Quote:
Originally Posted by B_Dol
Hi All, looking for a bit of help. My fiancee has been driving her 228i Msport (MT) for the past year and keeps complaining about the lengthy throws of the stock shifter. I have driven it repeatedly as well and the length is really garbage for any sort of performance driving.
I have done a small search and it looks like UUC offers a short shifter kit for the 3series that will bolt on, are there any other options? I ask since I have the UUC Evo3 on my /M and it can be a bolt-action like and sometimes unforgiving. She wants to maintain some of that silky smoothness and reduce the length.
Any input you can offer is much appreciated! 
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Just FYI: A shifter kit's action is only as good as its linkage and bushings -- only if the two are
really well thought out will a kit feel similar to the stocker. "Notchiness" (which is shifter-speak for your "bolt-action-like" term, OP) is often the result of a lack of this thinking-out because of three factors:
1). Shorter throws as a result of reduced leverage (i.e., the length between the knob and transmission housing)
2). Shorter throws as a result of redesigned linkage (often actually made
longer to enable a shorter throw at the knob)
3). A changed feel as a result of replaced bushing/joining material (i.e.: softer and cheaper urethane to reduce vibration, but at the cost of longevity and the stock "feel")
IMHO, just about any kit for any car is going to make a shifter lose some of its OEM qualities. Sometimes it's a good thing (as on the one I had installed in my first car, a VW Beetle). Much more often, it's not.
YMMV, of course. But (and I'm just conjecturing here) if your g/f wants a shorter throw because she's use to the one in, say, a Miata or an S2000 -- two cars renowned for their shifter action, which includes relatively short throws -- then there may not be a solution that will make the M235i rower, well, Miata-like.