<MISC> Short Shift

[KLchmn@xxxxxxx]

Nathan wrote:

>I'm sure we all know this already, but my question is....what about the older
>cars? Does anybody have any ideas for the E30, E28, E24 cars?  I'd much
>rather go to a BMW dealership and buy a factory part that will do the same
>thing as a part that some company buys from BMW and slaps a sticker on or
>paints and charges 3 times as much for!  Any Ideas?  If not I am going to
take >mine out and weld an extension on to it to shorten the shift.  Thanks in
>advance!

Nathan,  Here's my experience with a '92 525i manual and an '87 325iS.  I was
generously donated an E36 M3 shifter when the owner (thanks Rob!) put in a M-
roadster shift lever.  Being the ignorant guy that I am, I decided to see what
my '92 525i shifter looked like.  Wouldn't you know it, the distance from the
ball to the linkage was the same, but the M3 lever was over one inch shorter.
Instant short shift kit!  Both levers have the same angles and everything
else, so it has worked out great!

On my '87 325iS, I discovered that the ball to linkage distance is about 1mm
and that the lever has the same angle as the E36 M3 lever.  I'm thinking --
cool, another short shift kit.  Wrong!  Oh, the lever fits and the shifts are
way, way shorter (almost too short), but the shift knob does not stay on now
due to some other issues.  I got around the situation by using a discarded
Autothority (sorry Duane!) short shift lever and some selective material
removal on the shift boot and lever.  I guess that one could try to remove the
top part of the M3 lever and replace with the top part of the 325iS lever, but
I've heard that it is a PITA.

My wife had me put the M-roadster lever in her 2.8 Z3.  Works great!

If you are going to do this, I strongly recommend getting a new plastic cup
thingy for the lever, a new clip, and new plastic washer/spacers (2).

That's my experience.

Kirk Lachman
Sin City Chapter

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