Magnetic Paddle Shifter Mod

[rwense]

Hi everyone, a while back I watched this video:



Where a guy retrofitted a set if Ascher Racing magnetic paddle shifters to his f80 m4. After owning my supra for a bit I came across the video again and did some digging. I borrowed a friend's OEM wheel to test fit the 3d printed backing plate that the video author posted in another BMW forum and sure enough...IT FITS. Just from watching the video the solid "clack" sounds amazing and it would definitely be something unique!

I'll continue updating this thread as I work on it. I need to order the paddles, use the author's schematics to order a few PCBs, and obviously put it all together.

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[Deighvid]

Epic!

 

[krumpir]

I had an Ascher Racing F28 V2 sim wheel on my sim rig, those paddles literally are the most sturdy thing I've ever felt in my life. Def no better feeling paddles out there. Only downside is the noise of them

 

[rwense]

I had an Ascher Racing F28 V2 sim wheel on my sim rig, those paddles literally are the most sturdy thing I've ever felt in my life. Def no better feeling paddles out there. Only downside is the noise of them

Ahh that's good to hear! Looking around on YouTube and such, they definitely sound sturdy and I've been hearing good things.

And I like the noise, I'm one of those mechanical keyboard guys...ya know the really loud click/clack ones

 

[mikereyesboss]

This is really cool! I'd love to buy a pair when you get it all figured out!

 

[rwense]

Just a quick update, the paddles should be here tomorrow, and I believe the PCBs should get here on Friday or early next week. I reached out to the author of the video and haven't heard back so I had to do a but of reverse engineering from the video/schematic he posted. It's a fairly simple circuit but it's my first time designing a PCB so here's hoping!

 

[Callabrator]

I LOVE that you're attempting this! ECO-LAP is one of my favorite YT channels, and I saw this one of his a while back. The paddle shifter action on our cars is the absolute worst of any sports car I've owned in the 10 years I've been driving non-manuals (the Alfa Giulia Quad had the best in case you were wondering).

Can't wait to see how this works out for you rwense!

 

[STV3]

I LOVE that you're attempting this! ECO-LAP is one of my favorite YT channels, and I saw this one of his a while back. The paddle shifter action on our cars is the absolute worst of any sports car I've owned in the 10 years I've been driving non-manuals (the Alfa Giulia Quad had the best in case you were wondering).

Can't wait to see how this works out for you rwense!

I literally came from a Giulia TI Sport to the Supra. The steering wheel and paddles felt like such a massive down grade when I first drove the Supra. I've remedied this issue with a custom wheel from AZA and a set of BMW M Paddles. But even then it still doesn't feel quite as good as the Alfa did...

 

[rwense]

I LOVE that you're attempting this! ECO-LAP is one of my favorite YT channels, and I saw this one of his a while back. The paddle shifter action on our cars is the absolute worst of any sports car I've owned in the 10 years I've been driving non-manuals (the Alfa Giulia Quad had the best in case you were wondering).

Can't wait to see how this works out for you rwense!

Thanks so much! I love his channel too. Simple, short, and fairly decent explanation even without a voice over or anything like that. I'm interested to see how his CF charge pipes turn out!

This is my first car with paddles and I have to agree the action leaves a bit to be desired. Like I said previously I love mechanical keyboards so having more of a tactile feedback would be great. I'm glad the video came back up on my feed!

That's interesting on the alfa, I've seen the paddles in person and they look awesome.

 

[rwense]

I literally came from a Giulia TI Sport to the Supra. The steering wheel and paddles felt like such a massive down grade when I first drove the Supra. I've remedied this issue with a custom wheel from AZA and a set of BMW M Paddles. But even then it still doesn't feel quite as good as the Alfa did...

Well, as long as everything goes smoothly I'd happily sell a kit for anyone to install. However I want Eco-lap's permission and I want to give him some %, it's only fair. Hopefully he sees this

You can only order the PCBs in batches so I should have 9 others to use if this all goes well!

 

[suicidaleggroll]

Just a quick update, the paddles should be here tomorrow, and I believe the PCBs should get here on Friday or early next week. I reached out to the author of the video and haven't heard back so I had to do a but of reverse engineering from the video/schematic he posted. It's a fairly simple circuit but it's my first time designing a PCB so here's hoping!

I’m an EE, so let me know if you have any questions or want/need any help with a respin. I see some big differences between his PCB and yours, but as long as yours fits it shouldn’t really matter.

 

[rwense]

I’m an EE, so let me know if you have any questions or want/need any help with a respin. I see some big differences between his PCB and yours, but as long as yours fits it shouldn’t really matter.

Ah perfect, I'll definitely let you know! Thanks

 

[Callabrator]

What's the danger in getting one of the resistor specs wrong on the PCBs? Not saying that ECO-LAP hasn't done the math right, but I'm just curious. Shifting obv wouldn't work, but any chance of more destructive damage to other systems?

 

[rwense]

What's the danger in getting one the resistor specs wrong on the PCBs? Not saying that ECO-LAP hasn't done the math right, but I'm just curious. Shifting obv wouldn't work, but any chance of more destructive damage to other systems?

To be honest, I'm not quite sure. Maybe suicidaleggroll can comment. That being said, I can't imagine it would cause major damage to other systems down stream.

 

[suicidaleggroll]

What's the danger in getting one the resistor specs wrong on the PCBs? Not saying that ECO-LAP hasn't done the math right, but I'm just curious. Shifting obv wouldn't work, but any chance of more destructive damage to other systems?

They look to be wired as a voltage divider, wrong values will divide by the wrong ratio (or not at all). Damage is certainly possible if it ends up forcing too high of a voltage into to the receiving circuit. I would hope that BMW would protect against damaging voltages coming in on any external harness, but you never know.

I’d need a bit more context to know what it’s really doing though. It is odd that the + and - use different values.

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