Paddle Shift (diy Install)
 

Just installed the E46 M3 SMG Steering wheel today. I purchased the wheel new from BMW and put the wiring together myself. It was such a simple job. All I done was buy from BMW, 2 lengths of wire similar in size to speaker wire, 2male and 2 female pins, small connector for the SMG slip ring, and a roll of original BMW wire wraping tape, again a few pennies. The install took me all of 30mins with no special tools or cutting of any original wiring. The overall result is excellent!! The M3 wheel is much better, alot thicker, smaller and the leather quality is also far superior!! It came with the M color stitching, titanium trim and M logo embossed in the wheel. But changing gear on the wheel is amazing, your breaking is improved with being able to shift gear when you want, and also it feels more sporty with gear control on the wheel. I'll get some photos posted shortly.

I'm right there with ya, I love my M3 SMG wheel...have fun and keep her on your side of the road through the twisties.

Your right!! Plenty of twisties here in Ireland!!! But such a great wheel and feel to the whole thing. It give the X5 a whole new charactere when driving and not just the paddle shift but the wheel itself. I have a friend with a 4.8is who is looking for me to do the install on it, as he just thought the new shape wheel on his 4.8 is undefined unlike the SMG M3 wheel on mine and wants the same.

Where are those pics of the install/wheel?

I have read that some say the SMG M3 wheel is too small for the X. I should be getting an X soon.

Curtis

Sudesh, do you know if the M3 SMG wheel can be heated, as I have the heated wheel at present and love the feature.

Don

I dont think the wheel can be heated Don! I used to have an M3 with all the options and that wasnt one. But I'll check the brochure and BMW parts system to see.

Sounds like a great upgrade! Did you install an airbag with the new steering wheel?

No I just swapped my old airbag over as they are the same fitment.

Cheers Sudesh, another question for you, do you know if the gear change in the 4.6 is faster than in the rest of the range, as I find when using the Tiptonic mode, that the changes can be very slow. Just to confirm, the gear change it's self is okay but the car seems to take ages from when I select a different gear to when it performs the change.

Don

The steptronic gear box is self learning and adapts to your style of driving. Now I dont really drive fast but I'm very pleased with my shift as, when I change gear manually, whether through the gear box or paddles, it shifts almost instantly!

Hmmmmm, I don't know why mine seems slow to change then, as I haven't used it very often and when I did it was when driving enthusiastically :thumbup:

Don

cool stuff man cant take my mind out of doin it:rofl: I would like to do this but im not very good at electronic and all that do you think if i just bring it to a local shop they would be able to do it easly?

Depends on the guy you get to do. It is a simple mod with some know how.

I looked into this Don but you would have to give up the heated steering in order to have the SMG!

Cheers Sudesh,

I'll have to give this some thought. I seem to remember that someone had done something similar with the post face lift steering wheel. But the paddle shift was called something different, like SNG or what ever. I also love the SMG gear lever, was that a straight swap and what sort of cost?

Don

There is an SSG wheel available but is not as nice as the SMG wheel. But again you cant have heated. Well not that I know off! and I also asked Vince at MRPADDLESSHIFT.COM who told me that it WAS available at one time, with alot of cutting wires etc, but BMW AG didnt advise on selling the kit so it was stopped. The SMG gear leaver is more or less a straight swap. Obviousy if you read my other post, I modded the shift pattern on the top so it would be the same as the X5's shift pattern.

Once again, thanks Sudesh, you info is great. Ok, so the SSG is out so it looks like I will go for the SMG, but have to convince Mrs Coffey that losing the heated steering wheel wont be the end of the world!

I did notice about you changing the pattern on the SMG shift. Did you do this yourself? Where did the pattern come from?

Don

Get the missus a pair of BMW gloves Don!! Keep the hands warm. If I had of had a heated wheel I still would have given it up for the SMG, as its so much better looking, fun to use, and its a far better wheel than the standard one. I changed the shift pattern on the SMG Gear Knob myself. I designed the pattern then had a friend in a graphics company make it up. If you get one just let me know and I'll modify it for you. No charge! I can also install the SMG wheel for you too.

