HMS short shift

neil · 25th March 2000, 05:52

Installed the HMS short shift kit 2 days ago. The throw is very short and shifting is quite precise. An infinite improvement over the original equipment. Shifts from 1-2, 2-3 and 3-4 are no-fail. You still need to push the shift lever against spring force for 4-5 but that's not so critical or often used (by me anyways) in speed shifts. Its a bit stiff and requires more force than ideal - I'm hoping it will improve with use. I considered the AC Schnitzer kit but its not available yet and the stock shifter was really getting to me - its hard to believe BMW would configure such an excellent car with such a hopeless shifter. My other comments about the car after 5 months of ownership are 1) could use more robust brakes - you can get going pretty fast/pretty fast 2) sound system needs work 3) had P210A winter tires for a while - the car has enough power to make the DSC retard timing throughout 1-2-3 with full throttle! really feels like there is something wrong and takes much of the fun out of accelerating.

Kelvin · 25th March 2000, 16:23

HMS gets their supplies of short shifters from UUC Motorwerks.. I'm glad you like the shifter. I think I'm going to change mine too.

The sound system isn't actually that bad. You must switch off the equilizer! The equilizer is a failure. After the equilizer if turned off, adjust the base and treble levels from the "tone" button. You should have a significant improve in sound quality.

bob · 27th March 2000, 19:08

Neil,

I share your disappointment with the stock shifter, especially the 1-2 shift. If I may ask, who installed your HMS kit? Is this a do-it-yourself project? I have been told it is not but that I could request my dealer perform the installation. Any comments about that?

Bob

neil · 29th March 2000, 07:43

My dealer installed my shift kit - when I asked the dealership manager what he thought of the idea of a short shift he said "go for it" and offered to install the parts. Hopefully other dealers will have the same bravado. If you venture to install it yourself, the instructions are very clear and well illustrated with photos - it seems quite doable by a novice who was so inclined. HMS suggests it is a 1 1/2 or 2 hour job. It took my dealership 3 hours (at least that's what I was billed for) and they have excellent, dedicated BMW mechanics. Probably safe to increase the time by some even multiple for most of us. The HMS kit fits several cars - for some ? M5 - you must bend your shift linkage in a vice using socket wrench sockets of a specific size with a specific spacing to achieve a fit around the transmission. That was enough to scare me off.
The shifer is loosening a bit - I've only put a few hundred km on the car since this mod however - I would like it to be looser. Even if it does not improve further, it is a quantum leap over the OEM shifter.

bob · 29th March 2000, 14:44

Thanks for the information. I'll check with my dealer before ordering the HMS kit.

John Hennessey · 30th March 2000, 07:32

Guys, like you, I thought that the M5 shifter was great when the car was brand new. But as time went on, the shifting action got soft and spoungy.

Glad you like the shifters and we will revise our installation time estimate to reflect 3 hrs. Thanks.

Stay tuned for several other performance goodies.

Regards,