(I wont say you have fat fingers ,,, but)
I have put 50,000 miles on mine with the paddles added and I only notice the closeness occasionally if I want to flick my high beams.

However, on my other (soon to be new daily driver) SLK, I decided to give myself a little room there. Here is the method I used seemed to work fine.


Start by releasing column lock and pulling the wheel out.

Find a 2" x 4" (1 foot or so long) and attach (with tape) a shop towel to one side, slide the 2 by 4 between the lever and the dash (keeping it close to the column).

I like to know what sort of progress I am making, so I measured before I started (the number is not meaningful here, only the delta is important). I found a good way to measure its (the turn signal lever's) position was to measure from its tip to the parting line between the upper and lower dash (to the left of the left AC vent by the drivers door).


using a heat gun (and paying careful attention to not melt anything) heat up the lever at its elbow and push back lightly (your 2 by 4 should be supporting the peak of the elbow).

work slowly .... remeasure .... when you get to 3/8" of an inch of change, take it for a spin and see if you like it.

Cheers,
Chris