I just ordered the SMG steering wheel with paddleshifters kit from www.mrpaddleshift.com ($925)! From this and other threads, it sounds like a "must have" mod! :dancing:

He is very expensive for this mod!! Dont like saying things about other peoples business but he charges $390 plus shipping for a wiring kit that I put together using all BMW parts for a few pounds.

I appreciate the heads up, Sudesh, and I have no doubt that you saved lots of money by figuring it out and doing it yourself. In fact, since you seem keen on installing these things, I was thinking of asking if you would mind dropping by Seattle and doing mine? (We have similar weather to Ireland much of the year -- you'd feel right at home!) ;)

Many/most of the folks on this board could probably easily do this mod themselves. I, however, am the most mechanically/electrically inept person in the Western hemisphere, and I would undoubtedly cause a major explosion or at very least a total meltdown of my steering column, so it was worth paying extra for a "kit" with simple instructions. Besides, several other folks on this board have used his kits and have said very good things about him, so I'm willing to pay the extra pounds/euros/dollars...

Dont get wrong! The first kit I got was from him about 2 years ago. But when I seen what I paid for I was shocked, then to find out all the parts were available from BMW for very little money I decided this time round I would do it myself. The kit your getting will be exactially the same as what I put together. Plus if your doing it yourself there are a few right ups on the front page about it that you can do step by step. The wiring I put together cost something like £10 which is $6dollors!! He charges $390!!! So you can see my point too. But never the less, you will really enjoy the wheel and gear changing! Its a great mod.

How can I pass on an offer like that? I x SMG Wheel and SMG Shift added to the mods list.:thumbup:

I'll give you a shout once I have them Sudesh.

Don

No problem Don!

Seems like a great mod. Can you post some pics.

J.Seven

I had pics but deleted them by accident frommy camera. But my instillation is not much different from the one on the front page. Only thing I did differently was making the wiring from BMW parts.

Is your X5 a 2002/03 model ? Can I drop this steering on my 4.4L from 2000?

i think you can only use the SSG on the 4.8 correct me if i am wrong?

I believe you are correct the SMG can only be used on the 4.6. here are some pics of my SMG wheel http://www.xoutpost.com/x5-e53-forum/...ight=smg+wheel

You can fit it to the any X5. You can also fit the SSG wheel but its not as nice and alot more complicated to fit.

so if i have the 4.4 2004 i can use the m3 smg like yours? should be the same way to instal rite?

Yeah you can install it on your X but you will also need the round airbag to suit as your X has a different shape wheel. But it can be installed no problem.

:wow:
Hope you don't work in the financial sector....;)
At this rate I would to change my $$$ in to £££'s right away.
It's a nice mod, well done :thumbup:

It was just a rough guess which wasnt far away.
Based on the Mid market rates I can get
xe.com Universal Currency Converter ® Results
Live mid-market rates as of 2006.10.25 15:13:28 UTC.
6.00 GBP
United Kingdom Pounds = 11.2619 USD
United States Dollars
1 GBP = 1.87698 USD 1 USD = 0.532772 GBP

OR in reverse
xe.com Universal Currency Converter ® Results
Live mid-market rates as of 2006.10.25 15:16:28 UTC.
10.00 USD
United States Dollars = 5.32648 GBP
United Kingdom Pounds
1 USD = 0.532648 GBP 1 GBP = 1.87741 USD

Some photos of the SMG just out of the box and before it was fitted
http://i77.photobucket.com/albums/j7...5/DSC00520.jpg
http://i77.photobucket.com/albums/j7...5/DSC00521.jpg
http://i77.photobucket.com/albums/j7...5/DSC00522.jpg

Did you also have to purchase a new airbag or does it come with the wheel?

Thanks.

Curtis

No Airbag does not come with the wheel. But depending on the shape of your original wheel and year of your vehicle the airbag you have may fit! My old airbag was a straight forward swap into the new wheel.

I have a 4.8is is it worth swapping the wheel, is that wheel much different aside from the paddles? also my airbag is kinda flat on the top you think it will swap?

Hi,

You will also need the airbag as the 4.8 has a different wheel and airbag. The wheel is alot different, better leather, better feel, nice size, and with the paddles a real nice experience to drive in manual mode.

The 4.6 is different from the 4.8 too, right?

