Baumann Optishift Group Buy

Hey guys,

I spoke to Karl at Baumann Engineering. They have the new Optishift controller out and available OptiShift Transmission Control System.

This will allow any AOD car to upgrade to an AODE, 4R70W, E4OD or 4R100 and bypass a lot of headaches and costs of tranny builds and will also allow older cars to run a newer electronic controlled overdrive transmission.

He has currently offered $100 discount for the GB if we get 3 guys (already have 4) and may offer a better incentive if there are a substantial number of buyers. At $510 with the harness, this is the cheapest controller on the market.

No. There are still a couple of days left as I need to submit the list via email. There are currently 23 names on the list and the price has dropped to $445 plus shipping for the controller and harness. This price will never be seen again.

Directly from Karl.



"Hello Branko,

That sounds great. Thank you for your work in coordinating all of this!

At $150 off, our margins are beginning to get thin, but if you can get at least 12 buyers together, we can drop the price by another $15, which will cover UPS Ground shipping within the continental US. Since most of you are connected with the forums, we are more than willing to offer this group buy pricing for OptiShift as an introductory promotion. We will continue to offer group buy pricing in the future, but please note that out of fairness to our resellers, we cannot offer the same level of discounts on future group buys.

The only caveat is that we require all of the order details with address and billing info to be together and ready by October 5th, at the latest. We will be able to ship everything out shortly thereafter. Also, if you can get together a list of the transmission applications as soon as possible, then we can have everything ready for quick shipment. If you can have everyone email the order information listed below to me, then that would be great. Since email is not secure, it would be best to have everyone call or fax in their credit card info (card number, name, billing address, expiration date, and CVV code), instead of emailing it. Please have everyone provide the following information to get things started.

Order Information:
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Name
Address
Phone Number
email
Desired shipping method
Transmission type
Transmission year
Transmission connector details:
For 4R70W, we need to know if the solenoid connector on the transmission itself is white or black, and if the 2-pin connector on the output shaft speed sensor is square or oval shaped.
For E4OD/4R100, we need to know if it has the early (2-latch) solenoid body connector, or the late, single-latch connector.
For all Fords, we need to know if it has an analog range sensor (aka. PRNDL switch), with 8 pins on the sensor, and 6 or 8 harness wires, or a digital range sensor, with 11 sensor pins and at least 9 harness wires.

Vehicle application and year
Engine type: EFI, carbureted, mechanical diesel, or electronic diesel.


Thanks again and have a great afternoon!


Best Regards,

Karl Baumann
Baumann Electronic Controls, LLC."

Hey guys,

This is for any other members who have yet to purchase a transmission. I asked Karl if you can sign up and complete the transaction once you have purchased the transmission. His response.



Hey Branko,

Sure, that is fine. I totally understand this situation. With so many variations, it is hard to guess at which one you'll end up with.

My only requirement is that they provide all of the known info up front, including billing (credit card) info. We won't bill them until we have all of the information needed to ship the order, but due to past experiences, we do require billing info as a confirmation of intent. You can email all of the contact info to me, but if you already have it hand-written, then faxing it would be just fine, too. The customers can contact us directly with their billing info.

If they want to get started with the wiring early, we can also send the vehicle harness (where all of the connections to the vehicle and engine ECU are made) ahead of time, and send the transmission harnesses later, once they have the trans in hand. That's the nice thing about our new wiring scheme. It decouples the transmission wiring from the vehicle, so that things are a lot more flexible.

Our standard transmission harness length is 8-9 feet, but we can also build our harnesses shorter for no extra cost, if anyone is interested. We decided to start offering this after we discovered that many folks were cutting our harnesses and shortening them on their own. That results in a lot of tedious splicing, so it makes much more sense for us to just cut them shorter during the build.

If you have any other questions, please let me know.

Thanks again for all of your efforts with this group buy!


Best Regards,

Karl Baumann
Baumann Electronic Controls, LLC.

There were 27 people in the buy. I believe some have already received the controller and harness. Not sure about installations. Why do you ask?

There's no mystery. It is their 3rd gen controller. The second gen Bauminator TCS was around for quite awhile. Go to the Optishift website and you can read up on the controller.

Karl told me that the price I arranged will never be seen again. It was a one time shot for the intro to the new controller and due to the fact that I had so many purchasers come on board.

By far the largest number came from Classic Broncos. You could post there to ask if anyone has completed the install.

Baumann Optishift to run AOD-E, 4R70W (wide ratio AODE), 4R75, E4OD and 4R100 - ClassicBroncos.com Forums

The old TCS was a pretty good unit, the new controller is considerably smaller with more features and much more user friendly. The Optishift is apparently going to be able to be used with many more transmissions yet to be added.

Here is Karl's response to a recent question I had about a late model Dodge OD for an earlier 4x4.

"We are not doing anything with the 47RE yet, but we fully intend to. The OptiShift hardware has a lot of capabilities that we aren't even using yet, and our plan is to support just about every domestic transmission (including 5 and 6 speeds) within a few years.

Thanks again!


Best Regards,

Karl Baumann
Baumann Electronic Controls, LLC."

You guys could try calling Baumann Phone: (864) 646-8920 and ask for Kevin. He is handling the sales for the group buy.

If you are serious about purchasing, you can email me your contact info and I can pass it on to Karl. He usually gets back to me pretty quick.