Results 1 to 7 of 7

Thread: DDM Aluminum Pedals(E39)--A Review(pics)

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Oct 2008
    Location
    Albuquerque
    Posts
    208
    My Cars
    E39 WIN!

    DDM Aluminum Pedals(E39)--A Review(pics)

    Just received and installed my aluminum pedals from DDM, so I thought I would share a review of them, as I wasn't able to find much info about them in the forums before I purchased them. Hopefully, this will benefit those who might be in the market for a set in the future.
    (click on the pics for larger version)

    1. Packaging - not much to say, obviously; they come in a small box, and are individually packaged in plastic as to avoid scraping eachother. Nice. +1



    2. Initial impressions - I was actually pretty happy when I first laid eyes on them; they look to be of good quality, with no noticeable blemishes I could see at a glance. +1



    3. Installation, Gas Pedal - Well, unfortunately, here's where things turn a tad towards the sour. Once I put it in my car and test-fitted it, I immediately noticed that although somewhat close, it was not an "exact" fit over my pedal; in fact, the angles are pretty much wrong all around. You go to align one side, and another side is off... you go and align that side, and then another side/angle is off, or now the pedal hole is too close(or over) the edge of the original pedal to drill a hole... Ugh. -1

    Lemons from lemonade... That all being said, I should probably say that I am very much a perfectionist, so little things like an angle being *slightly* off kinda bothers me. But then again, for $40+shipping, what was I really expecting? Anyway, I decided to make do, and just align the gas pedal as best I could, so that the original pedal only stuck out awkwardly on the right side, where it would pretty much never be seen.

    They say in the instructions(which do NOT come with the pedals, btw), that the brake pedal is the hardest to install, but I adamantly disagree. I think it's the gas pedal, by a F****** mile... The holes are easy enough to drill, but aligning it to my liking, where I wouldn't look at them and say "gaaa, there's that 'spot' where the original pedal sticks out... " took what seemed like forever. In addition, the bottom right bolt is a BITCH to deal with. You have to put a VERY SMALL washer and nut on the back, and being so jammed into that corner, there is literally only room to get one finger back there. I must have spent 20 minutes trying and completely FAILING to get the washer and nut on the screw with one finger. Insert plethora of F-bombs now... Thus, here's a tip, from what I eventually ended up doing: take a piece of duct tape, and wrap it around one of your fingers, with the sticky side facing out. That way, the nut will just stick on there, and you don't have to worry about dropping it a million F****** times, like I did... As for the washer, that method doesn't really work; you just have to lay it on your finger, and hope you don't drop it while getting it to the back of the bolt. Oh, and did I mention you really have no way of seeing back there? Yep... -1

    4. Installation, Brake Pedal - Like I mentioned, this was definitely the easier of the two. Yeah, it's metal, and the holes take a lot longer to drill(start with a 1/16" bit, then work your way up to a 1/8" bit), but it's MUCH easier to get to and work with, and getting the washers/nuts on is a breeze. Had the same kind of alignment issues I had with the gas pedal, but overall, the brake pedal was much closer to it's original counterpart than the gas pedal. The only real problem with the brake pedal is the bolts, or more specifically, the length of the bolts. Waaaaaaaaaaaay too long. I'm sure, since these pedals are for a variety of different cars, that in some applications, they don't stick out this much, but still... come on... they come in a plastic bag, probably stuffed in there from a giant bin of a million of them... how hard would it be to give shorter ones to the cars that need them?? I'm going to just leave them like that for now, but I imagine I'll revisit them, take them out, and cut them down to a more appropriate size later, hopefully before one of them catches one of my nice shoes, and puts a nice big rip/scratch in it. -1



    5. Installation, footrest - Very strange this footrest is... at first, I thought I got the wrong one, or possibly a defective one. When I flipped it over, I noticed the rubber insert was cut/tapered on the bottom/left side, but the metal was a perfect rectangle... I thought maybe it was damaged or something, but upon closer inspection, it looks as though it was meant to taper like that...



    Anyway, not sure what that is about, but I thougt F-it, just go with it, lol. Upon test-fitting it, I noticed something else: surprise! It doesn't quite line up with the stock footrest... On the bottom right corner only, there is a pretty noticeable lip that protrudes out and over the rounded edge of the stock footrest. I tried taking several pics of it, but with the black carpet/footrest, it's just too hard to capture it on film:



    To be honest, I never really wanted the footrest to begin with--only the gas/brake pedals. Unfortunately, though, DDM no longer sells the sets without the footrest included, so I was stuck with it. Anyway, as of now, and because of that funky lip action on the bottom right, I've decided just to forgo installing it. I'm sure it would be fine for some, but I just think it would bother me if I put it in there. -1

    6. Final Thoughts & Tips - I give these pedals a grade of C+. Overall, I can't say I'm very impressed with these pedals, but I can't say that I hate them, either, as the end result actually looks pretty good(granted, there was quite a bit of work/troubleshooting to get them to that result). And of course, as I mentioned, I'm very much a perfectionist, so please take that into consideration when interpreting my comments.

