Well, If your bend is too much it could throw off the linear alignment when shifting causing some kind of binding preventing a smooth gear selection. I read it off of a site, I forget which. I have a z4 3.0 shifter in my ti. It's the bomb. I kinda want to cut it shorter though because I'm crazy.
I did the solder wrapped ghetto WSR. I have about two credit cards worth of clearance in all gears between the wsr and the drive shaft harmonic balancer.
My reverse hits the center console trim.
My 5th hits if I really throw it into gear, just due to the flex in the shifting assembly. When in gear it doesn't touch.
I have no problems shifting into any gear. Super quick shifts.
Had to bend the shift lever though for centering purposes.
It sits nice and towards the back some, just where i wanted it to be.
I would try taking some of the bend out.