BMW 1 Series Coupe Forum / 1 Series Convertible Forum (1M / tii / 135i / 128i / Coupe / Cabrio / Hatchback) (BMW E82 E88 128i 130i 135i)
 





 

Post Reply
 
Thread Tools Search this Thread
      05-31-2017, 11:11 AM   #45
LeMansBeauty
Private
3
Rep
63
Posts

Drives: 2012 135i Lemans Blue M Sport
Join Date: Jan 2016
Location: Vancouver

iTrader: (0)

I'm in as well. $100 for new paddles is a steal. Interested to see the titanium or black though.
Appreciate 0
      05-31-2017, 04:12 PM   #46
StephGOD
KYHOMPB
StephGOD's Avatar
United_States
219
Rep
461
Posts

Drives: Only BMW's Ja
Join Date: Aug 2014
Location: Bay Area

iTrader: (6)

Garage List
2020 M2C  [0.00]
2017 M3 Comp  [0.00]
2011 135i  [0.00]
Quote:
Originally Posted by WhatsADSM View Post
For all intents and purposes I would say the design is final. I think this is the 10th revision or so. I played with various parameters to get them to fit *just* so. If you take a look at your steering wheel you will find that there actually isn't a ton of room between the wheel and the stalks (namely the lane change stalk and the the wiper stalk). You need to balance the ability to easily get to the paddle without being so close that the back of your fingers are always on it, and being so far away that you can't easily get to the stalks.

As for durability they are FAR stronger than the stock piece. They are a few times thicker than the stock part (my bracket on the left, stock on the right):

For fun I actually put one end of the bracket on the ground and the other on a 1" piece of wood and stood on it. Didn't budge. So I am confident in saying if you do something crazy with the paddles you won't break my part but likely one of the other stock plastic brackets which hold it to the wheel. BTW it appears the weakest link in the whole assembly would actually be to PUSH against the paddle (opposite of what you should be doing) as hard as you can. That will stress the two little tabs on the one of the stock plastic parts that are fairly small. So I don't ever recommend trying that, aftermarket paddles or stock.

The only thing left really is to dial in the final material which will almost certainly be polycarbonate.

If someone wants to test drive them and give me their opinion I'm certainly cool with that. Always nice to have a second opinion, and my car is down at the moment for a bunch of other track prep work anyways.

First of all I think what you did here is totally awesome!! Great overall ingenuity and things like this are what make Bimmerpost the best car forum on the interwebz

With all that being said I do have a couple concerns on the design however and just wanted to point them out before you start mass producing these.

1. The little plastic part circled below is the custom portion of the plastic base that is used to screw into the E9X paddles correct? If so, do you believe this piece is strong & robust enough to hold up to thousands of shifts overtime? Reason I believe this part might be the weak link of the design is because if you look at how the F8X paddles attach to the base you can see that there's a flat metal piece that extends from the paddle and this piece slides into the plastic base and screws in about 3/4" of the way down effectively strengthening the thin plastic OEM base.

2. The angle at which the E9X paddles mount to the custom plastic base seems much greater in comparison to the stock OEM LCI paddles. How exactly did you calculate this angle? Just from the few photos you've post it looks like if you mounted everything up including the OEM plastic boot adapter piece that attaches over the electronics then the face of the E9X paddles wouldn't be parallel to the steering wheel. Would you be able to take a sideview photo of the paddles mounted up to the steering wheel?

3. This is just a thought but I believe if people have upgraded to an actual E9X M3 steering wheel the whole assembly might not physically mount up correctly. The reason I bring this up is because when I did my retrofit the E9X paddle assembly didn't mount seamlessly to the back of my OEM M-Sport steering wheel (i.e. there's a bit of a gap). This makes me think that the OEM plastic adapter boot piece would not work with an actual E9X M3 steering wheel. Could be totally wrong here though lol. Does anyone have any experience with this?
Attached Images
   
Appreciate 0
      05-31-2017, 05:30 PM   #47
WhatsADSM
Lieutenant
228
Rep
537
Posts

Drives: 2011 135i
Join Date: Sep 2013
Location: Milwaukee

iTrader: (2)

Quote:
Originally Posted by StephGOD View Post
First of all I think what you did here is totally awesome!! Great overall ingenuity and things like this are what make Bimmerpost the best car forum on the interwebz

With all that being said I do have a couple concerns on the design however and just wanted to point them out before you start mass producing these.

