328ti (Z3 swap) Shifter Weirdness
 

Hello fellow ti owners! I'm new here (my first post). Sorry to start out needy but I've got some shifter weirdness in my new 328ti.

Great car! I love how it handles and drives. Everything is great about the car. My kids love it too.

Here's my only caveat though, the shifter has LOTS of side play. Great front to back, pretty solid, but this morning it has migrated all the way over to the left, so that, I have to actually nudge the console to get it into reverse.

I'm guessing that adapting the ZF trans into the 318ti takes some custom modifications; I did pop off the shifter boot and tried to take a peep at some things; The aluminum shifter carrier arm does twist pretty easily (that seems like a bad thing), The shifter is obviously an aftermarket piece, The shifter ball does have a tiny bit of play in the delrin bushing, The selector rod seems well fixed in the shifter bushing but obviously moves with it side to side. I can't quite tell whether that bushing is bad but it seems like that is likely. I'm not sure what sort of 'custom' modifications to the shifter rod there are since I can't quite see much from the top yet. I figured it couldn't hurt to run this past my new team.

-Nic 328ti (Z3 swap)

Thanks in advance for any input or help with this. I'm planning on getting up under the car to try to see around the drive shaft this weekend. Hopefully the problem will be obvious for me. If I figure it out before I get a reply, I'll post my results for others that may encounter the same problem.

Post #1 concluded. Thanks TIem!

Figured out
 

I was able to get up underneath the car this past weekend. I discovered that that shift rod, that was custom shortened for the z3 swap, had cracked it's weld and was free to spin. Welded it back up and it works great.

OK, that said, I'm still not a big fan of this short shifter kit that's in it. I'm pretty sure the guy that had it before me just installed the shifter alone. Still a little sloppy for my taste.

I'm very interested in the UUC short shift kit. Looks WAY better. I'd also like to do the double-shear shift rod too but I fear I'll have to shorten it. Anybody know an answer for that?

Thanks in advance TiEM!

-Nic 328ti (z3 swap)

You can buy a shifter rebuild kit with very had plastic(Think plastic is called Derlawn but only 10% sure of name). The kit is fairly cheap and includes all parts. When I installed my kit there was no play at all in the shifter it made a big difference. This was a Z3M shifter and was so nice I hated driving any other manual cause they were sloppy. Also think about installing a heavy shifter grip or wrapping the long shift linkage with 2lb lead solder, it makes a big difference and feels so good.

John S

That lead wrap idea is golden!! Good idea!

You should get a z4 3.0 lever. It's a good oem ssk, but it'll need to be bent so it sits the way it should

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