[tonksie93]

I want to fit a large gear indicator to my 330d auto so i can see what gear i am in within my peripheral vision without needing to take my eyes off the road to look at the instrument cluster. Mainly for downshifts while braking into a corner. Will the below work or does anyone know any cheaper alternatives?

http://www.zerogravityperformance.co...display-obdii/

[tonksie93]

Anyone?

[Icarium81]

Why not just learn how to listen to your ride and intuitively know when to shift....
I ride bikes and they rarely have a tach, so you listen and shift as appropriate. I ride my bikes hard so just a hair before redline on almost every upshift, and about 1800 to 2000 rpm below that for downshifting...now that's a total guess on how much it's actually below, but I know it's about half way between the bottom of the gears rpm and the redline

[Gen13 F36]

Wow... maybe time to see an optometrist

[tonksie93]

Its mainly needed for downshifting, so when i’m braking into a corner i look down to see what gear i’m in, then work out what gear i would like to be in, then change down say 4 clicks to get from 7th to 3rd.

If i had a larger display mounted on say the a pillar i wouldn’t have to look down at the instrument cluster when the car is loaded up during heavy braking. I listen to music loud too 😁

[Icarium81]

And again, learn how to drive your vehicle and FEEL how it wants to be driven. You literally can not downshift too far, it won't let you.

[tonksie93]

I would say i’m competent in knowing how my car feels in relation to grip. Not sure how you can feel what gear you are in, unless it’s a manual where you can feel where the gear stick is. It’s the same reason sequential boxes usually have a gear indicator somewhere and i don’t fancy converting to either on my daily driver.

So with that being said does anyone know if it will work?

[Desertnate]

Two things come to mind

- A display mounted on the A-pillar is going to cut into visibility and be a distraction. The A pillars are already too large as it is and I wouldn't want anything else getting in the way...especially when driving hard on a backroad.

- Driving feel has nothing to do with the position of the gear lever and everything to do with how the car is responding to throttle inputs, what the engine sounds like, and the vibrations coming through the car from the drive train. When driving hard with paddles or with a manual stick, I never take my eyes off the road. I can tell what gear I'm in by hearing and feeling how it responds. To be honest I'm thinking more about keeping the engine in the power band and the actual RPM's than I am the actual gear number. In a tight turn I know I'll have to drop two, maybe three gears. Sweepers take one, maybe too. Along the same idea, I'll rarely ever get out of fourth gear when driving hard on a twisty back road. It always keeps me in the power band, but also means I never have to drop more than one or two gears no matter what happens.

Driving by feel is something you learn through quality time behind the wheel of your car. Pay attention to what it tells you and proper gear selection will start to become instinctual.

[njdangelo]

Your gear box is sequential anyway and cannot downshift 4 gears that fast. It's not like an smg or dct where you can rapidly tap the paddle 4 times and it follows in fractions of a second. There is a little lag. That's the one thing Thst I still miss about my manual is being to downshift from 5th to 2nd without going through 4th and 3rd. I agree with all the above posters about knowing your engine. Rpm to speed ratios help signal your gear too. For example if your at 4K and doing 25 your in 2nd, if your at 4K and doing 50, your in 4th (don't quote me on those but you get the point.) you should have a pretty decent idea what gear you're in by what speed you're carrying before you start your breaking.

But to answer your original question, maybe just call the company and see if it's compatible.

[Icarium81]

Originally Posted by tonksie93

I would say i’m competent in knowing how my car feels in relation to grip. Not sure how you can feel what gear you are in, unless it’s a manual where you can feel where the gear stick is. It’s the same reason sequential boxes usually have a gear indicator somewhere and i don’t fancy converting to either on my daily driver.

So with that being said does anyone know if it will work?

You are clearly not a driver who is in tune with their ride.
FEEL the car man, how does it respond when you're in whatever gear, how does it respond when you let off the throttle.... you are just a steering wheel holder who probably shouldn't be driving it too hard.

[Icarium81]

Originally Posted by njdangelo

Your gear box is sequential anyway and cannot downshift 4 gears that fast. It's not like an smg or dct where you can rapidly tap the paddle 4 times and it follows in fractions of a second. There is a little lag. That's the one thing Thst I still miss about my manual is being to downshift from 5th to 2nd without going through 4th and 3rd. I agree with all the above posters about knowing your engine. Rpm to speed ratios help signal your gear too. For example if your at 4K and doing 25 your in 2nd, if your at 4K and doing 50, your in 4th (don't quote me on those but you get the point.) you should have a pretty decent idea what gear you're in by what speed you're carrying before you start your breaking.

But to answer your original question, maybe just call the company and see if it's compatible.

The gearbox most certainly CAN drop 4 or 5 gears in one go, YOU on the other hand CAN NOT make it do it manually, which is pretty shitty.
Get on the highway in 7th or 8th doing highway speeds, say 100kph, and floor it in sport or sport+, it will drop it down to 3rd or 4th in one shift. Alas, when we put it manumatic, it goea sequentially and doesn't skip any gears. I think it trusts the CPUs judgment WAY more than the knob behind the wheel lol. I even tried an extra downshift just to see what it would do, nothing, it just ignored the input.

[zamboni]

Originally Posted by Icarium81

Why not just learn how to listen to your ride and intuitively know when to shift....
I ride bikes and they rarely have a tach, so you listen and shift as appropriate. I ride my bikes hard so just a hair before redline on almost every upshift, and about 1800 to 2000 rpm below that for downshifting...now that's a total guess on how much it's actually below, but I know it's about half way between the bottom of the gears rpm and the redline

My BMW F800GT came with a tach.

[Icarium81]

Originally Posted by zamboni

My BMW F800GT came with a tach.

that's great.... whats your point??? Many cruisers don't.

[eluded]

I hear you there. With the MT I Always know the gear.

[tonksie93]

Originally Posted by Icarium81

You are clearly not a driver who is in tune with their ride.
FEEL the car man, how does it respond when you're in whatever gear, how does it respond when you let off the throttle.... you are just a steering wheel holder who probably shouldn't be driving it too hard.

I would beg to differ. In my nissan i heel and toe, in both my cars i sometimes left foot brake to change the balance of my car through S bends. I ALWAYS drive with DSC completely turned off and my nissan has a mechanical throttle. I very much intuitionally know what gear i need to be in when approaching a corner by judging the turn in speed so i can have maximum throttle response when getting back on the power.

The issue is knowing what gear i am CURRENTLY in without having to look for a small number on the instrument cluster.

[Icarium81]

And again, know the feel of your car and listen to the sounds and the feel and you won't need to be guessing.