Yeah the 4.6 has a different wheel to the 4.8. Just about anyone that has a pre-facelift can use the existing round airbag. Only those who have a very early X with 4 spoke wheel will have to buy the round airbag also.

Sudesh, I own a very similar model as yours, and I would like to do the mod, BUT I can't figure out it's so "simple" !

Can you tell us exactly what you changed and what you modified ?
I understand we need to buy a complete new steering wheel... by the way, what's the Part N° and how much did you pay for it (without airbag) ?

Now, if you read the DIY mod here : http://forum.e46fanatics.com/showthr...threadid=63211
... you will see much more changes than what you did, particularly the SMG steering column, CD-ROM cables and so on.

Did you associate directly the up/down wires connected to the shift lever to those coming from the paddles of the wheel ? Can you explain that more clearly please ?
Can I ask you to take a picture of the wiring on the shift lever side ?

Ok let me put together a bit of a write up and simplify what I did. The CD rom way on the link you provided is ok but you have alot of messy wires and connectors that are not needed. My way is very neat and tidy and easy to do. You dont have to be an electrical expert either and there is no cutting or damage to original wiring. I'll put together something and post it up shortly.

Nice. The writeup will be greatly appreciated. I have been having a hard time with having to consider paying $250+ for a wiring harness for this mod.

i dont understand, u installed smg on a manual x5?? how does it work? and what did u do with the x5's clutch pedal and the stick? im confused lol

No my X is not manual!! You cannot get a 4.6 or 4.8 in manual.

Ok so here is what I did, its the best I can do as a write up and if I make any spelling mistakes etc I'll edit after..........

Ok here is the what I purchased from BMW to do the SMG mod

EVERYONE IS BEST TO GET THEIR OWN PRICES FROM THE DEALERS AS THEY ALL SEEM TO VARY.

1. SMG Steering wheel part number 32342282222
2. SMG Slipring Part number 61318379091
3. Qty 1 Plug part number 61138352580
4. Qty 4 Female Bushing CONTACT 0,2- 0,5MM Part Number 61130005197
5. Qty 2 Male PIN-CONTACT 0,2- 0,5MM² Part Number 61130005198

Finally the only part that I did not purchase from BMW was a length (approx 4ft so I wouldn’t leave myself short), of black insulated cables. Purchased from local electrical shop. It’s the same cable that would be used as a power lead for your home stereo, or CD player etc.

Here are the pics of how I put the wiring together.

First pics is the wire I purchased from the electrical store
http://i77.photobucket.com/albums/j7...d/DSC00641.jpg

At both ends of the wire I sheared the black insulation to reveal the 2 wire I need to work with
http://i77.photobucket.com/albums/j7...d/DSC00652.jpg

Then again at both ends you need to cut back the 2 wires to expose the wire core
http://i77.photobucket.com/albums/j7...d/DSC00653.jpg

You then start attaching 2 female bushing contacts to the exposed cores. I first attached the 2 bushing contact like so
http://i77.photobucket.com/albums/j7...d/DSC00657.jpg

Then pushed the 2 female contacts into the 2 plug which looks like this
http://i77.photobucket.com/albums/j7...d/DSC00662.jpg

At this stage thats one end of it wired up bont worry about the bare wires just yet.

What you do at the other end is you attach 1 male and 1 female contact to one exposed core then attach another male and another female contact to the other exposed core so basically from 2 wire you end up with 4! It goes a bit like this.

This is a pic with the 2 female contacts attached
http://i77.photobucket.com/albums/j7...d/DSC00654.jpg

The I added in a male to one side
http://i77.photobucket.com/albums/j7...d/DSC00660.jpg

And a male to the other
http://i77.photobucket.com/albums/j7...d/DSC00658.jpg

Then the finish at that end
http://i77.photobucket.com/albums/j7...d/DSC00663.jpg

And thats it!! Wiring loom is all finished. I made sure all the connections were tight used some solder just for extra grip and then used insulating tape so none of the exposed core was touching!! So what you end up with is, at one end of the loom you have a socket that plugs into the SMG slip ring and the other end you have 4 pins the go into the plugs at the gear shift.

Sudesh - have you tried Scotchlok wire splicers? It will make the job much tidier.

I havent done a write up on removing swapping the wheels over as I’m sure most know how that done. Remember to disconnect your battery so you don’t get the Airbag light or set it off.

