Short Shifter

River Rat

River Rat

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I was at my local dealer (Porsche of Oakland) getting some Recall Work completed and asked about the short shifter. Approximately $450 for the parts and another $450 approx. to install. :eek: Seemed a bit steep. Is it worth it?
 
I'm sure other's will chime in... but from what I read they are really easy to replace, only about 30 minutes.

I was also warned not to by the cheap ones from eBay that you see for $55-95, they are not set as well as the B&M or Schnell which cost quite a bit more. They usually list for closer to $200 and get very favourable reviews as to more accurate and of course shorter shift distance.

I am still on the fence with this one, I'm sure that the difference is noticable, but I'm note sure that I need the upgrade.
 
River Rat, would you keep us informed as to what you do, as I have been considering this but get so many different opinions I have been unsure. I would love to know what you do and how you feel about it.
thanks.
 
I saw Eric of Bumperplugs posted a one day sale of $199 over on PPBB. www.bumperplugs.com I have the B&M shifter and I love it. Very well made and a fairly simple DIY. The quality compared to the stock Porsche shifter is night & day as seen in this picture.
 

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30 minutes is a pretty optimistic estimate. I took my time, but I recall spending ~two hours. It's all very straight forward and easy to access, but there is some disassembly and reassembly that just takes patience. The instructions were excellent.

Mine is a ’99 986, and the difference between the crisp, precision shifts now and the sloppy feel, (not quite the spoon in a bowl of oatmeal feel of my ’72 914) of my stock shifter is definitely worth the price of admission. A newer 987 many not have the same degree of improvement and by no means would I do it for $900!

My $0.02
 

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i'm a little confused, boxsterbob. you reference eric of bumperplugs but then you give a website bumperplus.com. these are two different sites, and i assume different companies. am i right? i am familiar with eric at bumperplugs. i am not familiar with bumperplus.
 
30-45 minutes tops.....makes the shifter feel like it should have from the factory.

~$195 is about right for a B&M, Schnell should be slightly less.
$450 for the install is totally outrageous, since the Porsche part comes installed in the shift tower. It is a matter of removing the center console and removing about 3-4 nuts to remove and install the new tower/shifter combo from Porsche. By the way the shifter portion in the model from Porsche is nothing but the B&M with the housing painted black instead of blue.:rolleyes:
 
baxter said:
i'm a little confused, boxsterbob. you reference eric of bumperplugs but then you give a website bumperplus.com. these are two different sites, and i assume different companies. am i right? i am familiar with eric at bumperplugs. i am not familiar with bumperplus.
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I think he missed a 'g' :)

I have the OEM SS, installed from factory. Love it. Driving other cars, the shift seems long and loose. Haven't done a test drive of a 987 lately to compare apples to apples, which is maybe what you should do RiverRat.
 
D'oh! Fat Fingers, I just left off the "g", it is bumperplugs. I fixed the original post, sorry for the confusion.

Thank goodness it took you to another bumper site, some typos can take you to some pretty seedy neighborhoods of the internet! ;)
 
BoxsterBob - San Carlos said:
30 minutes is a pretty optimistic estimate. I took my time, but I recall spending ~two hours. It's all very straight forward and easy to access, but there is some disassembly and reassembly that just takes patience. The instructions were excellent.
Click to expand...

Patience is a virtue that I have in short supply. And anything done to this car needs to be done right. Clearly I lack some confidence but if you say the instructions are excellent I may at least buy the B&M and have a look. If it appears like I might be in over my head I know a guy in Pinole who will probably do it cheaper than the dealer.


One other question. The Short Shifter, is that a description of the throw only and not the shift knob itself. I'd really love it if the knob was about an inch or two shorter in actual height, as well.
 
so does anyone have any thoughts on doing the evo shift link at the same time as the b&m shifter? what does that do for me for the money? thanks in advance.
 
The B&M only shortens the throw, not the knob height. I have heard of people cutting them down, but I think the height is perfect.
 
BoxsterBob - San Carlos said:
The B&M only shortens the throw, not the knob height. I have heard of people cutting them down, but I think the height is perfect.
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Thanks for the intel, Bob.
 
BoxsterBob - San Carlos said:
D'oh! Fat Fingers, I just left off the "g", it is bumperplugs. I fixed the original post, sorry for the confusion.

Thank goodness it took you to another bumper site, some typos can take you to some pretty seedy neighborhoods of the internet! ;)
Click to expand...

Worst one was a few years ago when the mars rover was sent. Every one wanted to see it, and (at least I) went to nasa.com, instead of nasa.org. Of course, it turned out to be a porn site.
 
just installed by B&W short shifter

Hi,

just in case you need some more encouragement: I just finished installing a B&W short shifter in my 2002 Boxster S (a.k.a. Cayman S Convertible ;-) yesterday. INCREDIBLE!
In comparison to the new shifter the old shifter feels like it was made of rubber, you will looove it. I was initially a bit worried as I read a few posts where guys said they had trouble putting in 2nd when the car is cold. No such problems :-)
The whole procedure (including adjusting the e-brake, unrelated to installing a short shifter) took me less that 3 hours (I took my time). If I'd need to do it again, it would probably be 1 1/2 hours.

Cheers & get one
Christopher
 
ChrisZang said:
Hi,

just in case you need some more encouragement: I just finished installing a B&W short shifter in my 2002 Boxster S (a.k.a. Cayman S Convertible ;-) yesterday. INCREDIBLE!
In comparison to the new shifter the old shifter feels like it was made of rubber, you will looove it. I was initially a bit worried as I read a few posts where guys said they had trouble putting in 2nd when the car is cold. No such problems :-)
The whole procedure (including adjusting the e-brake, unrelated to installing a short shifter) took me less that 3 hours (I took my time). If I'd need to do it again, it would probably be 1 1/2 hours.

Cheers & get one
Christopher
Click to expand...

Thanks Chris. By the way, did you use the evo shift link, as well?
 
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