Can I get to the gear linkage w/o removing driveshaft and exhaust?

[NielsGalan]

Hey.
Planning on fixing the gear linkage soon, to tighten things up. To paraphraze Borat: "Gear shifter is loose, like anus of my sister, no. 4 prostitute in all of Kasakstan!"

I found a niiiice writeup in the archives, and i'm gonna go for it!

Only question is, do I really need to remove the driveshaft etc.? Is the heat shield removable without taking everything else out? Could I reach in there and still do a decent job?

Why the f*** I don't look for myself?, I hear you ask. I'm lazy today, and to get to the pit to have a look, I need to empty the pit first.

[Ross]

I think you can get all but one of the bushings without all the hoo-ha. It was a long time ago and on an E30 when I did it. Don't bitch if I'm wrong.

[Jeff N.]

To do it right, you need to drop the driveline. Critical to the R&R job is doing the forward mount for the shifter bracket. To get to this, the driveline needs to be out of the way.

The real PITA is not removing the driveline per se, it's removing 62lbs of exhaust pipe to get to the figgin' driveline.

[Jeff N.]

BTW, here are some linkage rebuild pics from when I did mine.

Old cup and new cup

http://home.comcast.net/~jsnord/pics/sl1.JPG

Old rear mount; near rear mount. You want to do this part.

http://home.comcast.net/~jsnord/pics/sl2.JPG

Fully rebuilt assembly; note the black bushing at the front of the linkage on the left. That's a critical replacement part too.

http://home.comcast.net/~jsnord/pics/sl3.JPG

T-connection where the linkage connects to the selector arm. Be sure to replace the foam pad. You can see what was left of my old one.

http://home.comcast.net/~jsnord/pics/sl4.JPG

[Jeff N.]

Top view of new parts all ready to go.

http://home.comcast.net/~jsnord/pics/sl5.JPG

Bottom view - note the missing driveline. Have fun.

http://home.comcast.net/~jsnord/pics/sl6.JPG

[NielsGalan]

Thanks, Jeff. Driveline has to go.

I'm looking at a set like this. It doesn't include the bushing you mentioned nor the rear thingy. "They" claim, that this is what I need. Do you insist on me getting the before mentioned stuff?

My "problem" is mainly looseness from side to side. I have no problem changing gear, so this is only a matter of comfort/feel.

Here's a pic of the gear linkage fixer upper set.

http://www.schmiedmann.com/ProductPictures/image_8224_big.jpg

[Jeff N.]

Here's an old pic I have handy... ignore the header language. The parts in your list are numbers 12, 15 and the bushings in #11. Also included is the cup circled in center red circle. NOT there is the front bushing (red circle on the left) and rear mount (poorly pictured, red circle on the right).

The mounts are critical as they hold the pivot for the shifter and wear allowing the pivot to move thus contributing the floppy feel.

This is also a perfect time to convert to the Z8 shifter arm. A slightly shorter arm that seems to be the perfect fit for our cars.

So, if you really want to do it right and make a big improvement do the fore and aft mounts, replace the arm with the Z8 arm (about $65 via BMA) a few years ago and all the parts I have suggested. BMA can supply everything.

Another good "toss in" is rear tranny mounts; here's why.

To get that forward bushing, you'll need to undo the bitch clip (take a guess as why it's named that) you can see in picture. The simplest and best way to get to that clip is to remove the tranny mounts and set the tranny on the x-cross member. This will give you the space you need to get your arm up and over the tranny with the screw driver to undo the clip. Any other way is 10x harder. New rear tranny mounts will also tighten things up that much

http://home.comcast.net/~jsnord/pics/shift_linkage_update.jpg

Hehe...btw, how's your guibo? You'll have to have that out - another great thing to replace if you need to.

[NielsGalan]

Jeff, i've got to hand it to you. All your priceless info gives me the confidence to really go in there and know what i'm doing.

I replaced the guibo and center bearing recently, and now i'm going to do the cv joint, now that i'm going down there. And interesting that you mention the tranny mounts, because they're on my shopping list. I've included the bushing and rear mount for the shifter as well.

Thanks in advance for your help. It won't be until a couple of weeks from now that i'm "going in". I'll keep you posted, as to how it went.

Niels.