DIY paddle shifter install
 

Completed my paddle install yesterday, so I'll do a writeup on that . . . Its not in great detail, but you'll get the picture . . .

My car is an 220CDI, facelift with the tip-tronic 5-speed automatic. This mod should work on every gearbox with the +/- shifter in D. I basically took those switches, and moved them to the steering wheel.

My first plan was to use the existing wire for the horn to connect the paddles to the gearbox. I could the modulate the signals, and send them throught a single wire. I even made the electronics for that, and all test went fine:

http://www.deviantpics.com/images/IxZ1m.jpg

But the main problem was that i couldn't get the schematic for the steering wheel, and i didn't want to fiddle with it without any info about it cause its all connected to the canbus, and i was scared that i would **** something up.

So that idea had to go. Idea of pulling new wires didn't work too, couldn't come up with an solution for that. Then i thought about a remote way. What if i put an transmitter for the buttons in the steering wheel, and a receiver for the gearbox, that should work. So i went with that. Its not the most brilliant idea, it has its flaws, but the main thing is that it works . . . :P

Transmitter on the left, receiver on the right:
http://www.deviantpics.com/images/QykTa.jpg

The steering wheel

First i mounted the paddles to the steering wheel. Bought these paddles :

http://www.deviantpics.com/images/gMmQ6.jpg

One of them was "damaged", but no big problem:

http://www.deviantpics.com/images/9yIeP.jpg

Fitted them on the steering wheel:

http://www.deviantpics.com/images/IKFME.jpg

http://www.deviantpics.com/images/mw1BL.jpg

http://www.deviantpics.com/images/1MFHZ.jpg

Made a wire harness for the paddles:

http://www.deviantpics.com/images/0n6oK.jpg

And installed it in the steering wheel:

http://www.deviantpics.com/images/RDrTb.jpg

Thats about it for the steering wheel. Each of the paddles has its own channel, you need a 2-channel remote.

The shifter module

The next bit is a bit more complicated. You need to disassemble the shifter module to get to the electronic board of the gearbox. But first you have to disassemble the center console and remove the shifter module.

http://www.deviantpics.com/images/gM0Kl.jpg

Then you disassemble the module :

http://www.deviantpics.com/images/fGDl6.jpg

http://www.deviantpics.com/images/hO7La.jpg

http://www.deviantpics.com/images/Gh7qv.jpg

You need to get to this board:

http://www.deviantpics.com/images/J8C6A.jpg

http://www.deviantpics.com/images/uMgTf.jpg

The +/- buttons in the shifter make contacts on these gold parts:

http://www.deviantpics.com/images/MAPR.jpg

Its a sliding type of button. There i soldered the wires and fed them thorough the shifter module:

http://www.deviantpics.com/images/s5myE.jpg

http://www.deviantpics.com/images/DZbmr.jpg

Then you put everything back together.

http://www.deviantpics.com/images/HYG3Q.jpg

And here its connected to the receiver:

http://www.deviantpics.com/images/ufqXR.jpg

Green, yellow and the white wire are soldered to the board, and connected to the relays on the receiver.

And thats about it, if done correctly, it should work . . . Here's a little vid that shows that :

LINK to video

I've missed some steps in explaining the whole thing, i know, but if you have any questions fell free to ask. I'm more than happy to guide you through the process if you're going to do it for yourself . . . This is kinda a general workflow and the idea, maybe you'll like it, maybe not :P

Thank you for posting this! This is wonderful and thank you for sharing your knowledge. Dont go racing around town now ;) Now does this only work on post face lift and pre face lift 210's? or just the post face lift? This would be a very cool project to attempt.

Np.

This should work on all cars with an automatic gearbox and with + and - on the shifter module itself. I just moved those contacts to the steering wheel. So this works on a wide variety of models, not just w210 . . .

On pre-facelift, if you dont have the buttons on the steering wheel, you could use the horn wire to pass the signal from the paddles.

That looks to me to be the most difficult part, figuring out how to pass the signal from the steering wheel to the gearbox.

Great job!!!

Wow, impressive!

Thanks guys.

Here's an video update i did a while back. My English aint that great, i do stutter a bit and that wub-wub sound that you can hear while driving, thats a rear wheel barring i gotta replace . . .

Its been a couple of months since the install, no problems whatsoever with the paddles or the 2 channel remote. Everything works perfect.

Plus, i suck at video editing, i know. :P

LINK

If i forgot to mention something in the vid, feel free to ask . . .

very nice job on your video, too! :y

Somebody asked me to post a cluster video to show the tacho and shift indicator while using paddle shifters, so here it is :

LINK

I hope this answers some of your questions/concerns . . . Sory about the night drive, but i didn't have time during the day to record this, hope this helps out . . .

Congratulation for your work. you're very BEST.l've looking on the internet a receiver transmitter but I found none. Can you help me please. mercii sorry my English is very bad because i am french; )

Hello I have w203 230 kompressor
 

H

Hello I have w203 230 kompressor
 

You have to use wires. At least 3 of them, but not more than 61.

Can you help me little bit about them or some pictures im mechanic i can understan some things

Zeqir, I will leave this PDF up in my Dropbox account for a week.

Hi there,
Since this thread was recently brought back to life (kind of) I must ask:

I've read almost all of the existing threads on many forums but no one has done it. Except here, but the images disappeared. My 2003 CLK 500 didn't come with the shift buttons on the steering wheel, but I do have the 2 pin connector in the steering column.

https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mbw...4da92ae1eb.png
The 2 pin connector in the steering column

I know that the 55 AMG models had the old style buttons (silver buttons, left with BLUE and BLACK wires, right with BLUE and RED wires). Blue wires were connected together, black and red were plugged into the 2 pin connector in the steering rack. Those old buttons were normally closed and normally opend switches. I bought some newer style buttons (both normally closed, with red and blue wires).
Can I do something with that 2 pin connector? I checked it with a multimeter (on the D selected) and there is no signal whatsoever. And since you managed to connect the paddles to the gear lever +/- switch, I would really love to do the same. How to connect the paddle shifters to the gear selector lever?

https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mbw...c4ce609442.png
The connector to the gear selector lever. I assume this isn't where you connected your paddle shifters but I wanted to upload this anyway

I'm dying for paddle shifters. Please help me :sadwavey:

(maybe something here will help)