Resinears

So I installed a Z3M shifter today, and I can't for the life of me get the rubber shift boot to go over the lip on the carrier. I've used dish soap to get it to slide, but no luck. My fingers and thumbs are so cramped, I can barely type! There must be some kind of trick. I'm embarrased that I can't horse this thing on...

Anyone know how? I have a feeling that if I don't get this on correctly, grit will have this mod deteriorating over time...

What's the trick?

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2000 M5
1998 540 with good stuff
2001 Hayabusa!!

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silicone spray

Resinears

Thanks for the tip, but getting the boot to slide is not a problem. Getting a grip on the inner boot to get it around the carrier lip (the part that houses the shifter ball/bearing) is what is giving me fits.

Blockdoc

Hmmm...

I don't recall it being that difficult (I did it several times). Probably just regroup and try again after you have regained your patience. Sometimes taking a break from a frustrating automotive endeavor does wonders

Good luck

Brian

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2003 Sterling Grey M5
Dinan Free Flow Exhaust, Dinan Rear Sway Bar
Super Sprint Headers
Custom tuned by ESS
Rogue Octane SSK and WSR
CNS Racing clutch and flywheel
DICE Ipod connectivity
Bimmian Black Kidney Grilles
AngeliBright V3 6000k LED Upgrade, HID Fogs
Ultimate Pedals
BSW Stage 1 speaker upgrade/BSW Subwoofer
Rear Wheels Up Front (275s all around)
Supercharged by ESS!! (Kit number 01)

Resinears

Always good advice to take a break! I know that I'm going to yank out the shifter to bend it a bit more, and this time around I'll give myself more than an hour to get it done.

Thanks,
Jeff

TCM

Hmm, I'm not exactly sure what part of the lip carrier your talkign about as I usually only install the aftermarket units, but you do not need the rubber to go all the way to the base. Only enough to seal the opening on the floor. AS others said, it shoudl be sliding the that pt pretty easily.

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T.C.
'01 Silverstone M5
AutoSolutions:short shift kit (40% reduction)
Automotive Specialist:cold air intake, swaybar brackets
Dinan:front strut tower bar, rear swaybar
Kelleners: race exhaust, suspension, ecu software
Rogue Engineering:transmission mounts
SuperSprint:X-pipe

Resinears

After reading various posts on how to do the swap, I thought the problem others were complaining about was related to getting the rubber boot to simply seal off the opening on the floor. Trust me - that is the easy part! The carrier I'm refering to is the metal arm that the shifter ball and "suspension" bearing live in. It has a lip around the top of the housing that holds the plastic bearing, and trying to get the boot to go over this is what is giving me fits... If this is done properly, the plastic bearing that holds the shifter ball is sealed somewhat from outside contamination. The inner sleeve fits over the shifter shaft, the middle sleeve goes over the offending carrier lip, and the final (obvious) sleeve with indents fits into the floor cutout.

I suspect that the previous owner to my other car (540/6) didn't have this done correctly, as the SSK in that car is really sloppy now that the miles have piled up. I haven't pulled the shifter out in that car yet, but my intention was to install the M5 shifter in my 540 prior to sale, as the slop in that linkage is the only "wart" on that car that I'd really like to address.

I don't want the same thing to happen to my beast...

I'll be away and I've got a coupe of weeks away to think about how to address this, so hopefully I'll be recharged when I'm back and able to apply myself a little harder...

Thanks to all who have chimed in, and I welcome any additional tips.
I suspect that there may be a number of people who have done the swap who have unknowingly not got the rubber boot back on properly.

I'll be back in two weeks, and hope that my lightbulb goes off before then.

Cheers,

Jeff

fumando

Yeah...I'm with you. My install took 25 minutes. 20 of that was the f***ing rubber boot. I got a nice scar on my finger from scraping the metal underneath. I put mine on from the top with lots of dish soap and oriented the rubber inside out (like you would do with the shift boot before you zip tie it) and slid it all the way to the bottom.