Anyway for everyone wondering what you do with the 4 pins on the loom. Here you go.

When you install your NEW SMG loom at the end where the loom meets the gear shift you you will see this plug. I'm using another Pic to illustrate as I dont have one yet.
http://e46.mit.edu/Images/X5_Paddles...t/IM000237.JPG

Unplug it and, on the male plug you will see 4 wires colors Grey purple blue green. Some 1999/2000 models might have different colors but dont worry about that as the key wires are the 2 inside wires on all years.
http://i77.photobucket.com/albums/j7...teptronic1.jpg

You need to remove the 2 inside wire by sliding out the 2 male pins that are in the Steptronic plug. To do this you need to slide the black housing off, it only goes one way.
http://i77.photobucket.com/albums/j7...d/IM000243.jpg

The you get a tooth pick or something similar and push out the 2 inside pins. The 2 inside pins work like a spring release you just push down gently while slowly pulling the wires out of the steptronic plug

Once you have got the male pins out of the steptronic plug push them into the female contact of your NEW SMG loom. Then push the male pins on your NEW SMG loom back into the STEPTRONIC plug where you just removed the removed the 2 PINS.

And that’s it installed. Put everything back together and connect everything up. But dont put the trim around the gearshift together yet. Reason I’m saying this is so you can check to make sure + is up on your paddles and - is down. If it’s not just interchange the 2 wire at the point where you pushed the 2 male pins from the steptronic plug into the female contacts of your NEW SMG loom.

I cant really explain it much better than that without doing a video of it all!! Hope it helps and if anyone need any help just let me know………………

I havent! My loom is already done and wont be coming out plus it was perfectly tidy when you see it all together and soldered securely and then insulated. It just looked like one complete loom!

Thank you Sudesh, it's now clear that we have to change also the 'slipring' for a SMG one.

I come to a minimum of $800 for the necessary components on realOEM. I'm gonna ask my dealer here to see how much it cost in € !

Yeah ask your dealer as I got some discount when I purchased my parts.

Hi Sudesh,
Glad to see the wiring loom is soldered up together. On no account would I use Scotchloc connectors cos :
1. quite often they ''miss'' the wire when the little cutter goes through.
2. if only a couple of strands are touched by the cutter you have a very
tenuous electrical connection.
3. There is a real chance of weakening the wire you cut into.

Regards,
Lez Taylor

Thanks lez!! I dont like the connectors either as it would make the loom alot more bulky. With the way I did it, once you finish adding the solder and insulate it nice and tightly the loom just look like one piece and there are no unsightly bulges plus its much easier to feed through the dash to the steering colum.

man I really want to do this to my 4.8is. Too bad the SMG like paddles can't be retrofitted to the 4.8is wheel. I DO NOT like SSG at all. Looks like I'll have to wait around until someone sells theirs or pay out the nose for a new wheel AND airbag assbly - read expensive! Awesome thread - what an awesome mod.

i think you would like the M wheel they use now...like on the Ms...with the illuminated paddle shifters :thumbup:

Why don't you like SSG? I have SSG paddles on mine and love 'em!

oh man, now that would just be over the top! I need a pic.

I don't like the push pull SSG buttons, I like the the SMG paddles. Push pull doesn't make sense to me, but grabbing the paddles and clicking off shifts does.

What I don't like about SMG is that when you're turning the wheel, you need to look at the paddles to shift to make sure you're shifting the right way. With SSG, you can grab or push either one without looking.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=b5U7b7Cpz...elated&search=

:thumbup:

OK I'm bumping this link up to the top for the New Comers, and others that have been talking about the doing the SMG mod.

At last I did the SMG mod, thanks to Sudesh for his explanations... and I also did a Sudesh imitation by removing the rear wiper.

As everyone knows the SMG wheel, the acompaniing pic will be the other mod after a long detail of the whole car.
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1431/...e11b101f6b.jpg

Well done!! Glad I could help and Nice X!!

The M steering wheel w/ paddles is one of the BEST MODS I've ever done to my X!

i did this modd a couple of mo's ago and would like to thank sudesh for all his help and very easy instructions !! this is the best addition to my x !!

Thank you for the mention!! and enjoy your new mod! :thumbup: