Padleshift conversion
 

After being inspired by a guy on the R63 forum I am going to attempt the conversion of the ****ty gear buttons on the back of my 2007 ML63 steering wheel to much more ergonomic paddleshifters. I have ordered the paddleshifters from MB (A$350) and will be getting them fitted over the next two weeks by the guys at Ramspeed in Sydney, Australia.

Will post the outcome, fingers crossed.

Look forward to seeing! Any chance you have part numbers for the shift paddles?

Please keep me posted about this. I would love to know how it turns out and what needs to be done to modify them to fit an 07.

I was able to do this using paddle shifters for a C63 had to use a rotary tool to enlarge the cavity for the paddles in the steering wheel and had to drill a hole for the securing screw. although i didnt take pictures of the process it was quite doable pm me is you need more info

PM sent

Do you get tactile feel after the conversion like the paddles in your C63. that is what i am really after.

go to your C63, close your eyes and make believe your in the SUV :) its the same ! PM reply sent too. good luck'......

PM sent as well. I want to dot his to mine too.

Reply sent good luck its worth it

http://i541.photobucket.com/albums/g...ars/Paddle.jpg

http://i541.photobucket.com/albums/g...rs/Paddle2.jpg

http://i541.photobucket.com/albums/g...rs/Paddle3.jpg

Looks sweet. No message in my PM, please resend.

Thanks,

Jo

why not posting out here so everyone can see it ? No more pm please :X:D

Andy

I ordered at set from my dealer. Part # 221-267-00-46 and then I will install it when I get them in a couple of weeks.

Hello,

I ordered the Paddles (same as on C63) 204 267 0046 from my local mercedes parts dealer, I then got help to remove the Steering wheel and enlarged the cavity in the steering wheel to accommodate the longer and slightly wider paddle base. I used a dremel rotary tool to remove the excess foam and a little from the aluminium frame of the steering wheel for the base of the fulcrum of the larger paddle.

I then had to drill a hole in the wheel frame to be able to screw and secure the paddle on to the wheel. You will have to use a gum to secure the 2 multi function buttons on the wheel as the hole for the screw to lock this to the wheel are in the same area for the hole for the paddles. This wasn’t a problem to do as the gum and the airbag kept the switches secure ant tight. It took about 4 hours to complete the job. Unfortunately I did not take pictures of the step by step but have pictures of the finished product.

It is definitely worth the time and effort

Good luck

Thanks for the part numbers Jo and jafores. The finished installation photos look great. Nice work. :y

Had this mod done on my car in Dec 2007 one week after the porches –used the AMG E55 shifters Works great. Same installation process.

Did you order part number: 204 267 0046 ?

Best price I can get from Benz dealer is $595 AUD.

Where did u get them for $350?

I got them from Sandersons MB in Sydney, such a great conversion. Paddles are soooo much better!! I ordered C63 paddles, cant remember the part number

I found out today my ML63 has rocker buttons installed, even though it's an
AMG and has the + and - little icons on the front of the wheel.
This is why it's changing up and down gear on both sides of the steering wheel
like a normal Benz .

Not sure what I'm going to do as when you do the conversion, you use the existing button but install the new silver shifter on top of it?

My ML had single function buttons I discarded the old ones enlarged the cavity of the original hole and fitted the new silver paddles worked perfectly I guess you can use the same and just use the downshift wires for the left and upshift wires for the right good luck

Hey everyone, loving all the information i been looking at about this. I see some of you have done it already to your ML63 but i just wanna make sure i got everything correct before i pull the trigger on this job. I have a 08 ML63 with the plastic up and down shifters on the back and want to ungrade to the aluminum ones, as i see i will need Part #1712670046. To install, remove battery, then i get a long T.30 screwdriver to remove the airbag from the back. Disconnect airbag, remove old shifters....dremel the hole a bit to make new shifters fit right. But when i Plug it in, Does it have the same connecters?. and when i finish is there anything i have to program? Thanks again for all the help guys.

You may have a tough time with this wheel. While I have converted over 100 mercedes wheels to paddles, I have only done one ML wheel. This was for a customer who was putting it in an R63 (so I didn't know the model year of the ML wheel supplied for conversion). However, being curious (as to what your 2008 ML63 wheel looks like inside), I looked on ebay and found a wheel for sale that appears be identical to the ML wheel I converted for the R63 (which really turned out to be a challenging one).
look at this ebay add and see if this is your wheel
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Mercedes-W16...1609b4&vxp=mtr

if it is, I can send you some pictures detailing the process (which involved adding a mounting boss for the radically relocated mounting screw).

if it isn't your wheel, you can send me a pic and I will be happy to give you some input.

Cheers
Chris

P.s. the 171 267 0046 paddles that you mentioned are the pair that I recommend. Best price is $110.25 for the pair at oediscountparts.com


EDIT:
here is one pic of the ML wheel I modified for AMG paddles. The round boss is part of what I had to add to mount the AMG paddle. The u-shaped trough (hard to see, it is directly below the new paddle screw hole in this pic) is what located the original shift-button screw.

the challenge did not end there as the screw that mounts the small switch pack above (steering wheel mounted controls) nearly intersects the path of the new paddle screw.

I don't mean to be rude but, while you're at it, why don't you swap for the new steering wheel?
http://autoreview.belproject.com/wp/...-dashboard.jpg

this is what that particular wheel looked like when it was done ... better than "new" some might argue.

https://mbworld.org/forums/5494678-post222.html

Cheers,
Chris


http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/l...DSC_0004-3.jpg

wow thanks for all the replies; this is why i love these forums. The carbon fiber steering wheel looks AMAZING!!! but the paddle shifters are around $150 while the whole steering wheel especially the carbon fiber one runs around $1000, unless you guys have found it cheaper. I know my way around cars a bit and thought maybe adding the paddle shifters, especially at $150, wouldn't be that hard. The newer '09 steering wheel sounds a bit better if its around $300-400 which i doubt. I just wanted to keep the budget low but now seeing maybe this isn't a low budget feature. I do have a dremel and have done custom items in the past but is this job really that hard?

This steering wheel is hella bad a**!!! but on ebay they go for around $1000!:eek:

Don't know if there is a big difference between that steering wheel and mine but this is mine exactly http://www.ebay.com/itm/Real-AMG-ML-63-Black-ML-Mercedes-Steering-Wheel-W164-ML63-ML350-OEM-Authentic-/221338455010?pt=Motors_Car_Truck_Parts_Accessories&hash=item3388cccbe2&vxp=mtr I would really appreciate it if you have a PDF how you did it. Thanks Chris.