1. The little plastic part circled below is the custom portion of the plastic base that is used to screw into the E9X paddles correct? If so, do you believe this piece is strong & robust enough to hold up to thousands of shifts overtime? Reason I believe this part might be the weak link of the design is because if you look at how the F8X paddles attach to the base you can see that there's a flat metal piece that extends from the paddle and this piece slides into the plastic base and screws in about 3/4" of the way down effectively strengthening the thin plastic OEM base.
The weakest link (of the adapter plate) is at the bottom of the paddle where it begins to connect to the adapter for the new paddle. Close to what you have circled. I scaled the part down dramatically to find the failure point. however that only considers my paddle itself. There are other plastic components in the paddle shift assembly including a pin which is dramatically smaller as well as a PCB that you would be stressing when pulling on the paddle. If PUSHING against the paddle you are stressing two small tabs in the stock housing. All of these stock parts are MUCH MUCH smaller than the cross sectional area of the failure point on my adapter. They are also likely ABS or PC-ABS versus PC.

As I stated above I have literally stepped on a bracket with one side of it supported by a piece of wood and it didn't budge. I will freely admit I am not a heavy dude, but I assure you if I supported the stock pin or PCB in and stepped on a paddle I would break something.

As for longevity. That is an interesting question. But two things:
1) The stock paddle is actually an aluminum paddle impregnated with a plastic mounting surface.
2) If I look up papers on longevity of polycarbonate (honestly even ANY plastic I suspect) we aren't even in the picture of fatigue. I am including a study done on mechanical and thermal fatigue of PC done by those much smarter than myself (I am an engineer but not a mechanical or chemical engineer). Here is an excerpt:
"The Lexan141R material was injection moulded into tensile bars according to ASTM-D638, having a gauge length of 100 mm and crosssectional area of 3x10 mm2"

That cross sectional area is smaller than the failure point we are talking about here. Using that they collected long term failure data with a certain amount of stress which results in this graph:


Mine would follow the non-annealed line (lower of the two lines).
What does this say? Well it says the failure is not measureable below lets say 40MPa or so. The stress we put on the paddle is a few orders of magnitude smaller than 40 Mpa (~5800 psi).

Even leaving in some room for margin/error this certainly agrees with what I am seeing with physically standing on the part. Most importantly it shows that if you stay within reasonable limits of the part it simply doesn't fail due to applied stress.

https://pure.tue.nl/ws/files/1927251...3620967040.pdf

Quote:
Originally Posted by StephGOD View Post
2. The angle at which the E9X paddles mount to the custom plastic base seems much greater in comparison to the stock OEM LCI paddles. How exactly did you calculate this angle? Just from the few photos you've post it looks like if you mounted everything up including the OEM plastic boot adapter piece that attaches over the electronics then the face of the E9X paddles wouldn't be parallel to the steering wheel. Would you be able to take a sideview photo of the paddles mounted up to the steering wheel?
You are correct I did measure the stock F8x M3 paddle angle. That is what I started with. After quite a few iterations of the design I ended with an angle slightly more than the stock paddle... But only by a few degrees. You need this additional angle otherwise the paddle is too close to the wheel and will nearly rest on the back of your fingers when you place them on the wheel. Again we are talking about a few degrees here, just enough to offset it a few mm out at edge of the paddle.

Quote:
Originally Posted by StephGOD View Post
3. This is just a thought but I believe if people have upgraded to an actual E9X M3 steering wheel the whole assembly might not physically mount up correctly. The reason I bring this up is because when I did my retrofit the E9X paddle assembly didn't mount seamlessly to the back of my OEM M-Sport steering wheel (i.e. there's a bit of a gap). This makes me think that the OEM plastic adapter boot piece would not work with an actual E9X M3 steering wheel. Could be totally wrong here though lol. Does anyone have any experience with this?
Now this is probably the best question yet... All I know is the physical mounting surface (against the wheel) is the same between the two steering wheels. I am not sure where that physical mounting plate exists in coordinate space relative to the M-Sport wheel.

