Lo Presti

Hello everybody – I just registered today! I’m new to this amazing board! I have a quick question: I have an auto P5 and I’m having some trouble finding a shift **** for my baby. Does anybody have any suggestions on brands or how much I should expect to pay or where I can get one? I’m also new to the car aftermarket scene. Any help would be very cool and appreciated.

ibluevirus

when it comes to shift ****, you should see it in person so you can get the feel. Some time it might "look" good online, but sucks in person. Poke around your local import shops, they should have plenty in stock.. Good luck

btw, here is a site i got a while back... I've never purchased anything from them before, so can't tell you much...

http://www.eautoworks.com/

Esquire

I'm just curious . . . what would you do with the overdrive button with a new shift ****?

ibluevirus

if you get an auto shift ****, most should come with the OD button. If not, you could always custom a button for the OD button. Nothing special, just a switch.

hihoslva

If you are into spending some $$ on a NICE auto ****, look into the Razos - The models are RA91 and RA92 (one is chrome, the other is satin finish) - but it is a very nice ****, and has the OD button built in. Not many auto ***** will come with the button. It's around $100 tho:


Lemme know if you need any tips on removing the stock shifter **** - it's not as easy as it looks, but I've had it off a coupla times already.

~HH

Lo Presti

Thanks for the heads up ibluevirus and hihoslva!! Any info/tips on how to replace the OEM **** would be much appreciated. Let me know what you got.

The Razo models look very nice! Does anyone know where I can buy one?

Thanks again for the help!

Cheers...

hihoslva

The thing that makes removal tough is the wire for the OD button.

What you need to do is - remove the cupholder trim. Just give a yank on the holders themselves - it should pop out pretty easily.

There are two screws (phillips, I believe) on the back of the shift **** - zip them out. The **** will be loose and will pull up, but won't come off because of the wire (you won't really see the wire yet, though). BE CAREFUL if you pull the **** up - the chrome button has a tendency to pop out and fly across the car - I lost the spring the first time, and had a helluva time finding it. Also - use a piece of tape or something to mark which end is "up" for the button - it fits in upside down, but will get stuck. You have to put it back in right-side up, or it won't work properly.

Then you need to take off the silvery trim around the shifter itself - this requires a bit of force to snap off, but it's not a big deal. There is another black piece under it - the two might come off together, which is fine, because you need to remove both anyway.

They won't come off all the way because the shift **** is still in place. But if you look in the (now "uncovered") console, about where the driver's side cupholder was, you'll see a small white wiring harness. You'll need to get the two halves unsnapped, which isn't that easy because the harness is attached to the inside of the console. I accidentally snapped mine loose while trying - might not be a bad idea just to break it off its mount for easier access. No big thing - don't worry about leaving it loose when you put it all back together.

That harness is for the OD button, and I'm pretty sure it also is connected to the tiny orange bulb that illuminates the gear selector. Once you get the harness undone, you should be able to lift everything off - "everything" includes: The shift **** (remember to watch out for flying chrome buttons!) and the "sleeve" below it (the OD wire goes through the sleeve), and both the silver trim and black part from underneath it. Try to keep everything together, it'll help you when it comes time to put it back together again.

I'd assume that for the Razo, you'll need to clip the wire and attach it to the button on the new ****. My only issue with that Razo is that I would like it to sit lower than the stock ****. I figure this might require cutting the metal rod of the shifter, as well as the plastic plunger inside. I just think it might look kinda silly up high, and don't know how you'd hide the wire. I would want it to be flush with the black "slider" in the trim piece - if you can do that, the wire will automatically be hidden, and it'll look sweet!

I didn't feel like undertaking such aproject, nor did I want to get that Razo and have it look - in my opinion - bad. I also haven't found justification for spending $90+ on a shift **** - yet. So - I still have my stock ****.

Do a search for "Razo RA91" and "RA92" to find those shifter *****. I've seen them for sale several places on the web.

Hope the tutorial helps - sorry I don't have any pics, I know they are always useful. Lemme know if you have any questions.

Good luck!

~HH

ZackyFarms16

this is what i did. I couldnt get that wiring harnes un cliped, i tried for about an hour and said screw it. So, i cut the OD wire, its thick and black, i cut it at the base of the shifter. So, i pulled the shift thing off and then, what im doing, is rewiring the button to a momentary switch somewhere on the dash. Not sure just where yet, but in essence you can wire it to anywhere. Just take that black wire that is now cut and attatch another wire to it, and run that to where ever you want the new switch to be. Then just wire it up and it should be fine. I got the Razo quick shift **** thing. Its like silver and its just a silver long tube-ish thing for automatics. it DOESNT FIT PROPERLY, so if you kinda **** of it fitting right then dont get it. Im not ghetto, but i dont care that much cuz im planing on totally changing that whole shifting thing to a leather boot to make it look like a manual(and a little more which i wanna keep a secret). But eitherway, the reason why i say the **** doesnt fit is because you have to put this circular piece on it to stop the **** from lifting up and off the shifter column. But thatthing doesnt fit so you can just pull the kob off whenever you want. Its not dangerous or anything, its just how it is. sorry for the long post, but thats what i did.....

good luck

Lo Presti

Thanks for the info! It's very helpful!