

The only difference was that the X5 option was wert_00 whereas 135 was wert_01

[philooo]

hummmm I would LOVE to retrofit the paddle shifter on my 2011 5.0

please tell us more... are you trying to do the retrofit ?

May be you can try the whole thing as you also have the whoel steering from the 135

[x5mad]

I was only giving my 2 cents although I would like the paddles I am not actively trying to perform the mod.

Never thought about swapping the wheel over actually to test this theory!

Will the wheel fit on the X5 and secondly how difficult would it be to remove from 135 and install onto X5?

[95wildtt]

I spent about 6 months on this project last fall.

I bought 2 used gear selectors so I didn't have to use the one in my 4.8i. After verifying that they both worked in place of my original, I started reverse engineering the circuits in the selector. They use magnets and hall effect sensors to sense the movement of the gear selector...

My thought was to fool the computer in the selector into believing that the gear selector was moved by closing the switches on the paddles...

I rewired the slip ring in the steering wheel to pass the switch closure of the two paddle shifters instead of the heater option (which I ditched for my M wheel) so I have a cable run to the base of the shifter with the two paddle signals and ground.

I was however unable to correctly tap into the circuits for the hall effect sensors and fool the shifter computer into thinking I moved the gear shifter... What I really need is a schematic for the internal circuits for the shifter, or a theory of operation.

This would be very similar to the E53 mod, but would require modification of the shifter itself.

I'm 90% done, any help would be awesome, and I can publish a DIY if I can get this done for us! No coding needed, just some wiring...

Thanks.

[SpaceGrayM]

I have a 2011 X5 50, and i have the X5M steering wheel with paddles. i used the wheel in my 07 X5 4.8, paddles did not work obviously, but its an easy swap. a 135 steering wheel is not going to fit in the X5.

Is there a module for the paddle shifters? i have not installed the X5M wheel in my '11 X5 yet.

[Wienaren]

I, too, have a 2011 X5 50 (prod. date 07/2010), and a steering wheel from the X5M. The paddles worked "out of the box", no coding required.

[NY-4.8IS]

Originally Posted by Wienaren

I, too, have a 2011 X5 50 (prod. date 07/2010), and a steering wheel from the X5M. The paddles worked "out of the box", no coding required.

I also have a 2011 X5 50i with a build date of Oct, 2010. Are you saying your car was prewired for the paddles? I havent removed my airbag yet to see.