Installing shifter -- and a whole lot more

[wdb]

Yep, just one of me. I did a ton of gearboxes solo back in the day, but I’ve been thinking I might fab some pins to ease the job this time. I’m not exactly a twenty something anymore.

[wdb]

I have a confession. Yesterday I successfully reinstalled the transmission. Today I also successfully reinstalled the transmission.

Long version: I reinstalled the transmission yesterday, woohoo! It's tight under there with jackstands and the transmission jack and me on a creeper, but I spun and fidgeted and wiggled and woggled and got 'er done. I spent some time FIRMLY anchoring the transmission to the trans jack, which definitely helped. I was able to muscle the jack + gearbox combo around and get it lined up and seated. Bolted it all up, w00t! Now for the shifter assembly. No, wait, let's go ahead and mount the slave cylinder and give the pedal a push.

Disaster.

At first I couldn't get the slave cylinder to go in. Ah, I see, the piston has pushed out. No biggie, push the rod (and piston) back in, continue. Only now the darn thing doesn't seem to want to go in all the way. Wiggle, jiggle, finally get it seated and bolted. Hop in the car, push the pedal. It's HARD then WHAM it goes to the floor.

Shit.

I look underneath. Liquid is pissing onto the floor. Clear, viscous liquid. The slave cylinder erupted its guts into the bell housing.

FFFFAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHQQQQQQQQ.

This morning I spent some time trying to fish everything out of the bell housing. I had immediate luck, fishing out most of the guts of the slave cylinder via magnet-on-string through the slave cylinder hole. But I could not retrieve the piston. WTF. Innovated, put my phone cam on "Video" and turned on the "flash", stuck it up there and looked in. Voila, there is the piston. Not hard to see, not hard to get at, not stuck. Back in goes the magnet, this time on a wire so I can aim it. Phone cam, magnet, we got this.

Only one problem.

The piston is not magnetic.

I have a grabber thingie but it would take an Act Of God to get it to grab that piston. Sigh. Re-rig the trans jack, unbolt the gearbox, pull it, clean stuff up, put it back in. This time with a bit extra.

I really can't say what went awry. Either the piston rod was not correctly placed in the throwout bearing lever, or the lever was not correctly meshed with the throwout bearing (in retrospect). The latter is something I'm going to call a "lesson". Fussing around with stuff a bit after cleaning up the mess, it seemed to me that it might be possible for the bearing carrier and the lever arm to become discombobulated during all of the reinstallation hubbub. So this time, before I mated the gearbox up again, I ran a piece of thin, heavy duty twine (strong stuff, you can pull wire through conduit with it) around the throwout bearing fingers, fished it out the slave cylinder opening, then pulled the whole works back tight and secured it to the studs there. Now I know the lever and the bearing carrier have maintained their proper relationship during transmission installation. Because I hooked it over the carrier fingers the twine is not trapped. I can pull itout after it's all buttoned back up.

Moral, such as it is: bleed pressure off the slave cylinder before reinstallation. And make damned sure it's seated correctly.

I'm beat.

[3798j]

Man..how frustrating (and then thankful) yesterday and today must have been. At least this evening you can rest knowing you've corrected the slave install and that it's a done deal.

[Vanne]

hey bud, shit yeah that sucks. But hey your getting to grips with it. youll know your way well aroiund the clutch/gear box now, so thats a positive.

Hows it going? all sorted?

[wdb]

Waiting for a new slave cylinder to arrive. I guess I could have reassembled the old one but at 83K miles "it can't hurt!" to put new hydraulics in. I went ahead and got the whole works in a kit, so I will do the master cylinder etc. while I'm in there. After all, it's not like I'm in a hurry to go anywhere...

[vt100]

Hehe... I had exactly the same situation when replacing the clutch on my previous 335iS.
The slave didn't leak into the bell housing though so I avoided removing the tranny second time. The slave cylinder had been damaged beyond repair of course.
But at this age and/or milage it's better to get new clutch hydraulics anyway

[wdb]

I finally got back to doing the clutch hydraulics. This time I'm certain that the slave cylinder is correctly installed. My trick with the twine worked perfectly, and I was able to install the new slave cylinder without issue. But when I bled the system and tried the pedal it still felt like there was way, way too much inactivity before the pedal met resistance. So I decided to replace the clutch master cylinder as well.

