Turner Motorsports Adjustable Short Shift Kit....

[BimmerMan33]

Found out recently that Turner Motorsports has come out with an adjustable short shift kit for the E9x generation cars including the M3.
Wondering if anyone here has any experience with this product yet? It seems interesting since you could adjust the shift throw as often as you like & also comes with the option of a rally style tall shift rod!
Any comments....

[ciges]

Looks good from pics on Turner website,and $254.99 is cheap compared to other ones .I think it can be installed from top on E9X M3 ,no need to remove exhaust and shields.

[amrazM]

Get an rtd shifter and never think about short shifters a day in your life again.

[Iyzmi]

Originally Posted by amrazM

Get an Autosolutions shifter and never think about short shifters a day in your life again.

Fixed.

Most people don't want to hack up the interior in their daily.

[shimmy23]

I'll be listing my AS SSK for sale. BNIB if anyone is interested

[Merlin_83]

...The installation for the Auto Solutions is very in-depth...


What about the UUC SSK ? It looks really good and seems more supported

Thanks,
Merlin

[amrazM]

Originally Posted by Iyzmi

Fixed.

Most people don't want to hack up the interior in their daily.

I’ll challenge you on this because I have a rtd installed on my E92 and it’s fitting under the boot and console trim.

[Iyzmi]

Originally Posted by amrazM

I’ll challenge you on this because I have a rtd installed on my E92 and it’s fitting under the boot and console trim.

That's cool, but it still looks ridiculous in a street car IMO.

[SAMM3Y]

Mines on order doesn't look like it's shipping till mid January though..

[BimmerMan33]

I did think of Auto Solution shifter but it's around $400. Turner Motorsports adjustable shifter is $250 and "adjustable" and you could install the included tall shift rod to bring the shifter closer to the steering while tracking or autocross events. It's intriguing because you could adjust the feel/effort/shift throw from inside the car as often as you like.
Installation would need to lower the exhaust but need not remove the drive shaft. Indy shop wants 3 hrs labor for this.
Auto Solutions vs Turner Motorsports?
Decisions... decisions...

[strokemycocktus]

Any feedback on this shifter?
Good thing it is adjustable, but I saw the minimum reduction you can have is 24% - seems quite a lot for a daily driver, most people who got the autosolutions shifter choose about 15%.

[Nazty Naze One!]

any updates on how people are liking this product? Ive been wanting the AS shifter but this may be a better kit, need to know if thats the case first.

[BimmerMan33]

Originally Posted by strokemycocktus

Any feedback on this shifter?
Good thing it is adjustable, but I saw the minimum reduction you can have is 24% - seems quite a lot for a daily driver, most people who got the autosolutions shifter choose about 15%.

Agree that 24% is too aggressive for daily driving but couldn't we lower that by using the long rally style shifter rod or just a taller shift knob?

[dfjaws]

I just installed this shifter today along with the Turner poly bushing for the rear of the carrier and the ECS Teflon bushings for the front of the carrier. So far I love it. Shifting feels very direct and mechanical. There is nearly zero play in the carrier now with the new bushings. It’s very solid feeling. The short shift components themselves are top notch. The concept behind an adjustable throw is awesome and I think it’s well executed. I adjusted the knob height and throw a couple times so far and I will still probably keep playing with it to find that ‘sweet spot’ for my preference. Knob height seems to go as high as a little higher than stock to very low as well (obviously your throw adjustment will have an affect on the knob height range as well).

Overall I recommend this kit and I’m looking forward to tinkering with it some more to get it to my version of ‘perfect’ throw and height.

*Also, I would 100% recommend doing the carrier bushings as well.

[dfjaws]

A couple things to add now that I’m thinking about them...

I never heard of the 24% minimum throw reduction statistic when it comes to the turner. Honestly, it looks like you can make it the same dimensions as the OE shift rod as well so I’m not sure the 24% minimum is very accurate. I could be wrong though. I haven’t tried it with it being as close to OE dimensions as possible. I will say that I don’t have it on the minimum and my throws are not annoyingly short or anything. They are shorter than OE but that’s the point anyways, haha. I also have not tried it at the minimum or maximum throw distance. I’m about 1/3 of the way up from the bottom (bottom being minimum reduction).

