AKG Motorsport Race Shifter III THE BEST THING IN THE WORLD. Driveshaft R&R.

I took a look at my blog and realize I update it about as frequently as I go to the track. Which is never. But here goes a run of posts that should satiate the 4 viewers I have who read this blog about a particular M3 which has gone way too deep.

News in my life is I moved to norcal for a new job. No longer doing car design but now industrial design for wearable products with a little startup called Intel. One of the reasons I'm even updating this, as my machine renders away, is that I'm going to finally check off the list a longtime goal which is to race at Laguna Seca! By race I mean track day. I didn't think it would happen so quickly upon moving up here but the opportunity came and I am now trolling forums and looking back on my blog to see what exactly I've done to my car. See this is good reference to have for yourself.

So what is this post about? Oh right, the AKG shifter. Also known as THE BEST MOD TO DO TO ANY E36. I love it. You touch it everyday. It's super notchy and short. I got the stage 3 version because stage 2 was just too docile. I NEEDED stage 3. Calvin from bimmerforums ordered it specifically for me.

While I was there (AKG) I decided to order new motor and trans mounts to match with the shifter. I had solid in there and it was too much. I talked with Andy and he said poly 75D for the motor mounts and e21 solid bushings with cups for the trans...Whaa?? I decided I'm buying the mans shifter I'm going to go with what he says. It's been working out fine. I even started a forum post and compared the BW race shifter and what mounts they use. Turned into a flame fest. I just went with the suppliers recommendations.

So there are the pictures of all the new stuff going in the car. Removing the "bitch clip" from OE the shifter is a pain in the ass. Hence the name.

The driveshaft was already out due to all the rear suspension overhaul. The shifter selector shaft was pretty nasty so while I was down there I replaced the seal. Calvin 99Mpower has a good write-up on m3forum about this shifter selector rod seal. I pretty much just followed that DIY. I think I used a hook or seal puller to pull the seal. Honestly it was pretty easy. I say this because my entire car was apart and this was just one out of a hundred things I needed to do. I thought it would be hard and because of that it was easy. If all you were doing was this it would probably be a pain in the ass and take all day. Wait until "you're in there." That tranny fluid ain't really going anywhere...

New Seal and End Joint along side old

New seal in

 So if you buy a new end joint which has the little soft bit in it, you'll learn that the latest design is different from the one you pulled out. There is about a mm flange difference on each side. The tolerances Andy uses are pretty on point so the DSSR wouldn't fit. I sanded down the BMW joint and it fits perfectly now.

The instructions are sparse but they call for cutting down the original "plunger" boot to maintain a seal from the elements. I bought a new one since I mangled my original one getting it out.

Since I was putting in a 3.38LSD from a 99 M3 i had to either change the flange on the diff or change the driveshaft to a 4 bolt. I chose the latter. To R&R the used driveshaft I sourced, I bought a new CSB, guibo and had it balanced at a driveshaft shop. They said the U-joints were serviceable if I cared to go that far but that I should be fine. Within tolerances they said.

 Pictures of the old cracked guibo. Got 150k on the clock? Yours looks like this.

I wasn't able to press the CSB myself so I took it to the guy who balanced it and he took care of me. Driveshaft specialist in San Bernardino.

Using the e21 Solid Trans mounts with cups involved dremeling out the tabs on the transmission as you can see above. The size of the bolt for the e21 is 12mm and stock is 14mm. Or something like that. There are also little tabs on the carrier which need to be ground down for the cups to lay flat.

Let's get this thing put back together already!!