When I was ordering parts I saw that ECS had a kit that cost less than the bits I wanted, so I got that. It came with a master cylinder so I was set there. It also included a stainless steel reinforced flex line, which is overkill I know. It was also technically is too long but in reality fit just fine. The kit also came with a new hard line that runs between the slave flex line and the master cylinder. Unfortunately that was Just Plain Wrong. It's for an E46 and does not fit the zed. I returned it and ordered the right bit from ECS but they came back with a FIVE WEEK delivery estimate. Whew. According to them CV-19 has tossed a big wrench into shipments from overseas and the part needed to come from Germany. There's nothing wrong with the one in the car so I just cancelled the order.

The clutch master cylinder is a full-on bear to get out. It's inside the car, just in front of the pedal assembly. Be prepared to capture brake fluid in your interior! I finally managed to get it out but once more had to invent some new ways to get certain bits out of the way. In the process I damaged the hose from the brake master cylinder reservoir to the clutch master cylinder, so processes are on hold. The new hose is on its way now.

If anyone ever needs to pull a clutch master cylinder here's a hint. The pin connecting the pedal to the cylinder can be started on its way out with an 8mm socket. That will compress the two tabs and get the pin started, after which it can be pushed through the rest of the way. That lesson took me about 30 minutes to figure out.

Another other fun item was the forward bolt holding the cylinder in place. It needs to be pulled out, only on our cars there is a gimongous wire loom in the way. More invention, but sorry no clever tricks this time. You just have to loosen the loom and its housing and muscle stuff around until it comes out. Getting it back in promises to provide more adventure.

Finally there's the hose that I mentioned earlier. It is a TIGHT fit on the master cylinder. I tried and tried to get it off, and finally gave up, pulled it off the fluid reservoir (the other end, under the hood) and pulled the whole works through the firewall. I strongly recommend doing it that way right from the start. It does not look like it will be hard to scoot back through, and you'll avoid damaging the hose like I did while trying to remove it while twisted like a pretzel in the footwell.

The next time will be SO much easier...

[wdb]

Car is back on the ground, WOOT! I've been around the block but still have a hiccup or two to work out. The brake lights are staying on -- I think I tweaked the pedal switch when I was wrangling the clutch master cylinder around. Also I am getting engine cutout and went into limp mode the first time I went full throttle. Codes say a sticking throttle plate which is entirely possible; I expect it to work itself out with a bit more exercise.

The clutch works wonderfully. The pedal is a whole lot lighter than it was, which makes me suspect that although the old clutch disc wasn't worn out, perhaps the pressure plate had seen better days. I did the dual mass flywheel too, and although there is probably no way I can really tell, I would swear it is much crisper on engagement.

The shifter. Oh my. So crisp, so precise. I just want to run up and down through the gears again and again. 'Delightful' does not begin to describe it. So much goodness. Although I haven't really wrung the car out yet, I can already tell the motor mounts are making a substantial difference in the responsiveness of the shifter and drivetrain. The whole works makes really want to go for a long, long, long drive. Soon...

[3798j]

Excellent..and congratulations. That feeling of satisfaction when the project turns out right is hard to match.

[wdb]

The brake lights turned out to be the switch at the pedal, which I probably knocked out of place while wrestling with the clutch master cylinder. Pretty straightforward fix.

The throttle issue turned out to be my oh-so clever idea to use Porsche narrow screw-style clamps to secure the intake plenum, in place of the clip-together bands used by BMW. The clamps fit just fine, but when I was fitting them I was more concerned with being able to easily reach the screw heads when I should have also been concerned with whether or not they interfered with the throttle plate actuating shaft. Which of course they did! When I called for full throttle the shaft protrusions were hitting the clamps. I relocated them and solved that problem. The car is back to full operation. I forgot how much of a kick this car is to drive - wow.

