Gear Knob!
 

Decided to change my gear knob today to the SMG one found on the e46 M3. I already had the gear knob from a previous mod I done on my e39 so thought I would have a go at fitting it to the X5. Plus with having the SMG paddle shift I thought the the gear knob would compliment the Steering Wheel. It was a pretty straight forward mod, but what I have noticed is. On the ORIGINAL X5 gear knob you have the black push button which you pull to select gear....well so I thought!!! Actually the black button does nothing at all! It used to be a safety feature on the early e39's e38 etc but on the newer models it does nothing as the safety lock feature is controlled by the break pedal. Which is much better as it means various Gear Knobs can be used on the Auto X5!

Sounds very interesting but...:worthless: !

You dont need pictures to work out the safety feature! You cant photograph it to begin with.

:confused: :confused: :confused: Didn't you say you installed a different gear knob? I'd like to see pics of that! :thumbup: ;)

Oh right! Though you were talking about the other items. Yeah no problem, Ill get some photos posted up!!

Whenever you get a chance... - thanks Sudesh!

I always thought that gear button did something and i always felt cool havin it!!:mad: haha

It used to be a safety system on early cars as they did not have break pedal gear release. I also though it did something on the X5 but on testing a few things first before I remeoved it, I discovered it didnt do anthing! BMW most likely kept it in production to save costs as this type of gear knob has been in production since around 1995!

HERE YOU GO!! I'm not finished with this mod yet as I may change to the illuminated M5/M6 Gear Knob. But I'm also working on modifing the GEAR KNOB SHAFT as I want it to be shorter. But here is some pics of the SMG M3 gear knob and SMG steering wheel with paddle shift, all working correctly too!!!

http://i77.photobucket.com/albums/j7...5/DSC00535.jpg
http://i77.photobucket.com/albums/j7...5/DSC00534.jpg
http://i77.photobucket.com/albums/j7...5/DSC00539.jpg
http://i77.photobucket.com/albums/j7...5/DSC00538.jpg

That looks pretty cool - thanks for the pics! I like your idea of making the shaft shorter too. I suppose the only thing that would bother me is the pattern on the shift knob not matching, i.e. reverse isn't left & up on an X5. Are you planning on somehow addressing that?