DIY illuminated shift knob write-up.

[royalflush313]

I had the link saved somewhere but I have since lost it.

Can someone give me the link to it? thanks.

[OldUser1]

http://bmwe30.net/cgi-bin/datacgi/database.cgi?file=articles&report=view&ID=00054&Section=02

There you are.

[royalflush313]

thanks!

[Anthrsckmnd]

There's also this link :

http://www.timthurber.com/knob.html

he lists a part # for an ///m insert that is ready to be illuminated to make the process a little easier.

(for some reason his pics weren't loading when I looked last time)

[EverWiser]

I checked out the write-ups listed on the sites above and they're very good. I've got an idea that I'm going to try out (as soon as I can get my mechanical issues resolved). Instead of using light bulbs that will have to be replaced periodically, why not use LED's?

I looked on DigiKey's website and found round 3mm 12V LED's for just under $3 each. Buy two of them, add a 1,000 ohm 0.25 watt current limiting resistor and you'd have lighting for the shift knob that would probably outlast the car. The part# I found was "67-1067-ND" and the color was red. Some soldering skill would be required (not much, just know how) but everything else in the write-ups would be the same.

To hook them up you would connect all three pieces (2 LED's and 1 resistor) in series (one leg of the resistor to a leg of one LED, the other leg of that LED to one leg on the next LED, then voltage applied between the unused leg of the resistor and the unused leg of the last LED).

One thing to watch for is that the legs on each LED are a different length. The short leg denotes the negative side (cathode) and the long one is the positive side (anode). When connecting the LED's together be sure to hook one long leg to the other LED's short leg. It doesn't matter which end of the resistor hooks up to which LED.

The other thing to watch for (try out) is the way the LED's work; they only light when current flows in a particular direction (unlike the bulbs which will light regardless). You can try the voltage on either end to find this out; the resistor prevents the LED's from damage if you have the voltage reversed. Connect 12V to one end of your LED "circuit" and ground to the other; if it doesn't light up, reverse it.

You could use a different type of LED(s) but be sure it's rated for at least 12V and find out it's max current as this will determine your limiting resistor. The way you figure it is to divide the voltage by the max current of the LED then multiply the result by 1.5. You can round up or down from there to come to a standard resistor value (the 1.5 is basically upping the size of the resistor by 50% so that you never exceed the current rating of the LED's even though your car's voltage is often above 12V:**note** the LED's can tolerate about 25% higher voltage than they're rated for so they'll survive fine). The wattage of the resistor is found by dividing the voltage (12V) by the resistor value and then multiply your answer by your voltage (12V).

The LED's I listed the number for above glow red so instead of a colored piece of plastic under the shift pattern you could use clear (thin plexiglas should work well) or maybe even yellow (for a more orange glow).

If anyone gets a chance to try this before I do, let me know how it worked and/or post some pics. Also, (you electrically inclined persons on here) feel free to check my math for the component sizing. Good Luck! 8)

[nzer]

I checked out the write-ups listed on the sites above and they're very good. I've got an idea that I'm going to try out (as soon as I can get my mechanical issues resolved). Instead of using light bulbs that will have to be replaced periodically, why not use LED's?

I looked on DigiKey's website and found round 3mm 12V LED's for just under $3 each. Buy two of them, add a 1,000 ohm 0.25 watt current limiting resistor and you'd have lighting for the shift knob that would probably outlast the car. The part# I found was "67-1067-ND" and the color was red. Some soldering skill would be required (not much, just know how) but everything else in the write-ups would be the same.

To hook them up you would connect all three pieces (2 LED's and 1 resistor) in series (one leg of the resistor to a leg of one LED, the other leg of that LED to one leg on the next LED, then voltage applied between the unused leg of the resistor and the unused leg of the last LED).

One thing to watch for is that the legs on each LED are a different length. The short leg denotes the negative side (cathode) and the long one is the positive side (anode). When connecting the LED's together be sure to hook one long leg to the other LED's short leg. It doesn't matter which end of the resistor hooks up to which LED.

The other thing to watch for (try out) is the way the LED's work; they only light when current flows in a particular direction (unlike the bulbs which will light regardless). You can try the voltage on either end to find this out; the resistor prevents the LED's from damage if you have the voltage reversed. Connect 12V to one end of your LED "circuit" and ground to the other; if it doesn't light up, reverse it.

You could use a different type of LED(s) but be sure it's rated for at least 12V and find out it's max current as this will determine your limiting resistor. The way you figure it is to divide the voltage by the max current of the LED then multiply the result by 1.5. You can round up or down from there to come to a standard resistor value (the 1.5 is basically upping the size of the resistor by 50% so that you never exceed the current rating of the LED's even though your car's voltage is often above 12V:**note** the LED's can tolerate about 25% higher voltage than they're rated for so they'll survive fine). The wattage of the resistor is found by dividing the voltage (12V) by the resistor value and then multiply your answer by your voltage (12V).

The LED's I listed the number for above glow red so instead of a colored piece of plastic under the shift pattern you could use clear (thin plexiglas should work well) or maybe even yellow (for a more orange glow).

If anyone gets a chance to try this before I do, let me know how it worked and/or post some pics. Also, (you electrically inclined persons on here) feel free to check my math for the component sizing. Good Luck! 8)

I've done it that way - http://www.bimmersport.co.nz/forums/...?showtopic=204