CAE Ultra Shifter
I first became aware of this type of shifter after seeing it in several cars at the track. (primarily P-cars)
This type of shifter has been on my hit list for a while now, due to an ongoing frustration with our OE setup.
I run at a high speed track that requires 5th gear up the back straight and I hate the downshift back to 4th at the end of it.
I’m very aware of NOT catching a money shift to 2nd, so I sometimes end up in 6th due to the vague feel of things.
I also hate that I have to spend mental energy on the shift, when it should be a completely subconscious act.
Fast forward to
crfine88 fantastic photo blog of the amazing work that he’s doing on his car.
There I find that Chris has already installed a CAE racing style shifter 
After a little more research, it quickly became a must have item!!!!
I saw from Chris’s thread, that space to install one of these meant that the center console required modification.
The CAE website also stipulates that it was intended for cars w/o interiors.
But, with Chris leading the way I was game to jump into the deep end.
Not wanting to cut up my OE carbon leather trim I picked up a trim off eBay with plans to paint it after fitment mods.
About that time, the CAE arrived and since I had already removed my AutoSolution SSK, there was a gaping hole waiting to be filled.
I plunked the CAE down, the only way it would sit in the opening…… which happened to be backwards from the way it was designed to work.
……and that was the inspiration needed to look at re-designing this shifter to fit the Z4 boot opening.
re-design notes
1. The operation of shifter is completely symmetrical, regardless of orientation.
2. The CAE uses set screws to limit travel for moving from the ‘home’ 3-4 position to select 5-6 or 1-2 gears (and rev). By flipping the CAE 180° the set screw assignments were no longer correct.
3. After a little head scratching, it was determined that the 5-6 adj. screw could function as the rev. set screw. (and rev became 5-6)
3-4 was unchanged as it was in the center ‘home’ position either way.
The set screw that posed a problem was the 1-2 screw.
4. Solution for 1-2 set screw; drill and tap a new hole.
5. The other issue was the fitment of the CAE base to the Z4 tunnel.
The tunnel narrows as it goes further back and there was insufficient room for the base to sit flat.
6. Solution was to dig out an auto body dolly and mallet to reshape some steel
Now for the shift rod….
The OE shift rod works fine if you’re OK with its single sided pin design.
Personally after going this far, I wanted a shift rod that was designed with clevis style connection.
This led me to AKG where I found a clevis style rod with a Z4 bend to clear the guibo.
Chris also jumped on the same rod and after several back and forth discussions re fitment issues, we discovered the OE shift rod pins are not at the same angle with respect to each other, whereas the AKG were on the same angle.
= fitment issues.
Solution…..
heat up the AKG and put a twist into the shaft to modify the angle to the same as OE.
…