OEM shifter

Overview

Modern OEM shift-by-wire selectors (for example the BMW F-series gear selector) do not move a cable — they report the driver's selection on the CAN bus. The device reads such shifters through a CAN Preset: adding the preset automatically creates a CAN Object Input for each trigger the shifter exposes. The preset owns the protocol and already resolves the lever movement into mode requests, so there is no manual frame decoding — your job is only to assign the created inputs in the mode table.

Prerequisites

  • The OEM shifter wired to one of the device's CAN buses, with the correct bitrate and termination — see Working with the CAN Bus.
  • A CAN Preset available for the shifter model, matching its exact variant.
  • The shifter powered according to the OEM wiring.

Input configuration

  1. Define the CAN network the shifter is connected to.
  2. Add the shifter's CAN Preset on that network. The preset creates one CAN Object Input per trigger the shifter exposes.
  3. Reference the created inputs by their aliases — there is nothing to wire or decode manually.

An OEM shifter preset exposes one input per requested mode, plus the manual-gate triggers where the shifter has them:

Object input Meaning
Parking Parking requested
Reverse Reverse requested
Neutral Neutral requested
Drive Drive requested
Manual Lever moved into the manual gate
Upshift Upshift request in the manual gate
Downshift Downshift request in the manual gate

The exact set of objects depends on the preset — check the created inputs after adding it.

Mode configuration

The device uses a state-machine table that lets you define how the modes change on activation of each assigned input. Modes are represented by columns, each row represents an input trigger, and each cell holds the new mode that is engaged when that input triggers in that mode.

Because the preset already resolves the lever movement into mode requests, each input can simply switch directly to its respective mode:

Input Reverse Parking Neutral Drive Manual Sport
Parking Parking Parking Parking Parking Parking Parking
Reverse Reverse Reverse Reverse Reverse Reverse Reverse
Neutral Neutral Neutral Neutral Neutral Neutral Neutral
Drive Drive Drive Drive Drive Drive Drive
Manual Manual Manual Manual Manual Manual Manual
Upshift Reverse Parking Neutral Drive Manual Sport
Downshift Reverse Parking Neutral Drive Manual Sport
Other Reverse Parking Neutral Drive Manual Sport

How it works

Each mode input switches directly to its respective mode, regardless of the currently active mode — the device follows the shifter, and the OEM selector's own logic defines what the driver can request. The Upshift and Downshift rows leave the mode unchanged — in Manual mode these triggers request gear changes rather than mode changes.

The Sport column is shown for completeness — none of the inputs configured here enters it. If the preset exposes a Sport trigger for your shifter, add a row for it that switches to Sport.

The table can still shape the transitions if the direct mapping is not desired. For example, changing the Reverse row's Drive cell to Neutral makes engaging Reverse from Drive require two actuations instead of one.

OEM selectors rely on interlocks that the original vehicle enforced (for example brake pressed before leaving Parking). The device follows the triggers as configured, so please make sure the mode-change safety conditions (safety map) are configured to reproduce the interlocks you need. Where the preset supports it, the active mode can also be reported back to the shifter or dashboard display through the preset's outputs.

Troubleshooting

  • The object inputs do not exist: the CAN Preset is not added, or it is added on the wrong CAN network.
  • Nothing triggers: check the CAN bitrate, the termination and that the shifter is powered and transmitting.
  • Triggers look wrong or incomplete: the selected preset variant does not match the shifter — verify you picked the correct preset for your exact model.

Remarks

This is an example configuration. It is intended to showcase how the device works and how to set up the mode transitions. If desired, this configuration can be extended or modified to fit more complex scenarios.