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      11-10-2013, 09:42 PM   #28
AmmarYasirA
Ammar
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Finally! IM DONE!!

It really shouldn't have taken me so long but most of it was out of laziness and not having binder clips at the house.
I think for a really dumbed down version of how I did it would help others like my slow self learn how to do it.

Allllrighty. So if you havent known by now, you can get the shifter from a variety of different places but I got mine from getbmwparts . com for $120
before you do this make sure youve got binder clips or similar to guide you during the swap. as well as a thin box cutter or just something thats sharp, and precise. A second hand would definitely help you out for stretching the leather over the boot rings.

for dummies like me who dont know which is which the knob is the thing that has numbers on it that tells you which gears is which. the boot is the floppy leather that goes underneath the knob and the "ring" is the plastic piece that the boot is connected to... or will be connected to.

So.
STEP 1- take your Z4 knob off
mine was broken so it kinda slid off but general consensus is that you should put the car into 4th gear and pull hard, steer clear from your face as you might hurt yourself.
STEP 2-take your Z4 boot out of the trim
with one hand tug a little on the leather boot up and out, and with the other hand pull on the ring toward the top and pull backwards, it should easily pop off
Step 3-disconnect your wire
Its kind of tight so just tug a little on the ends of the white connector and it should come off.
STEP 4-remove the ring from the Z4 boot
This is IMO probably the more annoying part of this DIY, if I had known before I would have heated up the ring so that the glue would be easier to work with as I managed to really mess up the Z4 boot trying to separate it from the ring. just pull away if its heated but DONT TEAR IT. try cutting the boot from the ring by going underneath the leather and cutting it away from the ring. itll keep most of it intact that way. work your way around and make sure to pull the leather over the clips as there are holes for the clips to go through.
STEP 5-Take the boot off the F10 ring
This is super easy compared to the Z4's as the F10 has staples instead of glue. Get a flat screwdriver or stapler remover or whatever you can use and dig the staples out of the ring. Once youve got all the staples out the corners should be glued down. The glue isnt as strong as it is on the Z4 but you still have to be careful no to mess the leather up, just pull slowly and cut the adhesive as you see it sticking on the leather boot/ring.

Checkpoint. - you should now have the rings seperated from both boots.

STEP 6-attach the Z4 ring to the F10 boot
match up the ring and the boot symmetrically by using the clips on the ring as a guide. stretch the leather over the ring and clip it down (with binder clips or clamps) alllll the way around. You should have enough leather to cover the ring towards the inside as you stretch it. Once you have the entire boot clipped to the ring, keep on adjusting it and tightening up the leather and stretching it until you think its completely symmetrical to the clips (attached to the ring) and that its as stretched as you can get it.
make sure the sides are all smooth and that there are no wrinkles or folds on the ring, there can be some inside the ring, but not on the ring itself
NOTE- the wider part of the Z4 ring is the top and the stitching of the f10 boot should be towards the wider part of the Z4 ring.

from here on you can do this DIY several ways, you can glue it, tack it, cut it, do whatever you want, but I will tell you what I did.

STEP 7- Cut holes for the clips (that is attached to the ring)
You want to once again make sure the entire thing is symmetrical and perfect before you do this.
You should have bulges showing through the leather where the clips are. make very tiny cuts on the leather where the clips are and make a very very very tiny rectangular hole on the clips, the reason why they should be tiny is because when you stretch the leather to go over the clips they will stretch out and open up anyways so you dont want them to be huge because you want the leather to be tight and stretched over the ring. remove just a few clamps or whatever youre using around the clips on the ring for you to stretch the leather over the clips where you just made your cuts. and then clamp the clips back on to the leather.

do this for the 4 clips on the ring and make sure you once again have all the clamps back on the leather and the ring. check and make sure that it is all symmetrical again and as stretched as you can get it.

Here comes the different part of the DIY

STEP 7- harden the leather momentarily
for about 3 minutes put the entire thing in the freezer with the clamps on and the leather cut over the clips. It sounds weird but the whole point of this is to have the leather stay in place for when you put it back into the car.

take it out after three minutes and let it sit outside the freezer for about 4 minutes and throw it back in the freezer for another 3 minutes, after that the leather should have hardened up especially with the clamps on.

I personally did not want to glue the boot to the ring so immediately after you take it out of the freezer go to your car and connect the wires to the knob. take out all the clamps making sure that the shape remains the same after you take them off and pop the top part of the ring into the trim first making your way to the bottom.

make sure the entire assembly is in and that you feel the ring is secured into the trim. I heard a click as I pushed the ring into the trim which should mean the entire assembly is in properly, and then last thing is to shove your shifter in.

and Voila. there you have it. the DIY to the F10 shifter swap without glue!

next post should have the pictures.
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