Illuminated Shift Knob, E36 and E30

[Guest Andrew]

OK, Well Dave wanted to go all rice (heh) and have an illuminated shift knob. So we enquired at the stealer.. and true to form it was $600. Hell no we though. So for a small price we made the same thing, if not better than the BMW one.

We don't have any pics yet.. someone lend us a camera.

NB: I did this on an E30, I'm just saying it works for either E36 or E30 gearknob. You can probably do the same thing on your E36 though.

Parts Needed: $15

E36 or E30 shift knob (Note E36 knob looks good and fits E30 also)

Around a meter of wire, Red and Black are good colors. Thin wire is best.

2x Ultra Bright 3mm LEDs, white light. (We will get the Dick Smith Product codes for you)

1x 390 - 450 Ohm Resistor.

A Tic Tac Orange box.

Tools Needed:

Soldering Iron

Solder

A sharp assed knife.

Instructions:

Pull your gearknob off. Its on bloody tight so just don't be a pansy and pull hard. Remove the bit with the gear numbers on and start scratching the under surface to make the numbers clear (this bit takes bloody ages). An easier option might be to goto the stealer and get the ///M gear number bit (e36 shifter only), its pretty much clear anyway. Costs $20. You'll also need to remove the shift boot and ash tray.

Now , cut the sh*t out of the gearknob with your sharp assed knife for space for the two LEDs. Cut as much out as you can (right down to the plastic frame). Remember to leave some rubber around the edges still so the gear numbers have something to go back onto. Once you've done that, drill a hole striaght throught the top of the knob.

Solder a bit of your red wire to either end of the resistor. Now solder another bit of red wire to the other end of the resistor. We are getting our power from this circuit from the ash tray light so use your brain to work out how long you want all the wire to be. At this point thread your wire through the gearknob, once the LEDs are in you can't thread the wire through. Solder the red wire to the ANODE (+) side on the LED , this is the side on the LED that doesn't have the flat bit on it. You will want to trim the LED terminals as short as posible before this step. Cut another small bit of wire and solder the CATHODE side of the LED we just soldered to the ANODE side on the next LED. Then obviously you want to solder the black wire to the CATHODE side of the second LED.

Now everything should be electrically all good, I'm going to leave placement of the LEDs in the knob up to you.. just squash it all down. Now in Daves car we just sacrificed his ash tray light, if you have more time you can make them both work as the same time. I don't remember which wire is postiive and which is negative for the ash tray light, its fairly obvious. Thread all your wires through the shift boot and ash tray space and hook them up to the power supply. Give it a test now, it should dim with your interior light dimming switch also.

Here comes the dodgy bit, we have to get the shift knob back on without breaking the wires. Squash them up in the the shiftknob and SLOWLY put the knob back on while a mate pulls the wires through the shift boot. Leave the lights on at this stage so you can see when you break the wire. The E30 knob doesn't have this problem, its much easier.

Now its all assembled, squash the LEDs into the shifter in the best position and place a shard of orange tic-tac box over them, squash the gear numbers back on and your done! (This last bit might take some time).

Some caveats: Its very easy to make a short circuit.. try not to. The wires probably will break, just be careful.

In case no one gets what I mean, here is an e36 shift knob in my e30. We'll get some pics of Daves car when someone lends us a digi cam.

Andrew

[Gus 5]

grrrrrrrrrrrrrr....love that hairy leg

[Gus 5]

upon furthur examination...i can see the edge of my shorts in that picture! YES! I AM FAMOUS! I AM A GOLDEN GOD

[Guest Andrew]

upon furthur examination...i can see the edge of my shorts in that picture! YES! I AM FAMOUS! I AM A GOLDEN GOD

and i'm wearing gym short stubbies.. yeah bud!

[*sic 1]

i'm wearing gym short stubbies.. yeah bud!

[GimmeVanos 0]

Hey guys - thanks for the tip, great idea. I'd like to try this on my E36 M3, although I think I'll get hold of a second hand gear knob first and try it if I can. Anyone you know who's got one?

[Gus 5]

the e36 gear knobs are pretty cheap...round $38 if i remember correctly (highly unlikely)...so its ok if you bugger one up!

[bumpstop325 0]

i just got the m3 3 number thingee. looks good. $20 from the stealer

[SIR E30 68]

Can someone please post more pics of the finished product please!!!!

It sounds like a bit of fun..

[Cale 36]

I'm guessing it will look something like this?