I'll post up pictures of the old motor mounts once I figure out how to edit them down to a reasonable size on this confounded MacBook. They show significant cracking, to the point where I think I'd add them to the "things I'd do to my Z4M at 100K miles" list. I'll also post some short shifter goodness. Gotta do a beer run before all that though. Essential businesses are still open, that means beer distributors!

[vt100]

Which bushings did you use in the shifter? The blue ones from Ron or stock ones?
If blue - how bad is the vibration/noise?

[wdb]

Originally Posted by vt100

Which bushings did you use in the shifter? The blue ones from Ron or stock ones?
If blue - how bad is the vibration/noise?

I used the blue ones, although Ron was good enough to also include a new set of stock bushes. There is unquestionably more gearbox noise coming into the interior now. It's not overwhelming or especially loud, but it's there. It's certainly not enough to make me regret my decision. To my mind it fits the character of the car; raw, in-your-face, DRIVE ME. DRIVE ME NOW. If this were the 3.0si coupe I probably would not like the additional sounds nearly as much as I do in the M. And considering how beautifully it shifts now...

Here are some images of the shifter installed. Please let me know if you have trouble viewing them.

[wdb]

Motor mount pics. This is why I think they should be part of a 90K or 100K service.

[MBan]

Originally Posted by wdb

I used the blue ones, although Ron was good enough to also include a new set of stock bushes. There is unquestionably more gearbox noise coming into the interior now. It's not overwhelming or especially loud, but it's there. It's certainly not enough to make me regret my decision. To my mind it fits the character of the car; raw, in-your-face, DRIVE ME. DRIVE ME NOW. If this were the 3.0si coupe I probably would not like the additional sounds nearly as much as I do in the M. And considering how beautifully it shifts now...

Here are some images of the shifter installed. Please let me know if you have trouble viewing them.

Hi wdb,

Would you mind trying to describe the gearbox sounds you’re hearing?

After having an Autosolutions SSK installed, I got quite a lot of noise. Changing transmission fluid, with a friction modifier helped a lot but there are still a few different noises there. So, it would be great to hear if your gearbox noises are similar to mine.

[wdb]

Originally Posted by MBan

Hi wdb,

Would you mind trying to describe the gearbox sounds you’re hearing?

After having an Autosolutions SSK installed, I got quite a lot of noise. Changing transmission fluid, with a friction modifier helped a lot but there are still a few different noises there. So, it would be great to hear if your gearbox noises are similar to mine.

I'm not sure how to describe it other than the sounds that come from a gearbox; whirring sounds of gears spinning and meshing. Nothing I wouldn't expect to hear with the more rigid connection the Auto Solutions kit creates between the gearbox and gear lever.

What sounds are you hearing? Is there something in particular that concerns you?

[MBan]

I get the whirring sound as well but also a bit of a rattle when disengaging a gear (from memory it also happens going into gear but it’s been a while since I’ve driven the car). I was also getting a high pitched whine when applying throttle but this has almost completely gone with the fresh transmission fluid. None of the sounds are very loud and I’m not overly concerned but I’m interested to hear about your experience.

Incidentally, this morning Ronald emailed me to say that the new ‘softer’ shifter arm bushings he had made for me are ready, so will give them a try once they reach me. I really can’t speak highly enough of Ronald - amazing customer service and really thinks about his responses.

[wdb]

Originally Posted by MBan

I get the whirring sound as well but also a bit of a rattle when disengaging a gear (from memory it also happens going into gear but it’s been a while since I’ve driven the car). I was also getting a high pitched whine when applying throttle but this has almost completely gone with the fresh transmission fluid. None of the sounds are very loud and I’m not overly concerned but I’m interested to hear about your experience.

Nothing in your description gives me concern either. The rattling could be drivetrain play noises making their way into the cabin. The whine is almost certainly the gears meshing; my 2005 STi had a good bit of this in 6th gear and I honestly came to really like it. I enjoy the mechanical noises I guess.

Incidentally, this morning Ronald emailed me to say that the new ‘softer’ shifter arm bushings he had made for me are ready, so will give them a try once they reach me. I really can’t speak highly enough of Ronald - amazing customer service and really thinks about his responses.

