Project Big Six-y: 1991 BMW 535i/5

[Jake]

My shifter bushings were all out of sorts, which meant that finding second gear (and sometimes fourth) was met, in true Top Gear fashion, by a series of challenges.

The way to fix this is to replace all of the plastic bushings that go bad between your right hand and the Getrag box under the car. While everything is removed, it's common for people to install some sort of short-shift kit for better shifting action.

I elected to buy a different OEM BMW shifter as my "short shift" as it was far cheaper and provided a similar effect. Any BMW shifter will fit any other BMW, apparently -- although you can run into clearance issues with the bottom of the shifter hitting the driveshaft or other things. The best fit for my car is the E60 (2004-2007ish) 545i Sport shifter. The non-Sport package is a different part.

There's a little clip that holds the shifter support to the transmission. It's a pain in the ass to remove, as it's on top of everything and you're doing most of this job entirely by feel, since you're likely too lazy to remove the exhaust, heat shield and driveshaft. Anyway, I got lucky with where I randomly stabbed a small flathead screwdriver, and got the clip off on the 18th try, after like ten minutes of messing around. I also got lucky and put a nice hole in the side of my thumb, approximately the size of said flathead screwdriver. Be careful, kiddos.

Once things are out, it's easy to remove bushings and replace (relatively).

I'll have to get a pic of the new shifter. I'm using the same ZHP knob but holy hell, the throws are short. I've gone from rowing a boat to, well, not. It's almost as short as the Miata's shift throws. Still getting used to it.


Oh...and in doing this repair/upgrade, I discovered that my transmission mounts are shot and leaking everywhere, and my guibo/flex disc is well on its' way to being destroyed. Greatttt.

And the dashboard keeps yapping at me for "COOLANT LOW OWNER'S MANUAL" which I suppose I should investigate. Temps are fine though, even in stuck-in-66-traffic-where-it-takes-an-hour-to-go-a-mile last night. Stupid sensors everywhere.