40 replies to this topic

[Darth R]

Well I finally got around to finishing up the interior side of the swap. Mods to the shifter include the MR-2 bushing from ebay. I welded the two piece shifter cable bracket together. I cut down the stock rod about 3 inches, bought a cheap ebay E-36 M3 short shifter about $20 shipped.

The M3 shifter I cut off and drilled out a 7/16" hole about 1.5" deep up its base. Then I slide that over the cut down stock shifter, and welded it on. Next I took a 1/4" length of stock shiter rod and added it to the bottom side of the shifter by cutting and welding it in. I would not recommend much more than a 1/4" of length to the bottom side as it will start rubbing on the shifter base. This shortened up the shifts quite nicely.

I also bought a new shifter bushing, the white plastic piece that holds the shifter rod in the shifter box. I loaded up the old plastic ball on the shifter rod with new white lithium grease and threw a little in the new plastic bushing. I popped it all back together, and made a metal cap out of 16ga cold rolled to hold constant pressure on the new shifter bushing.

Quite frankly, its a 100 times better than the worn out stock stuff I started with. I think its on par with my Bmw M coupe, the shifter sits a little taller, but the throws are short and crisp like my M coupe. Thanks for looking, and thanks to Danny M for his tech advice!


Day time look

night time look

[lookforjoe]

Nice

But where are the pics of the modification in process?

[Distort]

Lol, dare I ask why you have the Sport/Economy switch still?

[--Aaron--]

Lol, dare I ask why you have the Sport/Economy switch still?

Maybe it's only manual when it feels like it.

[EdubT5m]

isnt it like sacreligous or something to put an "M" shifter in a volvo.

I LOVE the m series bimmers and love volvos but i thought mixing the 2 would cause some kind off massive explosion or something... i keed i keed!!!

[Boomin...BannedMike]

LMAO that is way retarded.

One....///M shift knob
Two...wrong shift pattern

[Darth R]

Its ok I cleared it with the BMW North America, besides my M coupe got a new shifter knob out of the deal.

heres a few more pics.

MR-2 bushings

welded bracket in the top corner you can see one of the tacks.

modded M3 shifter and metal cap for shifter bushing.

profile pic, looks like Im going to have to dye the lamb skin again, not black enough.

[lookforjoe]

Thanks for the extra pics - it's always nicer to see the work in progress than just the end result!

[dmelviØØ7]

Well done dude. Glad you finally got it all put together. Too bad we aren't gonna see it at the XXX meet

[Darth R]

Lol, dare I ask why you have the Sport/Economy switch still?

Really I didn't know what else to put there. Also I still wanted to keep the R dark wood grain console. I ended up having to cut/dremel to back of the switch way down, because when I put the car in reverse it would pop the switch out. I not real keen on what a real R europe spec 5 speed looks like either, so just kinda of guessing. In fact if someone has pics please post them up I would love to see what it looks like.

[dmelviØØ7]

Really I didn't know what else to put there. Also I still wanted to keep the R dark wood grain console. I ended up having to cut/dremel to back of the switch way down, because when I put the car in reverse it would pop the switch out. I not real keen on what a real R europe spec 5 speed looks like either, so just kinda of guessing. In fact if someone has pics please post them up I would love to see what it looks like.

Brian just has switch blanks in his. Better than the switch IMO.

[jnderr]

I looked at some Bimmer knobs when I had to sacrifice mine to swap the shift boot, but they all had the wrong pattern.

I did find a nice wood one for a 5 series from bavauto that was decent price ~$50.

Looks good though nice work.

[Aequitas_Veritas]

LMAO that is way retarded.

One....///M shift knob
Two...wrong shift pattern

+1+1=+2

[herz3mc]

Two...wrong shift pattern

Thats so tools like you can't figure out how to drive it.

Looks good Chris. Rpower + Mpower = ultimate power.

[Yellow95]

Very nice. You should bang out a few more of those metal caps to sell as that plastic bushing is a bitch to get back on without breaking.

Gary

[Boomin...BannedMike]

[quote name='herz3mc' date='Jan 18 2009, 09:53 PM' post='1486136'
Rpower + Mpower = ultimate power.
[/quote]

I'm going to go ahead and quote that one. By far the dumbest thing I've read this year. Next we can put some "Type R" stickers on the back of the car too

[Jack8745]

I'm going to go ahead and quote that one. By far the dumbest thing I've read this year. Next we can put some "Type R" stickers on the back of the car too

+1.

you effort is great but the result is crap.

[Zappo]

Thats so tools like you can't figure out how to drive it.

Just ignore the haters. If you put a Prancing Moose sticker over the shift pattern, the hate will vanish.

[Big Will]

LOL
I don't think there's anything special about the manual 850R center console bezel it just uses a different part that doesn't have a slot for the econ/sport button. I'd say order one from the dealer but it's super expensive in the wood trim version. The straight plastic is about $45 or so but I think the wood is over $200...

[herz3mc]

Wow, you guys are way too serious.

Drove it for the first time today this shortened. It feels really great, notchy, but not clicky. Goes into gear really nicely and the leather feels smooth and supple - just like my other car It definately feels more sporty.

The NW Autox crew will have to try it out during some fun runs or practice day. I think you'll really like it.

Oh yeah, I wanted to keep the econ sport button; I like to confuse people. Plus, it goes well with the horns