Interestingly enough I actually will be replacing my steering wheel with an E9x steering wheel since mine is a little chewed up and I found an M3 replacement for a reasonable cost. So this is something I could actually test out... and probably should considering I will be using these .

It may simply fit right up. If its a small tweak then I could offer two different types. If they are dramatically different then I agree it is possible that the adapter wouldn't work at all.
Attached Images
 

Last edited by WhatsADSM; 05-31-2017 at 05:46 PM..
Appreciate 2
      05-31-2017, 05:42 PM   #48
WhatsADSM
Lieutenant
228
Rep
537
Posts

Drives: 2011 135i
Join Date: Sep 2013
Location: Milwaukee

iTrader: (2)

Also found a picture (courtesy of ESS) of the internals of the E9x M3 paddle (which I have also taken apart before). You can see the size of the plastic parts here that BMW deems acceptable for lifetime stress. There is a large arm there with a cross sectional area considerably smaller than the cross sectional area of what I am using here.


Attached Images
 

Last edited by WhatsADSM; 05-31-2017 at 05:48 PM..
Appreciate 0
      05-31-2017, 07:48 PM   #49
WhatsADSM
Lieutenant
228
Rep
537
Posts

Drives: 2011 135i
Join Date: Sep 2013
Location: Milwaukee

iTrader: (2)

Here are the requested side view pictures. Also shown are my hands holding the wheel and the stalks fully depressed.




facebook image uploader
Appreciate 1
StephGOD218.50
      06-16-2017, 02:17 AM   #50
Orangee94
Second Lieutenant
Orangee94's Avatar
40
Rep
224
Posts

Drives: 135i n55 DCT 2013
Join Date: Dec 2012
Location: australia, sydney

iTrader: (0)

Quote:
Originally Posted by WhatsADSM View Post
Here are the requested side view pictures. Also shown are my hands holding the wheel and the stalks fully depressed.
looks good !!
__________________
e84 x1 2012 Sdrive2.0d sold was a fun car in stick
Appreciate 0
      03-20-2018, 03:25 PM   #51
519.E82
Lieutenant
519.E82's Avatar
Canada
243
Rep
439
Posts

Drives: BMW 128i Sport (Non M)
Join Date: Apr 2016
Location: Ontario, Canada

iTrader: (0)

Sorry if this is a dumb question, but does anyone know if this works on the older steptronic paddles?
__________________
2008 SGM 128i - 3 Stage IM - 130i Tune - Dinan Camber Plates - BMW PE - Injen Intake - 1M Mirrors - LCI Blacklines - M4 Spoiler - Blacked 263's - Aero Bumper - Aero Side Skirts - OMGSplitter - AFE Intake Scoops
Appreciate 0
      03-20-2018, 03:31 PM   #52
BimmerAg
Lieutenant
BimmerAg's Avatar
United_States
425
Rep
545
Posts

Drives: 2011 135i
Join Date: May 2017
Location: San Antonio, TX

iTrader: (0)

Quote:
Originally Posted by 519.E82 View Post
Sorry if this is a dumb question, but does anyone know if this works on the older steptronic paddles?
These guys sell some that work with steptronic (remove the spaces from the URL)
https://www.nelson racing wheel.com/paddle-shifters
__________________
2011 BMW 135i ///M-Sport, DCT
Bilstein B12 kit, Dinan camber plates, M3 front control arms, Whiteline poly RSFB, MHD Stage 1, cp-e Charge Pipe, H&R Front sway bar, BMW performance diffuser
Appreciate 1
519.E82243.00
      04-27-2018, 12:18 AM   #53
shepty
New Member
0
Rep
7
Posts

Drives: BMW 135i 2008
Join Date: Apr 2018
Location: Whistler

iTrader: (0)

Hello. Just reading through the thread, but wanted to double check. So will these paddles fit an 2008 135i , without any mods? Thank you !
Appreciate 0
      04-27-2018, 05:31 AM   #54
Yeineken
Colonel
Yeineken's Avatar
United_States
1298
Rep
2,090
Posts