EDIT: Just saw the 24-45% reduction on Turner’s site. I was wrong. Either way, I don’t find it too short and I’m not on then minimum reduction. Your personal preferences may vary.

As far as installation goes I did this while replacing a driveshaft so my install was pretty simple. That’s also why I went for the bushings. They were just too easy to not replace them. I don’t think you can install this only from the top. The clip holding the shift rod to the selector rod would be pretty much impossible to remove and reinstall, especially without dropping it. Driveshaft definitely doesn’t need to come out. Just x pipe (not even all the way, just unbolt it and lower it a bit) and applicable heat shielding.

EDIT: Turner’s site says you can install from just the top. I think it could be done but it would be very tricky with that clip.

Both the throw adjustment and height adjustment can be done in the car. It takes a few mins and a couple tools so it’s definitely not something that can be done on the fly but it’s easy. Height adjustment is a breeze. Two simple set screws. Slide the top to where you want, tighten the screws. Done. The throw adjustment does require fighting the rubber boot quite a bit though. In Turners installation instructions they mention than they cut away a bit of the top of the rubber boot to better show the adjustment procedure but also that you can do the same to make adjustments easier and it won’t have any negative impacts as long as the rubber boot is installed properly otherwise. I may end up cutting mine to make adjustments easier.

Also, I coated the new bushings, all pins, and the shift rod ball/bushings in a light coat of Mobil red synthetic grease. I don’t think the instructions called it out lubricating the shift rod ball but I wanted to make sure everything was nice and slick and operated smoothly.

[strokemycocktus]

Originally Posted by dfjaws

A couple things to add now that I’m thinking about them...

I never heard of the 24% minimum throw reduction statistic when it comes to the turner. Honestly, it looks like you can make it the same dimensions as the OE shift rod as well so I’m not sure the 24% minimum is very accurate. I could be wrong though. I haven’t tried it with it being as close to OE dimensions as possible. I will say that I don’t have it on the minimum and my throws are not annoyingly short or anything. They are shorter than OE but that’s the point anyways, haha. I also have not tried it at the minimum or maximum throw distance. I’m about 1/3 of the way up from the bottom (bottom being minimum reduction).

As far as installation goes I did this while replacing a driveshaft so my install was pretty simple. That’s also why I went for the bushings. They were just too easy to not replace them. I don’t think you can install this only from the top. The clip holding the shift rod to the selector rod would be pretty much impossible to remove and reinstall, especially without dropping it. Driveshaft definitely doesn’t need to come out. Just x pipe (not even all the way, just unbolt it and lower it a bit) and applicable heat shielding.

Both the throw adjustment and height adjustment can be done in the car. It takes a few mins and a couple tools so it’s definitely not something that can be done on the fly but it’s easy. Height adjustment is a breeze. Two simple set screws. Slide the top to where you want, tighten the screws. Done. The throw adjustment does require fighting the rubber boot quite a bit though. In Turners installation instructions they mention than they cut away a bit of the top of the rubber boot to better show the adjustment procedure but also that you can do the same to make adjustments easier and it won’t have any negative impacts as long as the rubber boot is installed properly otherwise. I may end up cutting mine to make adjustments easier.

Also, I coated the new bushings, all pins, and the shift rod ball/bushings in a light coat of Mobil red synthetic grease. I don’t think the instructions called it out lubricating the shift rod ball but I wanted to make sure everything was nice and slick and operated smoothly.

Thanks for such detailed review
I think I'm convinced on this one.

The 24% minimum reduction is mentioned in the product description on Turner motorsport page:
Combined total throw adjustment range
​24 to 45% reduction in throw over stock E90 M3 shifter.

Either way I don't know how 24 or 50% would look and feel like, these numbers are arbitrary. I just compared them to what I saw others posted with autosolutions ssk, with 15% being considered the perfect reduction.

[Iyzmi]

Here is one of the emails I received from Ronald at Autosolutions while discussing short shifters, with the important bits in bold. It looks like the Turner kit does not include the selector rod so that is one of the reasons it is less expensive. I think the extra $100 for a complete solution is well worth it and I see the adjustability of the Turner kit to be somewhat of a novelty. A properly built SSK should not need any adjustment.

We build all sort of ratios for the e9Xm3 from 5 to 35 percent. I will not build anything above 35% unless a compelling reason is given to me. However I think the 14-18% is a sweet spot and your choice is right on the money. That range is geometrically very efficient and yields really close to stock effort which is what you would need if you are comparing it to the S2000. The precision and repeatability of the pattern would be on par with the s2000. and regardless of throw reduction that precision is the same.

