GERMAN CAR GARAGE
One Idea to Shorten Shifter Throw
One way of shortening the throw of a shift lever is to actually cut the length of the lever down. By simply cutting an inch off the top of the shifter lever itself, you can shorten your throw by about 2%. Not a lot, but it's still shorter. With BMWs, there is a problem since the top of a BMW lever has a slot which holds the stock shift knob in place. If you cut off the slot, your stock knob won't fit anymore. Additionally, since a stock BMW lever immediately flares out, you can't cut that much off (maybe a few millimeters). Anyhow, if you lower the position of the shift knob without changing the location of the pivot point, your throw is shorter.
The other idea of shortening shifter throw is to actually relocate the pivot in relation to the shifter linkage rod. Therefore, for the same "throw" of the upper portion of the lever, the bottom portion, will move the linkage more. Consequently, it requires less shifter throw for the same linkage travel. Presto, you've got shorter shifts! Note that if you paid attention in high school Physics class, the increase in leverage requires more force (or effort) to move it.
Every single short shifting company out there substitutes your factory lever with a lever that has this increased lower distance. However, by simply lowering the bottom of the lever is NOT the best way of shortening the shift, but it's easy. Only UUC Motorwerks takes this critical drivetrain/shifter clearance into consideration when they designed their short shifters to emulate the way that the factory designed your shifter mechanism. Prime examples of this can be found if you snoop under a E36 M3 or even a new M Roadster. The engineering subtleties in these cars will show you that BMW pays attention and makes minor changes to make specific cars.
Modification Concerns
There have been no conclusive tests which show that installing a short shift kit will damage transmission parts. Simply put, you are still changing gears via the selector rod, but the lever you're doing it with has increased leverage. Increased effort is a common side effect but it's a small price to pay for the shorter shifts...or is it? By shortening the upper portion of a shift lever while lengthening the lower portion, you're losing valuable leverage while shifting (which makes the shifts feel like they take more effort). Besides the lack of leverage and now battling the existing transmission resistance's (seals, syncros, shift detents, etc.), it wouldn't seem like a short shifter is a good idea, huh? Properly done, a short shifter can still be a benefit.
Performance Gains/Losses
Wire is also increased effort. The general consensus is that the shifting reduction of the UUC Motorwerks "STREET" kit does not increase the effort noticeably enough to increase the time between shifts. Their "COMPETITION" kit shortens throws even more but also includes their patent pending Effort Reducing Kit (ERK) which not only raises the bottom of the shifter to factory height (and away from spinning drivetrain parts) and aligns the shifter's selector rod and joint to be in-line with the transmission, as the factory designed it to be. There are a few things that make UUC Motorwerks Ultimate Short Shifters unique:
* No additional buzzing or vibration with their fully insulated, one-piece shifter lever.
* Long term durability and performance (special lever modifications)
* Driveline clearances retained factory specifications (using the ERK)
* Transmission linkage geometry unaffected (using the ERK)
* Real solutions for isolating shifter free-play (Delrin Bushings)
These unique features have never been available before... until the UUC Motorwerks Ultimate Short Shifter. Would you trust your BMW with technology from 15 years ago? No, we didn't think so. Welcome to the future of short shifting.
