WANTED ZHP Gear Knob - NO LONGER WANTED

[JamieZ4C]

Update!

Consistent story from both dealers I spoke to. Hasn’t been any stock (BMW as a whole) for months due to an issue with supplier. New stock is expected in Germany on 11th June. Neither could guarantee that this fresh stock would be sufficient to fulfil any existing backorder. I would have to order and hope that mine would come out of this first batch or the supplier had got their act together and mine would follow quickly after in the following batch(es).

Went to my local dealer first and they quoted £66.50. After a LOT of prodding he finally brought it down to £61.25. To be honest if the guy hadn’t made me work so hard to get the price down, I would have ordered there and then. But sod him, I walked.

Phoned Sopers and without even having to say anything more than “Z4 forum” they quoted £66.50 and discounted down to £59.86. Delivered. Happy enough not to be bothered phoning anyone else, I placed my order and now keeping my fingers crossed it comes quickly!


Thanks for all the helpful comments guys

[R90GRN]

Hi Jamie,

Was that price from Soper's delivered to your home or do you need to collect?

Am I correct in thinking the ZHP gear knobs on eBay that come from Bulgaria aren't the real deal

Thanks

[JamieZ4C]

Was that price from Soper's delivered to your home or do you need to collect?

Am I correct in thinking the ZHP gear knobs on eBay that come from Bulgaria aren't the real deal

Yes, delivered to my home

Saw those Bulgarian/Hungarian/Latvian/Lithuanian (seemingly any country ending in "ian"!) ones on ebay. I assume not genuine and simply not willing to punt £40 that it might be up to the same spec!

[R90GRN]

Perfect, I'll phone Soper's!

[JamieZ4C]

Perfect, I'll phone Soper's!

I should be on commission!!

Phone number is 01522690000 for anyone that's interested in a ZHP. Or anything else come to think of it.

Part no for ZHP is 25117896886. This is for a 6 speed.

[brillomaster]

when it does come through, be interesting to do a side by side comparison, and also the weight difference and how it feels when driving. I wouldn't mind a bit more weight, I've got an aftermarket one that secures with grub screws, but a proper fitting one would be better.

[JamieZ4C]

when it does come through, be interesting to do a side by side comparison, and also the weight difference and how it feels when driving. I wouldn't mind a bit more weight, I've got an aftermarket one that secures with grub screws, but a proper fitting one would be better.

If I remember, I'll do a write up

[Angelus666]

Did they give you any idea on the wait time? My friendly chap at my local dealer said it'll be months before they are back in...

[JamieZ4C]

Did they give you any idea on the wait time? My friendly chap at my local dealer said it'll be months before they are back in...

No, but I did ask after what period of time I could request a refund, and he advised that any wait of longer than a month would mean he would refund if I requested.

TBH, I'm not in a rush, it's not like I don't have a gear knob, so I was happy to take a punt.

[wonkydonkey]

Am I correct in thinking the ZHP gear knobs on eBay that come from Bulgaria aren't the real deal

Saw those Bulgarian/Hungarian/Latvian/Lithuanian (seemingly any country ending in "ian"!) ones on ebay. I assume not genuine and simply not willing to punt £40 that it might be up to the same spec!

I opted for one from Latvia because I thought the genuine ones were way more expensive than just an additional £15. The quality is fine, though it is much lighter than the aftermarket knob it's replaced, which is a shame. Also I made the terrible decision to order one with an M badge and I hate myself for it Perhaps I'll have to sell it on and go for the real deal if they're only £60. Would be interested to know the weight of the genuine article.

[JamieZ4C]

I opted for one from Latvia because I thought the genuine ones were way more expensive than just an additional £15. The quality is fine, though it is much lighter than the aftermarket knob it's replaced, which is a shame. Also I made the terrible decision to order one with an M badge and I hate myself for it Perhaps I'll have to sell it on and go for the real deal if they're only £60. Would be interested to know the weight of the genuine article.

I found this video very useful when doing my research. He weighs the standard and ZHP knobs, compares the height too - quite a difference... https://youtu.be/hxPB3Wx47bU

When I get mine, I'll do a proper review with pics.

The genuine ZHP has an m badge. Doesn't bother me because the steering wheel also has an m badge as standard (on the sport coupe I have, at least).

[wonkydonkey]

JamieZ4C thanks for the link and info. I'll weigh mine today out of interest. If the ZHP knobs only come with an M badge I can make peace with that

[JamieZ4C]

JamieZ4C thanks for the link and info. I'll weigh mine today out of interest. If the ZHP knobs only come with an M badge I can make peace with that

Yeah, I can't see the M badge police having a problem with this one!

Weighed your knob yet?

You should weigh in ounces too if possible so we can compare with what the guy in the video got. 2.9 ounces for his (E46?) standard knob versus 6.4 for the ZHP.

[wonkydonkey]

Weighed your knob yet?

I tried to but my (excessively) fancy electronic scales had run out of battery! If mine is markedly lighter than the genuine article I'll buy OEM.

[wonkydonkey]

Just spent £7.50 on batteries for my scales so that I could weigh my knob! What do you mean, false economy?!

As a reminder, mine is one of the Latvian/Lithuanian replicas. 97 grams = 3.4 ounces, making it only 53% of the weight of the genuine ZHP article. Though the quality is fine, I'll be looking to eBay it off and buy from BMW for the weighted shift.

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JamieZ4C I posted this up just to close the loop. If you want to talk about it any more, feel free to PM me rather than bumping this thread to the top again. We've seen enough of your knob chat!