    As for installation tips, in addition to the duct tape trick mentioned earlier, I have three. First, do NOT use the pedal as a guide while you are drilling the pilot holes, as they show/suggest in the instructions. You will very likely MANGLE the hole in the pedal very easily; remember, these are made of ALUMINUM, which means they are very, very SOFT metal. Trust me, just don't do it. Secondly, mark(using a scratch awl--even on the metal) and drill one hole at a time, and test-fit/mark with the bolts in as you go. There's not much room for error regarding the holes, so to minimize having to drill out the holes sideways in a certain direction to get it to line up with how you want the pedal positioned, I recommend this method. Third, as was brought to my attention by another member on here before I went ahead and bought the pedals(Thanks sddale! ), on the top two bolts of the gas pedal, due to their length, when installed/tightened, they actually prevent the pedal/kickdown button from going down fully. His suggestion was to put a piece of felt behind the aluminum pedal, which I'm sure would have worked fine(as it did for him), but when I thought of the prospect of dealing with that bottom right bolt again, I decided against that, and opted to just cut off roughly 3/16" off of the end of the bolt. Problem solved.

    Before:

    After:


    Well, I hope this information proves useful to someone out there in internetland. I know this probably seems like A LOT of text for a set of aluminum pedals, but I guess I figure I can't be the only one out there that would be looking for this kind of detail. I mean, if nobody cared about their BMW's this much, then we probably wouldn't even have this forum, right?!

    Cheers,
    ~m.
    2001 525i (Jet Black) | De-badged | White AngeliBright v3.0 (remote turn-on wired--INFO) | GromAudio Aux Input | DDM Blackout Grilles(PICS)
    Hoen Xenon-Match Fog Bulbs | White LED interior/trunk/plate lights | Chrome Gauge Rings | Chrome E-brake Handle | DDM Aluminum Pedals(REVIEW)
    M5 trunk spoiler | Smoked Side Markers | Black/White Emblems | 10" RF P3 Sub w/Custom Fiberglass Enclosure(WRITE-UP)

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Sep 2006
    Location
    Bethlehem/Philadelphia pa
    Posts
    8,615
    My Cars
    99 740i,535xi,z4 mcoupe
    Thanks for the write up!!!

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Aug 2009
    Location
    San Diego,CA
    Posts
    111
    My Cars
    2000 540iA
    Very detailed write up. Is it possible to remove the original gas pedal instead of laying this one on top? I think that I saw some directions for removing the pedal but I wasn't going to do that because it wasn't really off by that much. Since I don't have the tools to cut those bolts I had to improvise with the felt.

    The pedals work great for $40.

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Mar 2008
    Location
    Los Angeles
    Posts
    3,875
    My Cars
    98 M3/4/5, 97 740iL
    Great review but to be honest with you two of the four "-1's" are not exactly DDM's fault... The bolts issue on the gas pedal is the same for any set you get, as well as the length of said bolts. I have original ///M pedals and can tell you I threw out a good couple F-bombs myself.

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Oct 2008
    Location
    Albuquerque
    Posts
    208
    My Cars
    E39 WIN!
    Quote Originally Posted by Am3n View Post
    Great review but to be honest with you two of the four "-1's" are not exactly DDM's fault... The bolts issue on the gas pedal is the same for any set you get, as well as the length of said bolts. I have original ///M pedals and can tell you I threw out a good couple F-bombs myself.

    Thanks, man; I'll concede the issue about that bottom right bolt--not much anyone can really do about that... But, DDM certainly has the power to choose which bolts they include in their pedal package. I imagine it's just "easier" for them to use the same bolts for every package, no matter the application. Kinda disappointing in my book, but again, for $40, what is to be expected??
    Last edited by milkyslims; 04-11-2010 at 12:56 PM.
    2001 525i (Jet Black) | De-badged | White AngeliBright v3.0 (remote turn-on wired--INFO) | GromAudio Aux Input | DDM Blackout Grilles(PICS)
    Hoen Xenon-Match Fog Bulbs | White LED interior/trunk/plate lights | Chrome Gauge Rings | Chrome E-brake Handle | DDM Aluminum Pedals(REVIEW)
    M5 trunk spoiler | Smoked Side Markers | Black/White Emblems | 10" RF P3 Sub w/Custom Fiberglass Enclosure(WRITE-UP)

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Nov 2004
    Location
    MA / Los Angeles
    Posts
    2,649
    My Cars
    E30 (Delores), W123
    Nice review. These have been on my list for a long time. Some day...

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Feb 2010
    Location
    San Diego, CA
    Posts
    412
    My Cars
    2003 525I
    Nice review - but definitely makes me NOT want to buy these. It's funny as I've bought just about everything else from DDM, bumpers, trim, mirrors for an E39 next was cosmetic stuff like the pedals, shift knob and emergency brake handle, but now... maybe not.
    2003 BMW M3 - Alpine White - 6 speed
    2002 BMW 330i - Gray - 5 speed

Bookmarks

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •