Aerie carbon paddle installed on i4 - Very Happy

[Ethnic6]

I, too ordered well before my car delivery. Wish they also offered aluminum/metal paddles instead (like the Porsche ones) since carbon feels out of place.
I figured the satisfying click will overcome that

Have you thought about wrapping it? I was thinking of doing that to my Carbon fiber paddle shifters, that or paint them if they look out of place.

 

[chowdis]

I completed the install of mine this weekend and highly recommend the mod. As an avid sim racer with some really nice magnetic shift wheels (Cube Controls, Ascher Racing), this mod makes my real life car feel very similar. I suspect this is close to the shifter feel you get in the Emira GT4 race car as well.

I couldn't find any install instructions online, so I used a guide Gregs Race Parts provided for removing the steering wheel. I used the steering wheel removal guide and some tinkering to get the swap done. Here's some tips I hope others may find helpful to prevent any damage to their wheel while doing this. I was extremely nervous as my car is brand new with only 10km on the odometer.

- Jamming a square/Robertson screwdriver into the holes on the side to release the airbag was easier than using a flathead. The flathead wouldn't catch the spring release mechanism, but using something more blunt made it extremely easy
- Removing the gloss black circular trim piece behind the airbag was difficult. There were 2 clips on the bottom and 1 on the top you have to carefully release before trying to pry or pull the entire piece back. The trim piece is pushed into the grey foam with some inserts that holds it in so you have to carefully wiggle and tug with some force to get it to release. It was a fine balance of force and trying to be careful not to break or scratch this piece.
- Removal of the steering wheel buttons on both sides is required. At first glance there are 3 silver T6 bolts that look like they need to be removed to release it. Don't unscrew these! There is a circuit board inside that looks quite sensitive. You have to just pull and wiggle the entire button assembly and you will start to see it release slowly. Mine were very tight and required both force and finesse to avoid breaking anything.
- The shifters have a 2 pin plug that needs to be removed. It looks easy to unplug but there is a little tab on the plug that holds it in place. It looks like it shouldn't be that hard to remove, but I struggled more than I would have liked to remove it. I ended up using a small pick and inserted it into the plug to get the little tab to release.

The rest of it was pretty straightforward. I'm glad I didn't break anything, but there were many times I thought I would. Good luck to those DIYing this!

 

[grezex]

Have you thought about wrapping it? I was thinking of doing that to my Carbon fiber paddle shifters, that or paint them if they look out of place.

Thought about having a shop paint it, but it's like $250 or so. Not worth to do, haha.