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

[detch]

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:

(the two black rubbers didn't fit, but I got the right rubber somewhere else)
And transmission mounts



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?

 

[caius]

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.

 

[Rockhopper]

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.

 

[john-e89]

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.

 

[TriggerFish]

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

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).

 

[Lewis Benson]

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.

I found that too! Glad it's not just mine.

 

[caius]

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.

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.

 

[futureZ4buyer]

I found that too! Glad it's not just mine.

Mine too. Fresh fluid and cold feels worse, but hot/up to temp feels great now. OEM zhp/m knob

 

[r3vmatch]

Rogue Engineering makes an upgraded part for the item TriggerFish mentioned. The other part that will help reduce the slop is a short-shifter kit with a "dual-shear" selector rod. If you look at the BMW OE design it's pretty lame.

 

[SGRG]

I am on same journey @detch. Unfortunately have spent more than I would have liked but still haven't found the sweet spot i am looking for.

I have done the following:
1. Full refresh by Reddish along the lines of what you have done or planning on doing @detch. I wasn't very happy with this as it still felt sloppy.

2. I went a bit drastic next with RTD V4 shifter, this started out nice but it is gradually getting stiffer despite lubricating it time to time. I don't track my car and RTD is bit to extreme.

So I am thinking of going back to original but introduce DSSR this time. Which brings me to my question, has an of the M folks used this DSSR from UUC? catune seems to sell it but wanted to see if anyone has used it with oem setup first.