F10 M5 shift knob installed

[double yu]

Just got done with this and like others have said, it was a pita. Hardest part was trying to get this thing to snap back in. After hours of trimming off excess leather, I finally got it in. Second hardest would be getting the original boot off the trim. Love the new feel though

[jaawwdeen]

Decided to go ahead and do this mod too. I did the glue method and trimmed off the excess leather. Couldn't be happier with the results. This thread was a major help.

[Denk]

Love mine, very rewarding aesthetic and driving experience mod. No glue, just cut out the tabs, folded the leather over the ring and snapped it in.

[Konig]

Thanks for the write-up, I did this (mostly) tonight. My car is still relatively new to me and the flimsy stock shifter was seriously hindering me from getting comfortable in the car.

The process was pretty straightforward, and like others I am having trouble with the last step - getting the ring to snap back in. I've trimmed the leather and glued the edges, including a pretty big clearance area around the clips, but it just won't settle in. Tomorrow I'll probably pull the console off and clip it in from behind.

Even with the boot loose, I took it around the block and the shifting is greatly improved. Definitely recommend this upgrade.

[801M3]

Did this recently also, love the look and feel.

I would however suggest people not pull the leather too far over the ring.. I wanted to keep it tight as to not have too much slack and it ended up causing the leather to be flat across the bottom area of the boot so it's stretched instead of clean.
Also on a hard 1st to 2nd shift the knob pops off.. only happened twice.. i believe it's all the way down... *shrug*

[Heights Ag 06]

I just received the F10 knob from Leather Z but paid to have the boot removed - now feeling like that was a bad decision. Has anyone installed the F10 knob and utilized their M3 boot? Not sure how to get the M3 boot off of the M3 knob? Once that is done, how do I connect the old boot to the new F10 knob?

Looked through the thread but did not see any pics or descriptions of anyone taking this approach. Thanks in advance.

[BIGW0RM]

Originally Posted by Heights Ag 06

I just received the F10 knob from Leather Z but paid to have the boot removed - now feeling like that was a bad decision. Has anyone installed the F10 knob and utilized their M3 boot? Not sure how to get the M3 boot off of the M3 knob? Once that is done, how do I connect the old boot to the new F10 knob?

Looked through the thread but did not see any pics or descriptions of anyone taking this approach. Thanks in advance.

I have! And I think its WAY easier than using all the M5 knob and boot. I failed on the m5 boot twice and ended up just pulling the boot as far inside out as I could to cut the m5 knob off the m5 boot. I now have clean M5 knob only.


I then cut my m3 knob off the m3 boot. Now I have the M3 boot still attached to the boot ring that snaps into the center console.

What I did was push the M3 boot down (inside out pointing down) and slide it over the metal shift pole. While I did that, I had a buddy attach the m5 knob to the pole and slide the power wire inbetween the pole and m3 shift boot so when its all together you dont see wires.

Once the knob and wire were snaked thru the boot which is being held over the pole, but with the boot inside out and over the pole. I now zipped tied the boot to the pole and pulled the boot inside right as I lowered the m3 boot ring into place on the console.

Finally I just pushed the m5 knob into place which was being held in the air to snake the power wire down the pole and boot.


No funky m5 boot issues. The m5 knob with m3 boot look seemless too.

PM me your number and I will take a pick of mine if its not in this thread.

Here is a pic showing my idea.

http://www.redlinegoods.com/ziptie.jpg

http://www.billswebspace.com/Redline...s/image024.jpg

NOTE: whast you dont see here is someone holding the M5 knob and SNAKING the M5 knobs power wire down the pole the boot is attaching too. So when you pull the boot inside right, the wire is hidden.

[m3gustaAW]

How did you all pull the original knob out? Straight up by force? Does it mess up the bushing?

[Staszek]

Originally Posted by Heights Ag 06

I just received the F10 knob from Leather Z but paid to have the boot removed - now feeling like that was a bad decision. Has anyone installed the F10 knob and utilized their M3 boot? Not sure how to get the M3 boot off of the M3 knob? Once that is done, how do I connect the old boot to the new F10 knob?

Looked through the thread but did not see any pics or descriptions of anyone taking this approach. Thanks in advance.

I did, I glued it on the M3 ring and trimmed off the excess leather. It was a bit of a pain but it works.

[delorean696969]

Just did this install as well.. WHAT A PAIN IN THE A$$! Took 2 tries as I had to pull the leather back off the ring after the first attempt and trim the leather almost all the way up to the top of the plastic ring. Wish there was an easier way, but end result looks good even though I will be pealing super glue off my fingers for a week.

[dj_dub]

Updated pic:

IMG_6619a by dj_dub, on Flickr

[Boone Racoon]

Someone asked earlier and no response - anyone know where I can buy the ring itself? I screwed mine up and am buying a new ring (I wore down the clips) and new boot (I got superglue on the boot).

I would also pay someone to do this for me. I hated doing it originally so if anyone wants to make some quick cash thats a lot handier than I am. It better fit though!!

I dont want to screw this up again.