You would need to decide on a shifter height. Some people like it a bit taller than stock to compensate for the eventual drop when using a zhp knob some like it lower . We can discuss further if you like.
The price regardless of the above choices is the same at $399 which includes a complete mechanism ,composed of the lever,the selector rod and the front joint all of our manufacture and all matched to work together. The e9x shifters are essentially all custom built to specs within reason. We do not sell our shifter piecemeal because we do not believe selling you a lever then waiting for you to come back in the hopes of improving a less than satisfactory experience to sell you a selector rod then doing the same at a later date and us selling you a front coupler joint. Any shifter will only work as good as the weakest point in your setup will allow. Further keep in mind that our units are integrated so that installing our lever with someone else's rod will typically result in less performance than installing our matched components precisely because our components are matched and adding someone else's rod or coupler will yield at best a little less precise feel.

I will supply new factory bushings with the kit. I do not think the Nylon/ Delrin jobs are better with this carrier. One day I will have a harder durometer rubber bushing built but even that I think would bring marginal improvement. For sure new delrin will help if your existing rubber is worn out but to my knowledge no one has compared new rubber to new delrin in this shift arm. I have and did not notice a plus. Truth is my experience is anecdotal at best so if you have anything that reinforces or discredit my assertion I would really love to know.
As for the rear mount, I have found it to be extremely durable and overbuilt and rarely in need of replacement which you should do if it feels sloppy or worn out. I can count on one hand those I have observed that needed replacement.

[dfjaws]

I noticed a huge difference when replacing my carrier bushings. I could easily move it by had with the old bushings but now it hardly moves at all when I pulled on it from under the car. It’s very tight. I don’t know how much that translates into shifter feel but that’s my experience with the bushings.

[spazzyfry123]

Originally Posted by Iyzmi

Here is one of the emails I received from Ronald at Autosolutions while discussing short shifters, with the important bits in bold. It looks like the Turner kit does not include the selector rod so that is one of the reasons it is less expensive. I think the extra $100 for a complete solution is well worth it and I see the adjustability of the Turner kit to be somewhat of a novelty. A properly built SSK should not need any adjustment.

Ronald's the man! Super knowledgeable and a good deal if you ask me. Best shifter I've had.

[SYT_Shadow]

Originally Posted by Merlin_83

...The installation for the Auto Solutions is very in-depth...

Very indepth? I did the AS install on my E92 at the end of a track day. At the paddock.

[SYT_Shadow]

Originally Posted by Nazty Naze One!

any updates on how people are liking this product? Ive been wanting the AS shifter but this may be a better kit, need to know if thats the case first.

The probability is extremely low

The AS kits have been out for M3s for what, 20 years? And they have stellar reviews in M3 forums.

I'm always entertained to see how people will move to a completely unproven product instead of another one that has been around since the dinosaurs roamed the earth and always gets the best reviews

[BimmerMan33]

Originally Posted by dfjaws

I just installed this shifter today along with the Turner poly bushing for the rear of the carrier and the ECS Teflon bushings for the front of the carrier. So far I love it. Shifting feels very direct and mechanical. There is nearly zero play in the carrier now with the new bushings. It’s very solid feeling. The short shift components themselves are top notch. The concept behind an adjustable throw is awesome and I think it’s well executed. I adjusted the knob height and throw a couple times so far and I will still probably keep playing with it to find that ‘sweet spot’ for my preference. Knob height seems to go as high as a little higher than stock to very low as well (obviously your throw adjustment will have an affect on the knob height range as well).

Overall I recommend this kit and I’m looking forward to tinkering with it some more to get it to my version of ‘perfect’ throw and height.

*Also, I would 100% recommend doing the carrier bushings as well.

Thank you so much for such a detailed review!

Couple questions though:

Is there any audible vibrations from the shifter area while driving, say accelerating in 2nd or 3rd gears?

Is the shift rod positioned the same as stock or is it now closer to the driver? Position, say when in 1st gear?...Is it too close to the front edge of the surrounding console trim?

Have you tried driving with the included longer rally style extended shift rod? Would really appreciate some feedback on that!

Thanks a ton!