Sloppy linkage

[CanadianDirty30]

I recently replaced my shifter bushing and shifter because there was alot of play when i was in gear (felt like i was in neutral no matter the gear). This did help a little with the play and made it easier to go into gear, but theres still quite a bit of sloppiness while in gear. Im thinking it must be just a worn linkage and am wanting to replace it to find out.

Before i go buying a whole shifter linkage i may not need, are there any other bushings i can replace that could be worn enough to cause this much sloppiness?

Any info will help
Thanks!

[7pilot]

BMW # 25 11 1 434 194

m

[Steve L]

Rebuild the shifter

I had a very similar problem with my shifter. Ultimately, I rebuilt the entire shifter with a short shift kit. I replaced everything. I now have very precise shifting that makes the car a joy to drive.

While I don't necessarily recommend using a short shift kit, because it made the shifting more stiff. But I would replace the shift lever, the shift linkages, all of the bushings.

In order to perform the job, you may have to remove the exhaust and the drive shaft. That's what I had to do. At the same time, I greased the center section of the drive shaft and the flex disk in the front of the drive shaft. It's also a good time to replace the inner brake hoses in the rear of the car.

Your E30 is reaching an age where entire systems need to be restored. If you plan to keep the car, now is the time to rebuild it.....and restore everything that you encounter during the job.

These 3 series will soon be growing in value. But only the cars that have been well maintained will have value. So, it pays to rebuild each section as you go.

Sincerely, Steve L

[ky0u]

Just a heads up, this may not apply to you but it's worth looking at and might save you some headache

I had a slop issue and redid my shifter with new bushings and the issue got better but it was still not as good as I had wanted. I went through all the bushings to find what was wrong and couldnt find anything. Stressed myself out only to find...the bolt that anchors the rear bracket for the shift linkage had fallen out and was the reason why everything was loose.

For reference (8 & 9):

[CanadianDirty30]

I had a very similar problem with my shifter. Ultimately, I rebuilt the entire shifter with a short shift kit. I replaced everything. I now have very precise shifting that makes the car a joy to drive.

While I don't necessarily recommend using a short shift kit, because it made the shifting more stiff. But I would replace the shift lever, the shift linkages, all of the bushings.

In order to perform the job, you may have to remove the exhaust and the drive shaft. That's what I had to do. At the same time, I greased the center section of the drive shaft and the flex disk in the front of the drive shaft. It's also a good time to replace the inner brake hoses in the rear of the car.

Your E30 is reaching an age where entire systems need to be restored. If you plan to keep the car, now is the time to rebuild it.....and restore everything that you encounter during the job.

These 3 series will soon be growing in value. But only the cars that have been well maintained will have value. So, it pays to rebuild each section as you go.

Sincerely, Steve L

I have replaced the shift lever with a z3 1.9 short shift, the shift bushing, and shift cup where the lever sits, but based on what you did i may just take it out again and check over the rest of the busings. thanks for the advice!

Just a heads up, this may not apply to you but it's worth looking at and might save you some headache

I had a slop issue and redid my shifter with new bushings and the issue got better but it was still not as good as I had wanted. I went through all the bushings to find what was wrong and couldnt find anything. Stressed myself out only to find...the bolt that anchors the rear bracket for the shift linkage had fallen out and was the reason why everything was loose.

Sounds exactly what happened to me actually. Ill go back under and check out that rear bracket, that could possible be the problem for me as well. Last time i had the linkage out i did notice some play in the selector rod too when i was reattaching it to the lever, im gonna check that out too that could be a problem.