The Bastard Step Child of the E30 drivetrain..

#1

… the plate style shifter.

Not a whole lot about them in the forum here or at r3v/bfc…etc.

Who is still rocking one? And is there any tips to rebuild/tighten it up.

One idea that a buddy of mine runs in his IT car is to remove the wobbly rear rubber mount and replace it with a hard mount.

Going off that premise, has anyone ever experimented with just attaching the plate completely to the body - sort of a low buck version of the DTM/AKG style shifter mount… I know this would put some stress on the stock shift rod and possibly cause binding, but if one could do and switch to an aftermarket shift rod. Perhaps? No?

Thoughts?

#2

Attach to body…very easily done but I would not do it unless you are running the stiff motor/trans mounts. Basically install shifter and drill three holes from the shiftier plate through the trans tunnel. One in the rear can go where the rubber thingie mounts. The two front ones make as wide as possible while staying on the upper section of the cassette. Make spacers to space the cassette down to just a little above stock height and bolt through floor. Hope that helps.

#3

Thanks, that was along the lines of what I was considering. Have you personally tried this set up out? If so, how much difference did it make in feel?

#4

Did it on my e30 ITA car and ran a couple of years before I sold the car. Very solid feel…highly recommended.