Very disappointed in my B&M SSK - 986 Forum - The Community for Porsche Boxster & Cayman Owners

lavsman · 05-31-2005, 01:57 PM

Hello Adam,

I think I know what the problem may be. In the B&M Instructions I do not believe that they mention to mark, using white out, the position of the of the 2 cable holders in conjunction to the shift cables to assure that when reassembling the assembly you maintain the already adjusted position. This position was done from the factory and if this adjustment changes, which is easy to do when installing the SSK, you can get a real crummy shift.

The Schnell SSK instructions do point this out. Although my opinion about the Schnell SSK is biased, as I am the sales manager of ****************************************.com authorized distributor of the Schnell product, I can say that the B&M SSK should not have a bad shift feeling, even though the Schnell is, by far, a better product

If you have any questions on adjusting your shifter you can always call our tech guys for assistance.

Hope this helps.

Vertex Automotive
Charles

98Boxster98 · 05-31-2005, 02:27 PM

Charles (lavsman) - your willingness to offer advice to someone who is using a product other than your own is to me the best kind of advertising you can do. That's the kind of place I want with whom I want to do business. I have a Porsche short shifter (B&M) with which I bought with the car and I am quite happy but I hope to do business with you in the future.

Brucelee · 05-31-2005, 02:37 PM

Thanks for helping out Charles! We appreciate it.

Adam · 05-31-2005, 03:00 PM

Thankyou Charles I appreciate the help. I actually did mark the cables with a permanant marker as the instructions said so that can't be it I guess. I'm thinking I'm just in the 5% that doesn't like the feel of the shift(the effort is just too labored and notchy/tight). My friend has a SSK in his 02 Altima and it is much much smother and even shorter yet(they are worlds apart so I know I'm not just a wimp or really picky). I just can't believe it is this bad. I'm going to try mess around with the adjustments tonight and if it doesn't get a whole lot better I'm going to see if I can throw my OEM shifter into the B&M bushings and get the stock feel back and just chalk it up to a $200 lesson. Lux, I don't know why you think I can't do this, but maybe I will have the answer to that in an hour or two.

Adam · 05-31-2005, 07:48 PM

I messed around with the cable adjustments and other things for about an hour tonight and didn't see much improvement if any. I looked up B&M's website and they said to expect a significant increase in shift effort over stock in the FAQ section. I'm guessing the cable driven tranny we have in the boxster exacerbates this effect. I'm really quite suprised more boxster owners who have done this mod are cussing at their B&M shifter right now. My dad tried it too and said it is pretty awful. It looks like the OEM shifter will work with the B&M bushings but the fit is tight and it probably wont center all that well or be smooth. My best hope now is too call my dealer who is 2 hours away and pray they can get some OEM bushings so I can go back to stock otherwise this could cost alot more than I planned on. Maybe then I can recoup my money back on the part but I really don't care much about that right now....just want my old shifter back. Charlie, I'm tempted to try your shifter but I don't want to keep throwing good money after bad or deal with sending it back. Perhaps I just should have been satified with what I had. Lesson learned.

KRZTACO · 06-01-2005, 08:47 AM

Hi Adam,

I purchased the Schnell Short Shifter....if you didn't like the B&M your NOT going to like the Schnell.

The shift does require a lot MORE effort to shift and is very notchy.

I prefere the shorter throw and willing to forgo the notchyness (is that a word?).

I love the Schnell, however in the future will replace with the OEM shifter when I sell the car.

Adam · 06-01-2005, 04:20 PM

Thankyou for the heads up and being honest about the shift effort. I know the word "slight" means different things to different people but I feel alittle mislead. In the end though that is my fault because talking about something over the net and experiening it in person is not the same and people are subjective. Sure the throws are shorter but I feel the much smoother feel of the OEM far outweighs that benefit of a shorter shift. I know not all short shifters have to be this tough to shift but it appears so with the boxster. I just got off the phone with the dealer and it looks like you can't just buy the OEM plastic bushings so they say. It looks like I may have to buy the whole shifter assembly plus the bracket that it lays in which bolts into to the floor of the car. They quoted me a price of $179.00 for the whole assembly which seems quite reasonable for Porsche parts. I guess the price is the silver lining on this cloud(if it is correct). I'm going to check a few other places just to make sure the price is right and I have no other alternative. What do you think Richard, does this seem right to you?