SS for E28 (and other ramblings)

[Ed Walters <EdW@xxxxxxxxx>]

	This March I went in search of a shifter solution for my '88
535is.  I had about 4 inches of play at the shifter knob when in gear
which meant that the shifter cup was done, so I decided to blow some
money on a SS kit.  I ended up throwing that kit out and installing
something better.  See below for more details on why my first SS kit was
not worthwhile.

	Enter the BL/SS kit in July.  The lever looks beautiful, is the
right height (actually slightly shorter), and yields shorter shifts than
my old SS on its maximun setting with only a slightly notchier feeling
than stock.  Installation went smoothly and did not require removal of
the driveshaft or exhaust.  Installation was done on a lift with one
person helping but it could be done just as easily on a pair of
jackstands.  One hint, wait for the car to cool off.  A couple of weeks
later,  The ERK went in.  It did two things: it put the knob back to
stock height, and reduced notchiness to stock.

  The BL/SS and ERK combo gives me shifts that are TWO FINGER THROW AND
TWO FINGER EFFORT!

	In March, I purchased a big name adjustable SS kit.  The guy on
the phone said that the amount of play in my shifter meant that I had a
worn out shifter knuckle in addition to a worn cup.  I installed the
shifter at the same time as a new guibo and new exhaust system.  (The
car needs a guibo about every 12 months.  Does anyone have a fix for
that? Heavy duty or polyurethane guibo, solid driveshaft with u-joints,
etc.?)  The installation was not to easy thanks to the horrific
instructions included.  (How come my 5.0 Mustang friends get
instructions with several pages of photos with their high performance
toys which cost 1/2 as much as the BMW equivalent?)
	I was not able to twist out the old shifter cup using two
screwdrivers as the instructions told be to so I ended up using a
screwdriver and hammer to chisel it out.  I set the shifter throw
adjustment for about a 1/3 reduction in throw which left some thread for
even shorter throw in the future.  After reinstalling the inner rubber
boot, outer boot and knob, I realized that the shifter was bent so that
the knob was too far back and left.  It was also too long, leaving about
one inch of exposed aluminum shifter between the top of the boot and the
bottom of the knob.  Also, throw was not as short as I wanted because
the portion of the shifter above the ball was longer than stock.
Shifting was much notchier than stock.
	The only improvement I really saw was from a new cup and knuckle
which removed most of the slop from the shifter.  The $229 I spent was
not a good investment.

- ------------------------------------------------------
Ed Walters
1988 BMW 535is 1998 Pizzafest Sport BMW 1st Place
		   1997 NNJR SCCA ESP SOLO II 1st Place
		   1997 NJBMWCCA Points Series 2nd Place
1974 BMW 2002

www.shortshifter.com, UUC Motorwerks, "Holy Shift!"

Pomoto Pictures, "The Deer and the Cheetah",
	an unromantic comedy, coming this fall
	to a theater near you

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End of bmw-digest V9 #131
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