Drives: '11 135i M Sport
Join Date: Dec 2013
Location: Delmarva Peninsula

iTrader: (3)

Garage List
'11 135i  [8.20]
'16 Ford Hatchback  [0.00]
'15 X5  [10.00]
Quote:
Originally Posted by shepty View Post
Hello. Just reading through the thread, but wanted to double check. So will these paddles fit an 2008 135i , without any mods? Thank you !
I don't think so. These will fit DCT transmission no problem.
__________________
Appreciate 0
      07-02-2018, 06:11 PM   #55
wrxified
Private
14
Rep
77
Posts

Drives: 2006 BMW M5
Join Date: Aug 2014
Location: United States

iTrader: (0)

So to bring this back again. I have a 2011 135i with DCT. Would I would need the e9x m style or f20 paddles? And we’d need to fabricate a bracket like yours. I’d like to buy these if available.

Sorry I’m reading the testing part you did and can’t determine which paddles you ended up with in the end. How do we get this 3D printed part.
Appreciate 0
      07-03-2018, 12:36 PM   #56
acoustix
Lieutenant
acoustix's Avatar
Canada
268
Rep
437
Posts

Drives: 135i/1M Conversion, MK7 GTI
Join Date: Mar 2015
Location: Niagara/Markham

iTrader: (2)

Quote:
Originally Posted by wrxified View Post
So to bring this back again. I have a 2011 135i with DCT. Would I would need the e9x m style or f20 paddles? And we'd need to fabricate a bracket like yours. I'd like to buy these if available.

Sorry I'm reading the testing part you did and can't determine which paddles you ended up with in the end. How do we get this 3D printed part.
You can use f series paddles. The bases are the same, however you need to change the circuit board out from your old duct paddles. Here is a picture
Attached Images
   
__________________
Appreciate 0
      07-03-2018, 02:08 PM   #57
zx10guy
Brigadier General
5139
Rep
3,235
Posts

Drives: 2013 135i
Join Date: Feb 2014
Location: DC

iTrader: (0)

Or follow the suggestion to go with the Nelson Racing Wheel paddle kit like I did:

https://www.1addicts.com/forums/show...n+racing+wheel
__________________
Quote:
Originally Posted by Lups View Post
We might not be in an agreement on Trump, but I'll be the first penis chaser here to say I'll rather take it up in the ass than to argue with you on this.
Appreciate 1
BAN_M2C4154.50
      07-03-2018, 07:09 PM   #58
BAN_M2C
Brigadier General
BAN_M2C's Avatar
4155
Rep
3,057
Posts

Drives: 991.2 Porsche GT3, BMW E46 M3
Join Date: Jul 2016
Location: Sunshine State

iTrader: (5)

Garage List
1987 BMW 325is  [10.00]
2004 BMW X3  [6.50]
2018 Porsche 911 GT3  [10.00]
1974 BMW 2002tii  [10.00]
2004 BMW M3  [10.00]
Quote:
Originally Posted by zx10guy View Post
Or follow the suggestion to go with the Nelson Racing Wheel paddle kit like I did:

https://www.1addicts.com/forums/show...n+racing+wheel
+1 on the adapters from NRW.. perfect fit
Attached Images
 
__________________
Follow me on IG
Garage: 2018 991.2 GT3|2013 135i|2004 M3|2004 X3|1987 325is|1987 325i|1974 2002tii
Appreciate 1
zx10guy5139.00
      07-04-2018, 07:17 PM   #59
wrxified
Private
14
Rep
77
Posts

Drives: 2006 BMW M5
Join Date: Aug 2014
Location: United States

iTrader: (0)

Quote:
Originally Posted by BAN_M2 View Post
+1 on the adapters from NRW.. perfect fit
Nice BAN_M2!!!

Which paddle is that?
Appreciate 0
      07-04-2018, 07:46 PM   #60
BAN_M2C
Brigadier General
BAN_M2C's Avatar
4155
Rep
3,057
Posts

Drives: 991.2 Porsche GT3, BMW E46 M3
Join Date: Jul 2016
Location: Sunshine State

iTrader: (5)

Garage List
1987 BMW 325is  [10.00]
2004 BMW X3  [6.50]
2018 Porsche 911 GT3  [10.00]
1974 BMW 2002tii  [10.00]
2004 BMW M3  [10.00]
Quote:
Originally Posted by wrxified View Post
Quote:
Originally Posted by BAN_M2 View Post
+1 on the adapters from NRW.. perfect fit
Nice BAN_M2!!!