Please post up pictures of these new bushings! I'm intrigued. His web page lacks pictures but does seem to indicate he uses different urethane hardnesses for different end results. http://www.autosolutions.info/urethane-bronze-bushing/

For folks who have not seen the bushings in person, I'll try to describe them. They're comprised of 3 parts; a 2-piece urethane bushing, and a bronze sleeve that goes inside it. On our cars there are two of these securing the shift arm to the gearbox. See the blue things in my pics above.

Like everything else in the kit the tolerances are very close. Fitment is mildly challenging but very satisfying when completed; you just *know* there is the bare minimum of free play. Pro tip: a bit of synth grease or vegetable oil is very helpful.

As far as Ron's customer service, I certainly have no complaints. I felt as though I was treated as a friend rather than a customer. And the care and precision with which the pieces are made is really something else.

[MBan]

Originally Posted by wdb

Nothing in your description gives me concern either. The rattling could be drivetrain play noises making their way into the cabin. The whine is almost certainly the gears meshing; my 2005 STi had a good bit of this in 6th gear and I honestly came to really like it. I enjoy the mechanical noises I guess.
Please post up pictures of these new bushings! I'm intrigued. His web page lacks pictures but does seem to indicate he uses different urethane hardnesses for different end results. http://www.autosolutions.info/urethane-bronze-bushing/

For folks who have not seen the bushings in person, I'll try to describe them. They're comprised of 3 parts; a 2-piece urethane bushing, and a bronze sleeve that goes inside it. On our cars there are two of these securing the shift arm to the gearbox. See the blue things in my pics above.

Like everything else in the kit the tolerances are very close. Fitment is mildly challenging but very satisfying when completed; you just *know* there is the bare minimum of free play. Pro tip: a bit of synth grease or vegetable oil is very helpful.

As far as Ron's customer service, I certainly have no complaints. I felt as though I was treated as a friend rather than a customer. And the care and precision with which the pieces are made is really something else.

I'm glad to hear you think the noises are 'normal' - thanks. Having said that, I'm still keen to reduce some of the noise, which is why I've been speaking with Ronald about a 'softer' shifter arm bushing.

I don't have the bushings yet - Ronald only just received them earlier this week and he still needs to 'size them' before sending to me... and I'm on the other side of the planet at a time when international shipping is a little uncertain. So, it could be a while.

Essentially, the new bushings are still made from urethane but are softer, so have more energy-absorbing potential. I can't find the specs of the bushings Ronald normally supplies but the 'new' version has a Shore Hardness of 70A. I'll ask about the normal bushing rating when I email Ronald.

Of course, we don't know if this will actually reduce the transmission noises, so it could be a fairly costly exercise for no benefit since I'll be paying someone else to do the work. But hey, I'm not planning to sell the car and I might as well get everything as close as possible to my ideal. I have some headers and section 1 to fit, so I can probably save a little on labour by combining the two jobs.

[wdb]

Originally Posted by MBan

Essentially, the new bushings are still made from urethane but are softer, so have more energy-absorbing potential. I can't find the specs of the bushings Ronald normally supplies but the 'new' version has a Shore Hardness of 70A. I'll ask about the normal bushing rating when I email Ronald.

The web page I linked above shows numbers of 90, 80, and some kind of "80+" made with secret sauce, but does not specify the measuring standard. Looking at Shore scale I believe that's what it is.

[MBan]

I assumed it was the Shore scale as well. I’ll clarify what the normal bushing rating is when I hear from Ronald.

[wdb]

Gave the car a pretty good wringing out today. Love love love the shifter action, it is divine. I also heard the whine @MBan mentioned. It is subtle, but it is there. Gearbox clatter is more prevalent but again I'm not bothered by it. Then again I'm pretty deaf... With the stiffer shifter and engine mounts the car is less forgiving of ham-fisted gear changes; drivetrain clunks happen more easily. Gotta drive it more so I get back into practice.

[MBan]

I just got back from a good drive too. Pretty good weather here at the moment so it was windows down the whole time... which means you don’t hear any the sounds at all and (for me) can appreciate the shifter more.

I totally agree, wdb - the feel of the gear changes is fantastic.