Smooth Shifting: Bushings vs SSK?

[onewhippedpuppy]

My 540/6 has a somewhat clunky shifter, I'm sure with 136k the bushings are shot. My goal is to have it smooth, and easy to shift. I'm changing the fluid regardless to Redline or Royal Purple, but which will make my shifting smoother but still easy? My wife drives this car too, so I can't put in a SSK that takes two hands to shift, easy is good. New bushings in the stock one, SSK, or the shifter out of another BMW? Any ideas?

[Anthony (M5 in Calgary)]

My 540/6 has a somewhat clunky shifter, I'm sure with 136k the bushings are shot. My goal is to have it smooth, and easy to shift. I'm changing the fluid regardless to Redline or Royal Purple, but which will make my shifting smoother but still easy? My wife drives this car too, so I can't put in a SSK that takes two hands to shift, easy is good. New bushings in the stock one, SSK, or the shifter out of another BMW? Any ideas?

Redline D4 ATF (if your car requires ATF). I use it in the M5 and even with a UUC EVO SSK with DSSR the shifts are buttery smooth. Actual effort rose only slightly with the SSK despite the throws being shorter by nearly half.

[Larry Looney]

Just wondering do you have to get all the ATF oil out or just the oil in the pan and filter? And will the Redline ATF mix ok with the oil left ing the trans?

[Anthony (M5 in Calgary)]

Just wondering do you have to get all the ATF oil out or just the oil in the pan and filter? And will the Redline ATF mix ok with the oil left ing the trans?

We're talking manual transmissions, not auto.

From what I've read on this forum, changing ATF on autos can be a recipe for early gearbox failure

[onewhippedpuppy]

Some of the manuals, including mine, call for Dextron 2 or 3 ATF.

I've seen that question before, everybody says that the bulk of it drains out, so it's not a big deal. Also, it seems like it says on Redline and RP's websites that they are compatible with normal ATF.