Which paddle is that?
Thanks, they are from European Auto Source, pinged then thru the M3 forums since they are from an E92.
__________________
Follow me on IG
Garage: 2018 991.2 GT3|2013 135i|2004 M3|2004 X3|1987 325is|1987 325i|1974 2002tii
Appreciate 0
      11-11-2019, 02:02 PM   #61
6ixSpd
Save the manuals!
6ixSpd's Avatar
5997
Rep
6,728
Posts

Drives: '16 M3, '23 718 Spyder
Join Date: Feb 2016
Location: 416

iTrader: (4)

Nice write up! Curious though, are the F8X ones illuminated or is that just the photo?
__________________
'16 M3 | '23 718 Spyder


Past: E92 M3, F87 M2, E39 M5, etc
Appreciate 0
      06-03-2020, 02:19 AM   #62
YakuzaWAFD
New Member
8
Rep
6
Posts

Drives: BMW 135i, Alfa Romeo GT
Join Date: Aug 2019
Location: Brisbane

iTrader: (0)

Thanks to this thread I went ahead and bought some cheap China paddles for F series.

https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Aluminum...72.m2749.l2649

They worked perfectly.

Only a 45 minute job to replace my OEM peeling plastic paddles.
Attached Images
    

Last edited by YakuzaWAFD; 06-03-2020 at 04:40 AM..
Appreciate 3
houtan701.00
Yeineken1297.50
      06-03-2020, 11:45 AM   #63
houtan
Colonel
houtan's Avatar
701
Rep
2,430
Posts

Drives: 2011 135i
Join Date: Jun 2013
Location: socal

iTrader: (17)

Garage List
2011 135i  [9.80]
How is it driving with the larger paddles. Do they get in the way or is it more convenient? Do they feel solid?
Appreciate 0
      06-04-2020, 12:49 AM   #64
YakuzaWAFD
New Member
8
Rep
6
Posts

Drives: BMW 135i, Alfa Romeo GT
Join Date: Aug 2019
Location: Brisbane

iTrader: (0)

Quote:
Originally Posted by houtan View Post
How is it driving with the larger paddles. Do they get in the way or is it more convenient? Do they feel solid?
They feel really nice.

They're solid unless you try to shift them at the very top as they can flex.

I have found that my fingers naturally rest on them so they don't feel in the way.

The aluminium is a much nicer feel than the plastic.
Appreciate 1
houtan701.00
      09-07-2021, 09:49 AM   #65
BadWardog
Registered
2
Rep
1
Posts

Drives: BMW 135i N55
Join Date: Sep 2017
Location: Brazil

iTrader: (0)

Exclamation

Hello guys!

Resurrecting this post from 4 years ago

I recently found and bought on internet, these NRW (Nelson Racing Wheels) plug and play V2 Paddle Kits made especially for the BMW 135i e82 coupe LCI DCT N55 models.

I'm waiting for the kit to arrive. It should take a few weeks yet.

I will show the result here on this forum and also there on the instagram of my car project:

@135i.nsane


Appreciate 1
houtan701.00
      09-07-2021, 11:27 AM   #66
houtan
Colonel
houtan's Avatar
701
Rep
2,430
Posts

Drives: 2011 135i
Join Date: Jun 2013
Location: socal

iTrader: (17)

Garage List
2011 135i  [9.80]
Looking forward to the update!
Appreciate 0
Post Reply

Bookmarks

Thread Tools Search this Thread
Search this Thread:

Advanced Search

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off



All times are GMT -5. The time now is 01:56 PM.




1addicts
Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.11
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions Inc.
1Addicts.com, BIMMERPOST.com, E90Post.com, F30Post.com, M3Post.com, ZPost.com, 5Post.com, 6Post.com, 7Post.com, XBimmers.com logo and trademark are properties of BIMMERPOST