Pedal boxes

A

alanhasanicez4m

Member
Hey folks, has anyone swapped out their pedals for an AP racing pedal box or similar?

I find the OEM pedals difficult to heal tow and left foot brake. At least on mine they are stepped with the clutch very high, the brake in the middle and the accelerator very low down. This may be for safety reasons, I don't know. But as I said, it makes it hard for me to do much fancy footwork. I find I can only heal toe when I really slam the brake.

I know many of you have just swapped the pedals without the whole box, do you find that helps out at all or is it just cosmetic?

Cheers
 
Guess it depends what you are using the car for? If track car then yes go for it. If road car then about 90% of the time you don't really need to do all the fancy footwork.

FYI - I also find it very difficult to do. Not sure if its because im used to cable throttle in the E36 which i use on the track or what, but i always struggle to get it right and also find the pedals too far apart. A larger pad on either the brake or accelerator may help though, but never really been too bothered as i don't find im locking the rear axle often/at all even when pushing on driving on the roads, and don't intend to track it.
 
The problem is easily resolved. Fit some aftermarket pedal covers - mine cost around £20 off ebay (I know they're not genuine but I don't care). To fit the brake and clutch covers you need to remove the OEM rubber covers so these stay at the same height, but you fit the accelerator pedal cover on top of the pedal which increases the height. After speaking with BMWZ4MC about this, he later fitted a small metal ruler under the accelerator pedal cover to reduce the gap between the accelerator and brake pedals, which I thought was a good idea, so I took the principle one step further and fabricated a small piece of aluminium as in the photo below, and drilled 2 holes in it so that it would be bolted and sandwiched under the cover. I now find this arrangement is perfect and heel & toe is a doodle.


IMG_4320_zps2ee93f49.jpg
 
I got a nice anodised black alloy throttle pedal cover and it's now just about the perfect height for h&t. Pretty much no-one would notice either!
 
abar121 said:
I got a nice anodised black alloy throttle pedal cover and it's now just about the perfect height for h&t. Pretty much no-one would notice either!
Click to expand...

Details?

BTW - Exedos, your missing the foot rest :poke:
 
simonlpearce said:
abar121 said:
I got a nice anodised black alloy throttle pedal cover and it's now just about the perfect height for h&t. Pretty much no-one would notice either!
Click to expand...

Details?

BTW - Exedos, your missing the foot rest :poke:
Click to expand...

Sure, this was the one I think: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/BLACK-MT-ALUMINUM-PEDALS-PAD-FOOT-REST-PEDAL-For-BMW-E91-E92-E93-E30-E36-E46-E90-/281364376222?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_3&hash=item41829faa9e

I only fitted the throttle pedal cover to raise it. For me the rest are fine as they are.
 
exdos said:
The problem is easily resolved. Fit some aftermarket pedal covers - mine cost around £20 off ebay (I know they're not genuine but I don't care). To fit the brake and clutch covers you need to remove the OEM rubber covers so these stay at the same height, but you fit the accelerator pedal cover on top of the pedal which increases the height. After speaking with BMWZ4MC about this, he later fitted a small metal ruler under the accelerator pedal cover to reduce the gap between the accelerator and brake pedals, which I thought was a good idea, so I took the principle one step further and fabricated a small piece of aluminium as in the photo below, and drilled 2 holes in it so that it would be bolted and sandwiched under the cover. I now find this arrangement is perfect and heel & toe is a doodle.


IMG_4320_zps2ee93f49.jpg
Click to expand...

Mine isn't as pretty but I can adjust the position for different footwear. I can even swing it out of the way if someone unfamiliar with the device is to drive the car so as to avoid them unwittingly pressing the throttle whilst braking:


photo2_zps1f530619.jpg


It still isn't as good as the pedal setup and throttle cable in my S2000, but it works perfectly on the track where brake pedal travel is necessarily greater. I wish my Zed had a throttle cable - I find the fly by wire throttle really annoying, especially the seemingly damped response of the first 10mm of pedal travel.
 
I got so much stick for my dirty footwell - I can't believe nobody has had a pop at you guys :lol:

Cars that are driven :thumbsup:
 
Mr Bing, I've had my Zed since 2009 and I've never had a Hoover anywhere near it. In fact I suspect there's probably sand from Antibes in the boot that found its way there about four years ago :oops:
 
I also installed a set of pedals after getting advice from Exdos, I got bought some replica ACS pedals off eBay. It made a big difference, but only with two other small mods.

I used rubber washers to raise the throttle pedal cover by a further approx 8-10mm. I also found there was quite a bit of movement in my throttle pedal, it wasn't sitting perfectly horizontal, would tilt off to the right, away from the brake pedal making it even harder to heel and toe. I braced the pedal which brought it closer and perfectly horizontal. Not sure if that's just my cars or a feature on them all. Check if you can move yours.

Also coming from a S2000 (and E36 M3 Evo previous to that), I would echo BMWZ4MC comments, the fly by wire system is the biggest disappointment of the Zed, it just feels horrible and so disconnected, no weight to it and certainly not linear.
 
That's nice if you can mmm-five. I can't. I have tried, sitting in the car, parked. Foot just doesn't move the required distance unless I push the brake all the way down hard. I would like the option of braking at whatever level I would like plus being able to heal tow. There seem to be lots of options here though so its looking good.

I guess the clutch doesn't give people many problems? To be honest, it's not too bad for me. Just sometimes after left foot braking its a lot of distance to travel back up to get on the clutch. It becomes a problem mostly in tricky situations on the track where I need a little bit of left foot around a high speed bend then as soon as the bend is over need quick deceleration. Getting your foot stuck on the side of the clutch in that situation is not fun!
 
gwatson said:
I also installed a set of pedals after getting advice from Exdos, I got bought some replica ACS pedals off eBay. It made a big difference, but only with two other small mods.

I used rubber washers to raise the throttle pedal cover by a further approx 8-10mm. I also found there was quite a bit of movement in my throttle pedal, it wasn't sitting perfectly horizontal, would tilt off to the right, away from the brake pedal making it even harder to heel and toe. I braced the pedal which brought it closer and perfectly horizontal. Not sure if that's just my cars or a feature on them all. Check if you can move yours.

Also coming from a S2000 (and E36 M3 Evo previous to that), I would echo BMWZ4MC comments, the fly by wire system is the biggest disappointment of the Zed, it just feels horrible and so disconnected, no weight to it and certainly not linear.
Click to expand...

I would agree with you about the dbw, there is no substitute for a cable operated throttle. Even the new 991s manual isn't any better to heel and toe.

The M is much better than the 3.0si though, which has loads of delay and slack in normal mode, then still loads of delay but limited travel in sport.

I also find the brake pedal over-servo'd on all BMWs, certainly makes braking and H&T less enjoyable than Porsches, Lotus etc, where a firm brake pedal with little travel helps massively.
 
gwatson, I have yet to drive a car in which it is easier to heel and toe than my S2000. The position of the pedals is perfect, the brakes not overly servoed and the throttle response is instantaneous. Even the extremely short throw of the gear lever adds to the pleasure. BMW could learn a thing or two!
 
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