Topgaiters cheap leather shift boot from ebay

[JinormusJ]

Topgaiters seems like a hit or miss honestly

I ordered a shift boot for my last e30, and the fit was AMAZING! Downright 100% perfect like in the first post

The next e30 I got; after doing a 5-speed swap, and putting in the boot; I was extremely disappointed. The boot did not fit snug with the frame at all (as pictured in OP), but was saggy droopy, and very loose; the stitching was of poor quality and ripped on me at the top of the boot upon installation. The completed product looks poofy, misshapen, and terrible. By the time I finished my 5-speed swap though, I could not return it, and I doubt there is anything that can be done at this point (seeing as I put the order in 3+ months ago).

I ordered an MTC one on Pelican Part for the meantime for $10; I will be giving Topgaiters another go in the future, but explicitly listing exactly what I expect so that I will not be dissappointed next time. I know they are custom made, so no two boots will ever fit the same, but the one that I received fit so poorly, I was shocked following my previous purchase with them

[Bimmerguy91]

I was pretty impressed with Topgaiters quality especially for the price. Put the shift boot and parking brake boot combo on my sisters Miata. Still looks new 2 years later

[PootieTang]

mine looks similar to sully's shifter. stock w/ a zhp knob, gonna get a 1.9 soon though

[NeoMishMoo]

The PO rigged some metal contraption that drilled through the "aluminum stick" (lol) and kept the old boot up, but the knob doesnt work with it so I had to take it out. Maybe I'll just drill lower

Sounds familiar. I had shift knob with set screws but the aluminum is too soft so the set screws would just tear through until they wouldn't hold. Seeing as how the lever was already fucked, just drilled all the way through to secure the shift knob. Swapped with a 1.9 lever but I was attached to the shitty knob by then.

[Rsully70sev]

Haha, I'm stoned give me a break :D I have no idea. It's a ZF transmission, not sure what the shifter is out of. The PO rigged some metal contraption that drilled through the "aluminum stick" (lol) and kept the old boot up, but the knob doesnt work with it so I had to take it out. Maybe I'll just drill lower

[JinormusJ]

But of course ;)
I meant the actual shifter itself, the aluminum stick under the boot, not the shift knob :-P

Maybe try pulling the boot as high as possible and multiple zipties..?

[Rsully70sev]

I see, that will be tomorrow's project. The shifter is a ZHP

[JinormusJ]

The brake one is definitely fixable. Turn the boot inside out and wrap a ziptie around the excess leather on your handle, and around the tip of the boot (at this point, the shifter should be inside the inside-out shift boot)

Just tie the zip tie as hard as you can, and superglue the leathers together (don't use an excess cause it might get caught further up and will shred your boot when you turn it right side out; it happened to me, but there was nothing I could do about it)

For the shifter... What's the specs on it? Is it a Z3 M?

[Rsully70sev]

Yes, right now mine are pretty loose butthole.

[JinormusJ]

You mean like this?

[Rsully70sev]

How do you guys make them so flush with the shift knob and ebrake handle? Mine sag like two eggs hanging from a nail.

[JinormusJ]

I had to cut mine a bit to fit my 1.9 shifter; it bunches up too lol
Kinda annoying, but the look of the shift boot far outweigh the slight annoyance

[NeoMishMoo]

how'd you guys keep the boot from sagging? when i shift into 1st i can see the lever which bugs the hell outta me.

Yeah send a pic. I'm using a shitty autozone shift knob I've had for like 10 years. And I'm using a z3 1.9 shift lever so my boot actually bunches a little bit.

[JinormusJ]

Sagging...? If you have a stock BMW Shift Knob, the knob should smash the top of the boot funnel down onto the shifter. It shouldn't move after that... Maybe post a pic..?

[PootieTang]

how'd you guys keep the boot from sagging? when i shift into 1st i can see the lever which bugs the hell outta me.