SSK's

[ZHPizza]

Nice thread revival and addition! Pretty dramatic repositioning of the shift lever (a hair less actually), as well as a nice reduction in throw. Strange as the BMW short shift for the m3 didn't have the curvy underside.

Yeah, the M3 is a completely different transmission and shifter assembly. Ours is definitely better

So this whole extra reach thing really bothered the shit out of me. It drove me down the path of ordering to some alternative shift levers from the Z3M and Z4M. Unfortunately the Z3M is out of stock everywhere (understeer uses this lever in their kit for our cars), but I did get my hands on this little baby Z4M lever:



The distance below the ball is pretty much the same as the BMWP lever, but the top section is shorter by 1.5in. That means it sits way down in the boot like a 350z.



It also has no bend to it, so it sits way off to the right in neutral:



And is pretty much touching the trim in 5th



Whatever, let's check the measurements:

Z4M, 3rd gear = 5.875"



Z4M, 4th gear = 3.0"



So our final comparisons are:

OE ZHP throw = 3.25in
BMWP throw = 2.75in
Z4M throw = 2.88in

[ZHPizza]

So now you're like this dude is nuts why doesn't he just buy an aftermarket shifter well it's because I love love love LOVE the design of BMW's shift levers. The upper section is actually attached to the lower rod by a pressed-on-and-crimped-ish rubber core. This rubber core is what isolates your hand from the linkage during every shift, so you get that smooth, damped feeling that BMW's are known for.

So, I now have two shift levers that work but could be a lot better if I could change some angles on them. Now thanks to the rubber core and nylon ball, you can't just go prying on these things willy nilly. I had to get creative:







Shit worked great. Before:



After:


Now we're mostly centered in neutral:



And out of trouble in 5th:



Note: I ended up going back and re-doing this bend as it was a little too far towards the driver's side and bounced off the trim ring going into reverse. It's perfect now, but I don't have pics.

[ZHPizza]

So I learned a lot from making that work. Before I settle on the little Z4M lever, I should give the BMWP lever a fair shake. I bet if I can take that lower bend out of it, it'll fix the too-far-forward issue and give me a little more throw reduction via a slightly longer pivot rod. I tried several methods...

Nope:

Also nope:



The top section kept bending no matter where I set the fulcrum. I could not get that bend out from under the ball. After another dozen or so setups that weren't photographed and didn't work, I went caveman on its ass:



And it fricken worked dontcha know. Before:


After:



I gained a solid 1/8in in length!

Let's see what difference it made in the fit:

Modified BMWP, 3rd gear = 5.25in


Modified BMWP, 4th gear = 2.5in


MUCH BETTER

Sitting in the driver's seat rowing through the gears with this lever just feels perfect - like the stock ZHP shifter but shorter and easier to reach each gear.


So now I have two great shifter setups, have swapped between them about 15 times to sit in the car and run through the gears making engine noises, and still haven't decided which one I want to keep in the car. Anyone want to buy one of them and help me out?

[t.er]

I love little homebrew mods such as these. The bad thing is that all that experimentation costs a lot - now that you've bought 2 shift levers and modified both, it'll be a tough sell on the one you don't put in the car.

Also, very cool about that little bushing between the upper and lower halves of the lever, I never paid much attention to it, just threw in the BMWP lever and called it a day.

Yeah, the M3 is a completely different transmission and shifter assembly. Ours is definitely better

I was reading a thread on NAM3Forum where those guys were complaining about their notchy shifters - having never driven an M3 I can't comment on that, but I'm sitting over here thinking "huh, I quite like my shifter... never really complained about notchiness"

[Will]

Simply amazing! Glad you were able to find the Goldilocks of angles and distances for your liking.

I didn't know I could have so much fun reading a couple posts about a bespoke shift lever. Lol.


Edit: It might have been Archimedes who said: “Give me a lever long enough and a fulcrum on which to place it, and I shall craft the perfect shifter... and if that doesn't work I'll get caveman on its ass."

[ZHPizza]

I love little homebrew mods such as these. The bad thing is that all that experimentation costs a lot - now that you've bought 2 shift levers and modified both, it'll be a tough sell on the one you don't put in the car.

Yep! This is one of those things where I need to get it perfect now, while I have the driveshaft and everything removed, so I'm testing all of the options. If I lose a little bit of money selling the spare parts, whatever. I'm happy with knowing that I ended up with the best solution and the knowledge gained in the process.

It might have been Archimedes who said: “Give me a lever long enough and a fulcrum on which to place it, and I shall craft the perfect shifter... and if that doesn't work I'll get caveman on its ass."

Lol nice. We just watched Bill & Ted the other night so I'm visualizing Archimedes as the dude that played Socrates and it's perfect.

[ZHPizza]

I ended up ordering a prebent Z3M kit from Understeer once they came back in stock and pulled the Z4M lever last night to do a true comparison:



I thought the Z3M would be taller, but it falls right in the middle. I see why it's such a popular upgrade.

Going to try running my modified BMWP lever for a bit and see how I like it. The Z4M lever was perfect once I swapped on a taller, heavier knob, but I just miss the feel of the ZHP knob too much.

[YoitsTmac]

Nice work! I wanted to make a shifter where teh bottom half was threaded with a lock nut so you could adjust the throw, but my machine shop told me to go home . Needless to say, you did the tinkering I wanted to do and I really admire it.

Your shifter is really low, lower than I would personally enjoy. I just switched to the UUC EVO shifter and I'm pretty on the fence about it. It's worn in now and the shifts are a little nicer, but I still long for my Rogue Engineering shifter I bought from SillieIdiot back in the day. I loved the height and felt the throw just needed to be slightly shorter. I have my uuc so much, maybe I'll swap it out. Right now I have too many projects though.

My main complaint with the UUC EVO is that with the stock selector rod, neutral looks like what was one my third gear. It's also a little low for my tastes, but it is still higher than yours ZHPizza.

I was going to do a video series where I taught all my friends stick, so I actually have some shots of my Rogue Engineering throw for if anyone was thinking about it.

[sillieidiot]

Nice work! I wanted to make a shifter where teh bottom half was threaded with a lock nut so you could adjust the throw, but my machine shop told me to go home . Needless to say, you did the tinkering I wanted to do and I really admire it.

Your shifter is really low, lower than I would personally enjoy. I just switched to the UUC EVO shifter and I'm pretty on the fence about it. It's worn in now and the shifts are a little nicer, but I still long for my Rogue Engineering shifter I bought from SillieIdiot back in the day. I loved the height and felt the throw just needed to be slightly shorter. I have my uuc so much, maybe I'll swap it out. Right now I have too many projects though.

My main complaint with the UUC EVO is that with the stock selector rod, neutral looks like what was one my third gear. It's also a little low for my tastes, but it is still higher than yours ZHPizza.

I was going to do a video series where I taught all my friends stick, so I actually have some shots of my Rogue Engineering throw for if anyone was thinking about it.

This is why you just go with Autosolutions. This is the kit I have now. Well mines more customized, but all the current 330 6sp kits are based off mines. Also, you can talk to Ronald and customize it to what you like too. I think it's way better than the Rogue or UUC I had before.

[YoitsTmac]

That photo is what I sent auto solutions as a base of something I like in height and neutral position, but said he could do his magic otherwise.

Nice guy and I admire his work. I filled out everything he needed me to do to get the order started but I haven’t heard anything. That was 2,3 weeks ago. I know he’s busy. I wanted it before laguna next month but since it won’t be ready by then, I guess I’ll take it whenever it’s ready.