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I'm a manual gearbox guy. I'm fine with automatics, not a hater, own two. But I still use the transmission to do things for me such as retard my acceleration when going downhill. So I shift my automatics fairly frequently. One of the things I was really looking forward to when I got the E350 was that it had shift controls on the steering wheel. "Flappy paddles" as Jeremy liked to call them. This is my first car to have them and I was looking forward to having easy access to gear changes.
Except I don't. The "paddles" are miniscule. So of course I went looking and found that there are a metric s**tload of stick-on paddle extensions. But are they any good? Why don't I search MBWorld first, before making a purchase? There's bound to be someone who's tried them.
Went back to 2016. Nada. Hence this thread. Here's what I'm referring to. (Image and link are not the same product.)
I'm a manual gearbox guy. I'm fine with automatics, not a hater, own two. But I still use the transmission to do things for me such as retard my acceleration when going downhill. So I shift my automatics fairly frequently. One of the things I was really looking forward to when I got the E350 was that it had shift controls on the steering wheel. "Flappy paddles" as Jeremy liked to call them. This is my first car to have them and I was looking forward to having easy access to gear changes.
Except I don't. The "paddles" are miniscule. So of course I went looking and found that there are a metric s**tload of stick-on paddle extensions. But are they any good? Why don't I search MBWorld first, before making a purchase? There's bound to be someone who's tried them.
Went back to 2016. Nada. Hence this thread. Here's what I'm referring to. (Image and link are not the same product.)
I'm not much for adhesive attaching stuff to my car.. these look nice, in aluminum, but I figure they would fall off after a few hot days in the sun. If they had some that clipped on to slipped over the factory paddles somehow that would be ideal. For me it would be appearance as I don't use the paddle shifters really ever.
I'm not much for adhesive attaching stuff to my car.. these look nice, in aluminum, but I figure they would fall off after a few hot days in the sun. If they had some that clipped on to slipped over the factory paddles somehow that would be ideal. For me it would be appearance as I don't use the paddle shifters really ever.
I agree, and some have mentioned that the adhesive is less than ideal. It's the main reason I started this thread in fact.
If I do it I either want to find a set with some kind of mechanical clamping, or I will get a set of aluminum paddles, drill/countersink holes in them, and attach them with self tapping screws sunk into the plastic of the stock levers.
I've had the carbon ones installed for well over a year now with NO issues whatsoever. Just make sure to prep the stock paddles with ISO(I used 91% ISO) before installing them and heat them up a bit after removing the adhesive covering and before installing them. If you do that, you shouldn't have any issues. Mine came with 3M branded tape installed as well, so that helped, I'm sure...
I purchased and installed black shifters on my car with no adhesive issues either. I bought from Alibaba for the same reason as OP, however, be mindful of your paddle shifters shape matching the molding when ordering there are a few different steering wheel/shifter combos so its easy to order the wrong one. I initially bought my set in aluminum color but made the paddle shifter mistake, when reordering I opted for black because I wanted it to be a little more subtle than the aluminum.
I'm not a fan of adding too many of these things to my car but this one actually looks and fits better than anticipated, they're reasonably priced most everywhere, and they're surprisingly not that flimsy so I would say go for it
I've attached the only pic I have atm hope it helps
If I do it I either want to find a set with some kind of mechanical clamping, or I will get a set of aluminum paddles, drill/countersink holes in them, and attach them with self tapping screws sunk into the plastic of the stock levers.
Wait, the stock mini paddle shifters are plastic? Didn’t know that.
I purchased and installed black shifters on my car with no adhesive issues either. I bought from Alibaba for the same reason as OP, however, be mindful of your paddle shifters shape matching the molding when ordering there are a few different steering wheel/shifter combos so its easy to order the wrong one. I initially bought my set in aluminum color but made the paddle shifter mistake, when reordering I opted for black because I wanted it to be a little more subtle than the aluminum.
I'm not a fan of adding too many of these things to my car but this one actually looks and fits better than anticipated, they're reasonably priced most everywhere, and they're surprisingly not that flimsy so I would say go for it
I've attached the only pic I have atm hope it helps
Thanks for sharing that picture .
I know everyone is talking about the paddle shifters but I like that watch , very cool
Back to the topic, those shifters look funky to me and reminds me some Italian cars with similar items . Anyway, I would prefer AMG E63's shifters, those are aluminum as well
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