Bought 318i, has short throw, but it's very sloppy and loose. What do?

[iamthatis]

Bought a 318i, the PO installed a short throw shifter. The throws are short but the actual lever isn't. Which i'm still on the fence about.
The thing is though, it is very very sloppy and loose, side to side play. he said he didn't install some of the bushings.

I've never worked on shifter/linkage assembly, that whole area. I'm no newb when it comes to working on cars with tools though. but I honestly don't know what to look for, replace.

I'm thinking the best thing to do is buy appropriate pieces, go in there/under there, and install/replace them. But what? Where? Do i NEED to go under the car? I took off the center console area to look at the shifter, see if I can see anything. But there's a big rubber piece. Does that just pop out?

I did a search, but couldn't find anything specific. found mostly tranny posts.

I do like stock shifter. I've been reading about the Z4 shifter job, even before I bought this car. Maybe I should just do that? I don't know which short throw is in my car, it's pretty notchy and harsh, but the throws are very short. maybe i'll end up liking that.

So can you guys help me out? What do i need to know before I go in there/under there, what to look for. What actually causes a shifter to become sloppy, with a lot of side to side play/motion? This is in every gear.

Thank you,
-Vlad

[DesktopDave]

First, I'd be looking at the exploded diagrams on RealOEM.com  or BMWFans.info to get a good understanding of how it goes together.   You can get parts numbers of items you might need from there.  Not sure where you're from, but I'd  suggest BMA, BluntTech or BMW of South Atlanta for OEM parts...PelicanParts is good too, Just compare prices on OEM parts between several vendors.

That rubber insulation piece does just pop out.  It covers the lower linkage.  Basically, the shift lever you hold has a ball near the bottom and a tube at the bottom.  The ball sits in an aluminum carrier secured with two nylon cups that wear out & make it feel "loose."  The carrier is clipped to the tail of the tranny on one end (with a rubber bushing) and attached to the tranny tunnel (with a rubber "snubber") on the other end. Both of those will also wear out, making the whole deal feel like a spoon in oatmeal.

Finally, the shifter linkage is a bit of tubing going from the bottom of the shifter rod to the tail housing of the tranny.  That part is usually in great shape...but the bushing that seals it frequently wears out at high mileage.

The job is a complete PITA, I won't lie to you.  The clip that secures the rod has to be unsprung and rotated at the same time with very little clearance.  It's been nicknamed the "bitch clip" due to that fact.  Removing the rear mount is also difficult with the driveshaft in the way.  I've only done this job when I've dropped a transmission.  Also beware that earlier e30's may have a different shifter type and cannot furnish spares for you.

[iamthatis]

awesome. yea the diagrams help, thats what I needed. Also the PO said he changed/upgraded the shifter rod, he might've said its a UUC one, which would be awesome, because I know what they do, read up on them in the past.

Ok, so if I pop off that rubber seal thing, will i be able to see a lot/most of the parts? I mean, will I be able to visually spot the parts you described, and see if they are worn?
OR do i just go to town and order all the bushings, cups, whatever, and just replace all of them? Wish I knew what shifter it is. Is there any way to know? They're usually stamped right?

**EDIT**
Ok I looked at the diagram some more, and it makes more sense. The PO gave me a bag with some bushings, and upon examining some of them it looks like they compare to the ones in the diagram. I think i'm gonna get in it tomorrow and take a look. thanks

[DesktopDave]

You can see the most important parts - the top of the ball and the top shifter cup once you pull that cover off.  The cups can be rotated out of the shifter support with a pair of small screwdrivers, I'll bet.  It's not a hard job, just tedious and annoying.  Results are well worth it though.

[iamthatis]

yay! project tomorrow.

[iamthatis]

Has anyone done this without taking off the driveshaft? there's barely any clearance, but i really dont want to undo the guibo and get into all of that stuff.

[rjcaptsean]

Here is a couple of semi-obstructed views.  These were taken from a creeper with my feet out the Drivers side.  So the Drivers side is DOWN in these pics.

[lqbanotxano]

I tried changing all the parts in the shift kit without removing the guibo & failed. In the end I bought a guibo & replaced it as part of the process.
I got the shift kit from Pelican (price has gone up), the Z3 shifter from stealer & new guibo from Bap Geon. It all set me back about $250.00 plus labor.
The good news is that this should last the remainder of the life of the car....& it has zero play ...short & firm too.
The guibo was very hard to remove. The bolts were rusted & would not come out. The old guibo also had more cracks that were hard to see until removed & inspected.

[iamthatis]

@ lqbanotxano
     I was afraid of this, but in the back of my mind knew this would need to happen all along.
     I just bought the car, and the PO installed a short throw with a new selector rod. I don't know what brand the short throw is, i looked up top and beneath the car but didn't see any markings to signify the manufacturer. The selector rod looks really good, i dare say might be a UUC. The PO said he didn't install a lot of the bushings/fittings/etc, and left them all in a plastic bag for me 0_o.

Hey, can you tell me about the Ford 02 Sensor that you mention in your signature?

once my shoulder heals (Just had shoulder surgery), i'm gonna get my friend to come by and help me do the job. I figure I might as well order a guibo and do that too. I remember taking one off my other friends 318is, but that was years upon years ago. For now, im just gathering info so when i get in there it'll be a bang up job.

Thanks all!

[lqbanotxano]

On the O2 sensor...I lost the box & don't remember the part number. Do a search. I got the info of this site. I do remember it was a fraction of the cost...Ford part...cut, splice, shrink tubing… the connector & that was it.