Refurbishing the shifter - how to make the shifts tighter, more precise, more engaging?

D

detch

Member
Hi,

I want to refurbish my shifter in my 2003 E85 2.5i. After 20+ years of rowing the shifting feeling isn't that great.
What I bought is this set:
1788423017151.png
(the two black rubbers didn't fit, but I got the right rubber somewhere else)
And transmission mounts

1788423041391.png

After the installation the shifter feels... slightly better. But it's far from "nice" in my opinion.

- I bought a DSSR for E46 but it's 40% too short, so that was a miss.
- Maybe I should get a short shifter? But I don't mind the leaver travel, I want the mechanism to be more pleasant...

Any other hints?
 
I've wondered about refurbing the mounts/rubbers on both of mine, changing the knob for a Stormwerks made a huge difference to the smoothness of the change (ZHP knob has the same effect I hear.) Something about more weight on the end of the lever makes a difference to the feel. Not gotten around to changing the other bits yet.

Changing the gearbox oil ~9k miles ago has made it a far notchier feel until the box is warm too. Somewhat confused by that, I'd expect it to feel better all round, rather than only when warm.
 
It might not have had the correct oil in there before you changed it. A popular mod on many manual cars is to replace the EP80 or 90 or whatever with ATF. That can dramatically improve shift quality.
 
Depending on mileage the linkage, linkage pins, pin housings at the gearbox ‘Could’ be slightly worn as well as the gearlever base components, it all adds up. Purely imo it’d be worth inspecting all these as I don’t mean to be rude, but the stuff you’ve bought is like putting a plaster on a broken leg.

Best of luck. 👍
 
Did you get the part that goes onto the input shaft on the gearbox? That's the most important part.

www.schmiedmann.com

Joint for shifterarm

Joint for shifterarm - 25117580281, 25 11 7 580 281, 7580281, 25-11-7-580-281 - Fits on models: E81 E82 E87 E87 LCI E88 F20 F20 LCI F21 F21 LCI F22 F22 LCI F23 F23 LCI F87 M2 F87 M2 LCI E36 E46 E90 E90 LCI E91 E91 LCI E92 E92 LCI E93 E93 LCI F30 F30 LCI F31 F31 LCI F34 GT F34 GT LCI F35 F35 LCI...
www.schmiedmann.com

(I got mine from the dealer - but that shows the part, rather than a generic parts diagram icon).
 
Rockhopper said:
It might not have had the correct oil in there before you changed it. A popular mod on many manual cars is to replace the EP80 or 90 or whatever with ATF. That can dramatically improve shift quality.
Click to expand...
Ah interesting ta, that hadn't occurred to me. I figured it would have the original fluid at ~132k or so when I got Birds to change it. It's not terrible to the point I think I'd change it out for ATF, but it's definitely stiffer when cold for the first couple of minutes going in/out of first. Food for thought.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom