folks, well Giusseppe was dying to get some mods to match his stablemate Howard! So one of the first things was the JCW shift indicator! Now at first this may seem like a simple task, but if you have looked at what JCW offers for the R53, you will see the problem. It is a dash mounted single sided indicator, that looks like dog-doo-doo vs. the R56 version that mounts on the column. SOOOOOO not content to stay with the norm, I decided to mount the R56 version on the R53 column. Here we go!
First call ALTA or go online to
www.altaminiperformance.com and order up the JCW R56 Shift Indicator. Then indicate you have an R53 and you get the proper instructions, hardware etc. to match.
Second, when the package arrives you will get the indicator mounted on top of the R56 column plate. To begin, hack this piece apart. (I know sounds rough! Don’t be scared!) Remove the two screws that secure the indicator to the plate. Then pull the indicator away from the plate.
Then do this:
I used a set of dykes to simply open up a slot in the plate to release the wire.
Now, with the JCW indicator free from the clutches of the R56 plate, grab a set of wire cutters or similar and carefully cut a small slot in the side of the tube that protrudes from the bottom of the indicator. The slot is necessary to allow the wire to fold over instead of go down. (So this makes more sense, the end of this grey wire has a LARGE plug on it. As a result you can’t feed the wiring through the R53 plate. Instead we will run the wire under the indicator, then under the OEM tach or tach/speedo combo.) See photo below.
Disconnect the battery.
Remove the tach (or tach/speedo combo) from the column plate cover in your R53. Then remove the plate.
Now using the R56 plate as a guide, mark two small holes to be drilled into the R53 plate. (Don’t make these too big!!!!!) Then use the screws removed above to mount the indicator to the plate. And it will look like this photo below (note the new ALTA Gauge Pod/Gauge combo mounted as well!)
Ok! Now remove the lower knee protection panel from under the steering column. It has two small screws and two rather sturdy pop-it type fasteners at the top. PULL HARD!
This allows for mounting of the white control box for the indicator. Using the supplied wire ties strap it to the substructure under the dash.
Finally, locate the OBDII data port under the dash. Release it from the mount to get better access to the wiring leading away from it.
Using the ‘T-taps’ provided by ALTA, tap the following wires:
Green with Blue Stripe
Brown
White with Red Stripe.
Then using the supplied male ends supplied by ALTA connect the three wires leading away from the control box to the following:
Green wire on Indicator goes to Green with Blue Stripe
Brown to Brown
White to White with Red Stripe.
Using the BMW instructions flip the dip switches in the control box to 4-cyl, then choose a redline point. These are variable. On the GP I chose 7000 RPM.
Then re-install the top plate, tach etc. Re-connect battery.
Start engine. If the indicator is working, it will flash etc., then leave one green LED illuminated in the center.
Then steadily bring the RPM up toward the redline chosen to watch how the lights move from the inside out.
For a YouTube video go to ALTAminiperformance.com click on JCW OEM parts, then the indicator, then on videos.
Double check that everything is re-connected and bolted tight and enjoy!
Thanks!
Adam
ALTA MINI Performance
www.altaminiperformance.com
adam@altaminiperformance.com
NAM Handle ADAMSALTAMINI
FOR PHOTOS CLICK THE LINK FOR THE .PDF BELOW!
