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Still considering this project, or finding someone local who would do it for me...
Also, I drive my Tip in Manual pretty much every day also. I think it's way more than the 0.01% as someone alluded to earlier, as I don't have many friends I'm "showing off" to in my car... It just is more fun, and with our engine, low revs make it sluggish, slow and quite joyless.
However, would YOU buy a 996 (obviously used) with this mod done?? I would think it would be a harder sell on an already difficult car to move with this type of alteration?
Good point. I gave the eventual re-sale some consideration. I discovered that finding a used Tip 996 steering wheel is considerably cheaper than a non-tip wheel. If selling, one can always throw in a stock wheel before selling and offer the paddle wheel as an option..
I would think the paddles wouldn't hurt resale. Really, nothing was done to the car to affect its operation. The wiring isn't altered, just rerouted to a different switch. If anything I'd say the paddles are a bonus.
I mean, there is a demand for wheels that have the paddles already on these forums, no?
Good points on both sides, really. It is an easily reversible mod should someone want to change it out. For me it would matter how well the mod was done, so if it's clean and tidy and works, probably no issue. If I were buying from this Forum, it'd be a non-issue. If I were buying from say Cargurus or Autotrader, then it may be a different story of course, especially if it wasn't a local car.
I earlier this year looked at a 997.1 Tip with paddles (I actually had a thread about it in the 997 Forum) and they were aftermarket, but poorly done, so that has just stuck with me as a potential stickler.
There's an amazing 997.1 C2S Aero F/S in the Classifieds with Tip that would probably be a good candidate for this... I just want PDK so bad lol.
Quick question. I'm installing paddle shifters right now and i wonder how flush you are able to get the shifters to the back of the wheel. I have this much showing, even with a spacer nut behind the washer, so i think i need to dig deeper but don't want to cut away too much of the steering wheel. In a thin section I'm about to cut thru.
Check the function of the switch and mod if needed
Just finished doing my own installation of the paddles and had a slightly different experience than reported and struggled with getting the outer ring to sit flush with the surface of the steering wheel on all sides. I guess I cut too deep with the Dremel as I did expose some of the metal "skeleton" of the steering wheel, so when I installed the paddles, the back of the switch bottomed out on the metal, resulting in a nice metal to metal thunk each time I actuated the paddle. Kind of I nice sound I thought (think haptic feedback), however that thunk was the result of the articulated back of the switch making physical contact with the metal inside the wheel, preventing 100% full travel of the switch. I decided I'd better check the function of the switch using the multimeter and found the switch would work intermittently on one side and not at all on the other! Worse, because the switch was not fully seated on the outer ring, there was some rocking meaning the intermittent side would work if hit squarely in the middle of the paddle but not when shifting from the upper end.
At first I thought I needed to increase the distance from the switch outer flange to the surface of the wheel, but then I realized you can file the metal prongs that extend past the back of the switch when depressed and increase the clearance that way. Using soft jaws in the vice to prevent marking up the finish and compressing the switch, I removed about 1mm of the metal prong using the Dremel. After careful deburring and lots of compressed air to blow out any filings, I installed the switch and was able to get a nice flush fit on the upper side of the switch (the one you see) and proper functioning of the switch on both sides. I still have a 3mm gap between the outer flange and the wheel surface on the lower side but since you can't see it when the wheel is installed, I can live with it.
I'd strongly suggest checking the switch function before re-installing the steering wheel just in case you have similar issues. I can imagine the frustration of completing the mod only to have it work only some of the time or not at all!
[QUOTE=Bizmonq;16437631
I'd strongly suggest checking the switch function before re-installing the steering wheel just in case you have similar issues. I can imagine the frustration of completing the mod only to have it work only some of the time or not at all![/QUOTE]
Good suggestion. I just tested both of mine and they work fine. One of the paddles doesn't have quite the "click" feel of the other paddle but continuity tests fine. Tested each about a dozen times.
I did run into one other bit of confusion, tho. The instructions above say to connect the "yellow wire from the downshift paddle to the existing yellow/brown wire" and to connect the "blue wire from the "upshift paddle to the brown/red wire". However, my "downshift paddle" has a blue wire and the "upshift" paddle has a yellow wire. So are the original instruction backwards, or are the paddles now coming with reversed wire colors? I'm tempted to connect the blue wire from my downshift paddle to the yellow/brown wire and the yellow wire from my upshift paddle to the brown/red wire.
The instructions above say to connect the "yellow wire from the downshift paddle to the existing yellow/brown wire" and to connect the "blue wire from the "upshift paddle to the brown/red wire". However, my "downshift paddle" has a blue wire and the "upshift" paddle has a yellow wire. So are the original instruction backwards, or are the paddles now coming with reversed wire colors?
It appears the photo is correct but the instructions are written in reverse. Easy to understand how that could happen since in the photo both upshift and downshift wires are entering the steering wheel cavity from the RH side so you can't positively tell which wire is from the upshift paddle (yellow), and which wire is from the downshift paddle (bllue) just by looking at the photo. The clue that the yellow wire actually comes from the upshift paddle is in the first photo of post #7 that shows the wires without the horn plate installed and the yellow wire coming from the RH upshift side. As well, the first pic of post #1 shows the stock AMG paddles with the upshift paddle with a yellow wire. All that said, the instructions should read: "Splice the yellow wire from the RH upshift + paddle to the existing yellow/brown wire, and splice the blue wire from the LH downshift - paddle to the brown/red wire."
Comparing the very first photo with my paddles, the blue and yellow wires are reversed, my upshift paddle has a blue wire. So I reversed the wiring instructions. Hopefully it work properly when I get my car back on the road.
12-12-2019, 12:24 PM
It just is more fun, and with our engine, low revs make it sluggish, slow and quite joyless.