[dj_dub]

Originally Posted by Boone Racoon

Someone asked earlier and no response - anyone know where I can buy the ring itself? I screwed mine up and am buying a new ring (I wore down the clips) and new boot (I got superglue on the boot).

I would also pay someone to do this for me. I hated doing it originally so if anyone wants to make some quick cash thats a lot handier than I am. It better fit though!!

I dont want to screw this up again.

AFAIK, you cannot buy the ring itself. You would have to purchase a used stock shift knob/boot from someone or a new one from the dealer/shop.

I agree though, it is a PITA to do this mod. I didn't enjoy doing it at all, but I'm very pleased with the outcome. Good luck!

[BIGW0RM]

Im telling you guys. Pull your stock one inside out and try to reverse the knob out as far as you can and slice it off.

Take the M5 knob and do the same thing. The M5 knob has a inner ring you can pull out with pliers to get it away from the boot cleanly. But youll have to carefully cut it away from the wire. Its the hardest part but its not NEARly as hard as it sounds.

I then used my stock M3 boot (now missing a knob) and held it inside out and above the shaft. I zip tied the top of the boot to the top of the metal shaft. I then turn it back inside right(?) and attached the ring back into place. I now have my m3 boot on with no handle and just the tip of the shifter exposed.

Then you put the M5 knob on top and it mashes together like stock. This took me 15 minutes after THREE times of doing it the hard way with glue and shit.

Check a few posts up for my post with some pics. Its perfectly flush and zero separation between two pieces.

[Boone Racoon]

Thanks for the heads up guys. Are there good cheap places to get a stock knob? Im going to get two, so I can take the knob I have now and do the boot swap and then take a knob I just bought and do the ring again.

[BIGW0RM]

Originally Posted by Boone Racoon

Thanks for the heads up guys. Are there good cheap places to get a stock knob? Im going to get two, so I can take the knob I have now and do the boot swap and then take a knob I just bought and do the ring again.

I got mine for 125ish from https://www.getbmwparts.com/

Let me go take a pic of my M5 knob on my M3 boot. It was so much easier IMO.

No glue, no dealing with the ring not snapping in, popping out or just looking loose in some areas.

Here is my M5 Knob that I removed the M5 boot from with my M3 boot and ring. I have ZERO boot slack where it meet the M5 knob.

[dj_dub]

Originally Posted by ILSMKU

Im telling you guys. Pull your stock one inside out and try to reverse the knob out as far as you can and slice it off.

Take the M5 knob and do the same thing. The M5 knob has a inner ring you can pull out with pliers to get it away from the boot cleanly. But youll have to carefully cut it away from the wire. Its the hardest part but its not NEARly as hard as it sounds.

I then used my stock M3 boot (now missing a knob) and held it inside out and above the shaft. I zip tied the top of the boot to the top of the metal shaft. I then turn it back inside right(?) and attached the ring back into place. I now have my m3 boot on with no handle and just the tip of the shifter exposed.

Then you put the M5 knob on top and it mashes together like stock. This took me 15 minutes after THREE times of doing it the hard way with glue and shit.

Check a few posts up for my post with some pics. Its perfectly flush and zero separation between two pieces.

This is really gonna help my out next week. Although, I completed this mod the first time perfectly without any issues...I'm going to need to remove the boot on the M5 knob and replacing it with the BMW Performance Alcantara boot to match my E-brake handle and steering wheel. Now I know how to do it. Thanks bud!

[dj_dub]

Originally Posted by dj_dub

This is really gonna help my out next week. Although, I completed this mod the first time perfectly without any issues...I'm going to need to remove the boot on the M5 knob and replacing it with the BMW Performance Alcantara boot to match my E-brake handle and steering wheel. Now I know how to do it. Thanks bud!

Updated pics! OEM BMW Performance Alcantara Shift Boot mated to the OEM F10 M5 Knob...

IMG_6938a by dj_dub, on Flickr

IMG_6939a by dj_dub, on Flickr

IMG_6929a by dj_dub, on Flickr

[Atomicteal_M3]

Originally Posted by dj_dub

Updated pics! OEM BMW Performance Alcantara Shift Boot mated to the OEM F10 M5 Knob...

IMG_6938a by dj_dub, on Flickr

IMG_6939a by dj_dub, on Flickr

IMG_6929a by dj_dub, on Flickr

Brilliant!!

[Atomicteal_M3]

Does anybody know if the 1-series shift boot would fit the M3 shift base ring?

[Iyzmi]

Originally Posted by ILSMKU

I got mine for 125ish from https://www.getbmwparts.com/

Let me go take a pic of my M5 knob on my M3 boot. It was so much easier IMO.

No glue, no dealing with the ring not snapping in, popping out or just looking loose in some areas.

Here is my M5 Knob that I removed the M5 boot from with my M3 boot and ring. I have ZERO boot slack where it meet the M5 knob.

Thanks for the tip! Just ordered my M5 knob and some low profile zip ties. This method seems a lot easier with less risk of having too much/too little slack in the leather boot and no chance of snap-in problems.

[Atomicteal_M3]

Just finished installing my new shift knob and boot. I gave up trying to get the shift boot straight after hours of trying to get rid of the overlap in the lower left of the shift boot.