No more BMW turn signals
 

I did a thing today.
First post, not sure if embedding videos is possible here.
https://youtu.be/OYt6Or1FyGo

The only part that is needed for this is a gen1 light switch assembly. When I bought mine it was marked as 17-20, but it appears it’s the same from 13-20 regardless. Part # is 83115FJ060, this is about $150 from subaru but i got mine for $40 off ebay.

With the proper repin of the headlight harness, all functions work exactly as expected (including 3-blink lane change), with one minor caveat when it comes to the high beams. There are 2 differences:
1. The gen2 switch sends a momentary pulse when you push the high beams into the on (forward) position, while the gen1 sends a constant output in this position
2. The gen1 stalk also sends output to the wire for the high beams flash (pulling the stalk towards you) while the stalk is in the forward/on position. The gen2 stalk only sends output to one wire or the other, and if there is output on both wires it won’t turn the high beams on at all.

We can solve this in 2 different ways, and i’ve made 2 different diagrams.
The easy way simply hijacks the high beam flash wire and will have the high beams function exactly how you expect them to, but this will break auto high beams if you have an automatic.
The less easy way requires the use of a relay to interrupt the high beams flash wire while the stalk is in the forward position. This should retain auto high beam functionality, but the downside is to use your high beams, you will have to push the stalk forward, and then pull it back to the center again (simulating the momentary pulse of the gen2 stalk). To turn them back off you would once again push them forward, then pull them back to center again.

Repin info:

Depin white pin 12, insulate. This wire will no longer be used.
Move pink pin 16 to pin 11. Pin 11 will already be empty.
Move pin 13 black to pin 12.
Move pin 14 black to pin 13.
Pin 14 and pin 16 will now be empty.
*there are other wires pinned in this harness. i have not illustrated them because there is nothing that needs to be done with these wires.

For 6MT, or 6AT if you don’t care about keeping automatic high beams:
Cut the pink wire that is now in pin 11, making sure you leave at least an inch and a half on the connector side of the wire. Insulate the loose wire on the vehicle side of the cut. Connect the connector side of the wire to the red wire in pin 17 via military splice.

For 6AT:
Cut the red wire in pin 17. Connect one side of the cut wire to terminal 30 of your relay, and the other side to 87a. It does not matter which goes where. Terminal 87 will not be connected to anything.
Military splice a wire into the pink wire in pin 11 and connect it to terminal 85 of your relay.
Connect a fused constant 12 volt feed from somewhere in the vehicle to terminal 86 of your relay. We only need <150mA here, so any circuit is fine and you can use the smallest fuse available to you.

Attachment 213679
Attachment 213680
Disassembly info:

Driver airbag:
Disconnect battery. Remove cover surrounding cruise control switch and identical cover on other side. Use flathead screwdriver or similar implement to release the 3 retainers.
Attachment 213681

Use a pick tool to lift the retaining clips on the 2 airbag connectors and remove them. There is also a singular black wire attached with a spade connector, use your pick tool to depress the retainer and pull it off.

Steering wheel: Disconnect white clock spring connector. Remove 19mm nut. Use a straightedge to mark centerline on both the steering column spline and the steering wheel. Use steering wheel puller or brute gorilla force to remove steering wheel. If you are not using a puller, make sure you do not damage the airbag connectors as you remove the steering wheel. It may help to push them through the opening before removing the wheel. For reassembly, the torque spec on this nut is 28 ft-lbs.

Steering column cover: remove 2 philips screws. pull bottom section downwards. Flip top section out of the way.

Clock spring: Release 3 clips, pull towards you. You can leave this plugged in and let it dangle. Make sure you don’t let this rotate, if you spin it 360 degrees by accident and reassemble it that way you will break it when you turn the wheel.

Wiper stalk: Depress clip on the front of stalk, pull out. You can also leave this plugged in and dangling.

Turn signal assembly: Open band clamp with pliers, use a pick tool to release the black clip on the backside. Pull towards you to remove. Look at your new assembly if you have trouble with this.

That is a lot of effort, are the turn signals THAT bad?

Not really. I got used to them, but some people hate them more than I do. I did it just to see if it was possible.

TLDW: Is this just removing the 3 blink lane change feature, namely the same feature that is easily disabled through the head unit in 10 seconds (which I did about a week in after I couldn't stand the 3 blink lane change feature)?

The video is only 15 seconds :(

This adds actual mechanical retention to the turn signals. When you activate the turn signal, it now physically clicks into place. In stock form, the stalk would instead return to center and you would have to push it in the other direction to cancel.
This does not affect the 3 blink lane change at all, and you can still activate that feature by giving the stalk a shallow push, or disable it if desired.

I agree it doesn't physically click into place, but you do not have to push the turn signal in the other direction to cancel - it cancels when you make the turn.

Not if you’re changing lanes. The 3-blink lane change feature is only a band-aid solution, this restores the functionality most people expect from their turn signals and should greatly reduce the incidence of situations where you repeatedly activate your turn signals back and forth on accident.
This may seem like a lot of effort to solve such a minor problem, but a lot of people take issue with the way the turn signals work on this car.

Ok, so we agree with respect to turns that they are functionally the same, with the only difference being the new design clicks and moves back to the middle before the turn whereas your design clicks and stays in place and then moves back to the middle after the turn.

However, once you turn off the 3 blink lane change functionality, they are functionally IDENTICAL for lane changes. Both operate exactly the same - you hold the stalk to a medium position for as long as you want the blinkers to operate and they stop operating when you let go. :iono:

It's a nice procedure. The first ones to reply are those who can't wait to piss all over well intended sharing of information.

Thanks for taking the time to document and post!

Sorry, if trying to understand what exactly is gained by doing something like this is "pissing all over it" then I guess I'm a pisser. :confused0068:

It's also pretty ironic given the people who were pissing all over a simple and free procedure documented to provide a hp increase.

I guess I'm a pretty simple guy when it comes to mods - I consider all of them on a cost/benefit basis.

Performing a 2 minute procedure to remove a charcoal filter to improve air flow - great cost/benefit.

Buying a new turn signal assembly and taking apart your steering wheel so that when you make a turn your turn signal stalk goes back to center after you make a turn vs. before - bad cost/benefit.

And to the OP - more power to you, seriously. I am all for people personalizing their cars and adding information like this. Who knows, someday somebody may have a broken turn signal and want/need to use a first Gen stalk/assembly. I was just trying to figure out the functionality change. And of course, if I am missing something, feel free to point out it out. I am sure Tcoat and Ultramaroon can't wait to rec that post. ;)

I have driven cars with that "BMW" style signal lever and know that even though I don't do electrical work this is swap I would want right away!

I have found that there are few Gen 2 owners that just can not possibly envision that anybody would not think everything is perfect or that people could actually like some features from the first gen.

Whatever - just trying to figure out what was being gained. FYI, it took me less than a week to determine I hated the "three blink" feature and turned it off. However, once I did that, I would have been hard pressed to tell you that the operation was any different from the first Gen (never really paid that much attention to where the stalk was located before a turn vs. after).

BTW - if you want to find a possible other benefit to this, it may be a way to eliminate the "hyperblink" glitch that many have gotten and some have had difficulty getting rid of. Don't know enough about how the electronics work to opine intelligently on that, which I readily admit.

Ok, I got to ask. What EXACTLY is the issue with the turn signals? What is BMW turn signals? I've seen other threads with people complaining about them.