Shift Lever and Short Shifters

[E30_(1st Musk)_]

This thread is now 46 pages, an dI read through 11 of them and still caon't find this basic answer.

It seens that bent rods keep the shifter in a more natural position as far as being centered in the shift gate.

The Z3 1.9 is bent.

Is the Z4 2.5 bent?

nope. i dont think the 2.5 is bent. ppl say it sits streight up and kinda weird. but that they get used to it. but im pritty sure you can bend it.

[phenryiv1]

nope. i dont think the 2.5 is bent. ppl say it sits streight up and kinda weird. but that they get used to it.

Thanks for the info.

im pritty sure you can bend it.

eh, for the ~0.3" taller, I'll wuss out with the 1.9 shifter.

[AbsorbantNut]

Is the Z4 2.5 bent?

No, its straight like the z4 3.0

Its a straight line up and down

[evilnickwong]

Yes the Z4s are straight without the bend. This causes it to sit a little bit forward compared to the normal bent levers.
Annoying at first, but you'll get used to it eventually. :D

* If you look at the picture of my shifter above, that's in N and you can see it's sitting a little forward.

[slo325i]

Just letting the world know, i got one of those ebay Ralco kits, and they are awesome. It dropped right in and made a huge difference. I recommend it to anyone.

If you like a bit notchy feel and VERY short shifting, give Ralco a try.

[Schwarz325]

bringing it up to the top, can you use the m coupe or m z3 roadster shifter? i heard the m coupe one is alot shorter and notchier. I kinda like notchy shifters

[evil_twin]

So who has modded a z3 1.9L shifter? I want to shorten the height. I have an aluminum welder.

[DmcL]

Z3M shifter here.. fit right in tho car has no balancer. not sure if i was given a support arm for the stick that was too short or what the deal was but i had to get someone to weld a peice of 1 inch length aluminum in the support arm to be able to get into reverse and 5th without hitting the trans tunnel. FWIW the support arm was ordered from BMW (dontremember part num off hand) and when i compared it to the arm that was on the gearbox previously it was about an inch or so shorter.. gives uber short shifting but it is notchy. notchyness doesnt bother me tho, hardly notice it when ur ramming it into the next gear anyway. i did also install a UUC RK2 to add a little weight to the shifter. it kept pulling off with that weeny grub screw so i put in a small bolt and tightened it... alot... lol

[psyber_0ptix]

i'm encountering problems fitting my mz3 shifter with an e36 driveshaft. I'll be using the UUC Effort Reducing Kit (raised shifter cup) to help gain clearance and eliminate notchyness. The throw is absolutely perfect.

[AbsorbantNut]

get into reverse and 5th without hitting the trans tunnel.

I'm having this probelm. I got the z4 3.0 shift lever and have a tough time gettin into reverse. Havent really got to try out 5th yet:)

Can I just cut a little out of the sheet metal ? Maybe box it at the top?

[cjbecker]

has anybody put a x5 lever in a sheet metal consule car?

[cbake82]

ok so I bought a shifter from someone at the picnic this year ans on of the numbers is rubbed off so i cant tell if its a z3 or z4 shifter so i went to kuni and Curt sat with me for a good part of an hour tryin to find out which car it is off of and what I would need to put it in. unfortunately again we couldn't find it but I will say Kuni has all the parts for the E30 to do the short shifter swap. But when i went to put it in yesterday I couldn't get the stock shifter out on the nylon cup. I had my buddy pushing from the bottom with a screw driver and I pulled form the top and it just wouldn't budge. So any ideas?

[cbake82]

I ordered the e36 lever. The height is the same, keeps it looking stock, but throw is noticeably shorter.

Comparison:

well after looking at this pic I have now seen that I was actually sold an E46 M3 shifter is this even gonna work for my e30?

[bimma360]

My Z4 2.5 Shifter review here with pictures.....

http://euwerks.com/blog.php?user=bimma360&blogentry_id=76

Dave

[Gadea]

looks great! I like the orange interior too. A lot!