Bespoke Paddle Shifters

[Marcoose]

I know, I know ... this topic again.

I've contacted many aftermarket paddle shifter sellers in America, Europe and China. None made or plan on making them for the E89. I've also contacted fabricators in America, with focus in the San Francisco Bay Area and California.

Blimey, the prices are pure madness! FYI, when I was looking for the flat bottom steering wheel mod, it was cheaper to buy a temporary wheel, post the OEM wheel to England, have the mods made with English wages, and return, than to work with a local shop. Yeah, that's San Fran to you.

So, does anybody know reputable fabricators in the U.K./E.U. It can be carbon fibre or metal.

Thanks.

[Busterboo]

Why must they be bespoke?

[Ed Doe]

Why must they be bespoke?

I'm guessing because other designs on the market don't fit the OP's requirements.

I know a couple of fabricators, but not sure if they'd be the right fit unless there was a decent volume order. Also they're all UK-based.

[matsmith749]

I have done this work in the past (not now - do not ask) - one off fabrications are hugely expensive.

Even if CAD files are done by the requestor, there tends to be multiple rounds of revision.

For a single piece I would be expecting the investment to be several thousand £s - it's at the price level where if you do not have the skills & kit to do this yourself, it's just not something I would recommend.

I owned banks of 5 axis CNC machines, sliding head lathes, the full machine shop with design studio etc - was a world leading manufacturer. I know what I'm talking about.

Sell the z4 - get something else that has the paddles you want would be cheaper.

[Marcoose]

I’ve contacted two carbon fibre shops in California that modify steering wheels. It ‘seems’ they add more carbon fibre material to the existing material, polish, paint, etc. The final product looks brilliant. But it’s not cheap.

My previous experience was that it was cheaper to post my steering wheel to Customs in England than to work with local shops. Hopefully there’s a fabricator in the U.K. or E.U. with more reasonable prices.

Precisely, no such longer paddle shifters were made for the E89.

Contacts with U.K. fabricators greatly appreciated.

[PaulN]

You’ve got no chance with carbon fibre, the price of making a mould would be eye watering….

3D Metal Sintering is an option, or maybe 3D printing plastic and plenty of post work to get them to a nice finish?

3D print a sample and sand cast a couple?

1 off = bespoke = costly

[Marcoose]

Sadly I don’t have those skills. I wish !

It doesn’t seem the two shops here in California are making moulds, because their pricing isn’t in the thousands. Rather in the hundreds. I’m seeing aftermarket paddles for other BMW models in the US$50-US$100.

Somebody is bound to fabricate a one-off for a reasonable cost. Whether fibre, plastic, aluminium, etc.

[PaulN]

Sadly I don’t have those skills. I wish !

It doesn’t seem the two shops here in California are making moulds, because their pricing isn’t in the thousands. Rather in the hundreds. I’m seeing aftermarket paddles for other BMW models in the US$50-US$100.

Somebody is bound to fabricate a one-off for a reasonable cost. Whether fibre, plastic, aluminium, etc.

Why don’t you just make the local places an offer then?

[tiglon]

No one is going to make a one off for reasonable money because they won't make any money from it.

If you want reasonably priced, you have to buy off the shelf.

If you want bespoke and unique, you need to spend a lot of money.

Might be worth trying to get a group buy together to drive down the price... if you can find 100 people on Z4 forums that are interested, you'll be splitting the design, mould etc costs between 100 instead of just yourself.

[Nictrix]

If you could get a second set of paddles you could modify them yourself to exactly what you want by adding plastic/metal where needed. Once you are happy with the shape you could skin them in carbon fibre cloth and resin.

[Marcoose]

Why don’t you just make the local places an offer then?

Uh-huh.

No one is going to make a one off for reasonable money because they won't make any money from it.

Uh-huh.

If you could get a second set of paddles you could modify them yourself to exactly what you want by adding plastic/metal where needed. Once you are happy with the shape you could skin them in carbon fibre cloth and resin.

That's a possibility. There's a used set on eBay for US$100. What would you use to modify, add on to the OEM paddles ? Are you crafty ? Could you teach me a few tricks ? Thanks.

[Nictrix]

Why don’t you just make the local places an offer then?

Uh-huh.

No one is going to make a one off for reasonable money because they won't make any money from it.

Uh-huh.

If you could get a second set of paddles you could modify them yourself to exactly what you want by adding plastic/metal where needed. Once you are happy with the shape you could skin them in carbon fibre cloth and resin.

That's a possibility. There's a used set on eBay for US$100. What would you use to modify, add on to the OEM paddles ? Are you crafty ? Could you teach me a few tricks ? Thanks.

I have done carbon skinning and as long as you follow the instructions it's fairly easy, just time consuming as you cannot rush between each step.
Never made my own parts but there's plenty of glues out there that can stick anything to anything. Also there are plastic products that can be molded while warm, then shaped. Once you get a good shape cover it with carbon.

[Marcoose]

I have done carbon skinning and as long as you follow the instructions it's fairly easy, just time consuming as you cannot rush between each step.
Never made my own parts but there's plenty of glues out there that can stick anything to anything. Also there are plastic products that can be molded while warm, then shaped. Once you get a good shape cover it with carbon.

Thanks, Nic. Very generous of you.

A few details. My Zed is post LCI; upshift on the right, downshift on the left. I mostly miss longer paddles on left corner exits, when it's time to upshift and the right hand is holding the wheel farther down, and the right fingers cannot reach the right OEM paddle. On right bends, even if I hold the wheel farther up, the fingers often reach the paddle.

I'm thinking of ginning up a discreet black aluminium bracket, and stick it to the right paddle.

Let's keep thinking about this. Thanks again.

[Silverstar]

I mostly miss longer paddles on left corner exits, when it's time to upshift and the right hand is holding the wheel farther down, and the right fingers cannot reach the right OEM paddle. On right bends, even if I hold the wheel farther up, the fingers often reach the paddle.

I am going to ask a stupid question but could you not just use the gear stick as you can with the ZF 6 speed to change gears as well as the paddles? In which case in those difficult turns you can just change gears using the stick rather than the paddles?

[matsmith749]

If you can buy the paddles that you would like (perhaps not BMW ones - just ones you prefer the look of) - might be easier to mod a frankenstein job.

Hack off (neatly) the physical paddle section, mate it to a suitable donor part that functions with the electronics & fits the steering wheel of the z4.

That feels doable.