Howdy y’all!
It took a few months of buzzing around the shop like a mosquito pestering Ben, but I finally got my hands on the new Rogue SSK for the e-9x M3.
The guys fit it on Friday. Since it was a test fitting it had to be done at the shop, but unless you have a lift, I don’t really think this is a DIY. Besides taking off the exhaust, there are a zillion shrouds under the car that need to come off to access the transmission.
As for photos, I don’t really have any. I’m still using the factory shift knob and boot, so from the cabin it doesn’t look any different. Once I get my order from leatherZ, it’ll be a dfferent story. But if you want too, check out
http://www.rogueengineering.com and you can see yours truly happily shifting at the bottom of the page. WOO HOO!
How does it feel? In short, sweeeeeeet. I had a Dinan SSK on my E36 back in the day, which was mostly a stock shifter with an inch hacked off. This on the other hand is about an inch taller. I’m no race car driver, but when I watch racing on the tube it always looks like shifters are sky high. If it works for people who get paid to drive, it works for me. My hand rests in a much more natural location. Throws are much shorter, and action is very crisp. All that icky slop in the stock shifter is gone. I particularly like the new 1st to 2nd action while leaving hard. I used to have a little trouble with that before, and even had it pop into neutral a few times when I didn’t yank hard enough. And now my fist doesn't feel like it's going to punch through the fire wall when I shift into 3rd or 5th.
Negatives? The only thing I noticed is a little more vibration through the knob, surely due to getting rid of all the factory rubber. It’s no biggie, and personally I love it. A little more of that ‘animal’ feel if you know what I mean.
Great stuff from the guys at Rogue. I want to thank them for putting up with me.
Helga (my car) is a very happy girl, and she’s about to get a little louder, and a little lower.
