itiswhatitis

OK, keep in mind that this is my first mod and I reside on the tardish side of competence when it comes to car mods (I was born on the back of a short yellow bus) but, the new wheel is on, as are the new paddle shifters, and I'm very shifty these days (did I mention my sense of humour was tardish as well). Needless to say, it probably took 20x as long to do this as should have (approx three hours), but I enjoyed the process and am quite pleased. I took lots of pics in the interest of helping out others considering this mod in future.

I bought the steering wheel and airbag on ebay and ordered the shift kit wiring harness and shifters from aftermarketbulbshop.com.

I used a 650 paddle shift sport steering wheel to replace a non sport post 09/05 2006 550i stock steering wheel. Unfortunately, the leather paddles that originally came with the 650 wheel were not shifter kit compatible (not exactly sure why but aftermarketbulbshop tried to make it work and could not) so I had to replace them with new ones, and opted for the illuminated type.

Now, for some reason the shifters and right hand MFL buttons are not illuminating and aftermarketbulbshop is trying to figure out why. Again, all buttons and paddles function as they should but the paddles and right side buttons do not light up. That said, the support I am receiving from aftermarketbulbshop.com is first class - the man cares about his customers.

BTW, I should also add that I forgot to disconnect the battery before removing the airbag (DOH!) and had to pay the stealer $80 to remove the airbag warning light.

Here are some addendums to be added to exisitng paddle shift kit install intructions that may add clarity. These are just my suggestions so do with them what you will.

1) STEP 9 - There are 4 (four) bolts on the coil spring.

2) STEPS 10 through 13 - There are 5 (five) screws to be removed from the lower plastic trim in the footrest area, three along the front just under the steering wheel, one just above the gas pedal to the right, and the last one is hiding under the left hand side of the long thin carpet strip that runs along the driver side of the console of the footrest area, by the drivers' seat, just under the centre console. This thin carpet strip needs to be removed for two reasons; one, to access the fifth screw for the plastic footrest trim and two, to improve the ease at which one can run the extension wire to the shifter. The carpet strip is held in by 3 (three) metal clips and it can be popped off in one piece with a screwdriver. The wiring harness extension cable can then be fed into the shifter area by gently fishing it through the third carpet strip clip hole located to the far right (closest to the drivers' seat), by FIRST putting a flat head screw driver in the hole towards the top and gently pressing down the black wiring cord that runs inside the console to get it out of the way. Then slide the harness extension wiring over top of the black console wiring and into the shifter area.

3) STEP 14 - Please also make note that the shifter plate can be removed by first tugging gently on the leather boot of the shifter, and then one gently tugs up the plastic plate. Also, there is 1 (one) BLUE electrical connector held in by a small black plastic clip on the right side of the shifter base. It is MUCH easier to access this BLUE connector if one disconnects the white electrical connector located above it on the right side of the base plate, and then moves the base plate over to the left. The adapter can be connected followed by the harness extension wiring. Reconnect white connector when done. Then, reinstall the carpet strip by aligning the metal clips just inside the holes and press on each clip simultaneously while sliding the carpet strip 1.5 cm from to the left. The metal clips will slide back into place and lock the carpet strip back in.

4) STEP 15 - The supplied wiring harness connects to the LEFT side of the coil spring.

5) STEP 16 - Please make it clear that BOTH wiring harnesses are being used and are to be connected to one another. Make clear note that the SUPPLIED wiring harness connects to the EXISTING wiring harness via black connector for top right MFL function on the old wiring harness, and that the purple paddle shift connectors on the old wiring harness are NOT being used and can be tucked gently into the gaps under the top plastic steering wheel cover on either side.

TEAM M

For someone that resides on the tardish side of competence good job +1 my fellow Canadian.

nwilliams

How much did this mod cost you in total?

530inOK

Does the paddle illumination power come from an existing connector? Strange that some buttons illuminate.
Now that you know to disconnect the battery it'll be difficult to troubleshoot with a voltmeter.
Stick with it...you'll get it sorted out.
Good job on the swap!

itiswhatitis

Thanks.

itiswhatitis

Somewhere aorund $2,050 CDN.

Steering wheel approx: $650
Airbag approx: $500
Shift Kit wiring approx: $400
Paddles approx: $500

Not cheap, but far less than what the dealer would have charged. I thought it would be only $1,500 but after buying the wheel, airbag, and wiring found out I needed different paddles . Kind of like a house renno...always over budget.

itiswhatitis

I'm not certain, but I would think so as there's no stand alone power wire. The side that does light up is drawing power from the same type and size connector as the side that is not illuminating...waiting on aftermarketbulbshop to find a solution as they supplied the wiring harness adapter for that one side and both paddles.

Yeah, it's tricky but I doubt it's impossible to figure out, and thanks for the compliment.

530inOK

Being LEDs a simple wire reversal would prevent them from working. If it's a flex-circuit that interconnects everything then LEDs installed backwards, although unlikely, would do the same.
More than likely a cut or broken circuit trace.

Glad you have good customer support! There will be light, no pun intended, at the end of the tunnel.

lima

Great Job!!! I always wanted to do this. But I think 2 G's are hard to come by these days.

v_therussian

Awesome DIY

RES-PECT!