F10 M5 shift knob installed

[jqsmooth]

Just purchased the M5 shift knob/boot after years of contemplating. The leather around the emblem is wearing out on the original shifter. Thought about replacing it with a new one but wanted to see what the fuss is all about. It took me awhile to do this because there just wasn't a need(I guess there still isn't as the shifter isn't broken or anything, ha!) But will see why many of you went this route. Really appreciate the tips and pictures.

[l2iceman]

Just installed mine. I had to keep trimming until I could get the base ring to sit in place, as it kept popping out.

Now it stays in place after shifting through all gears multiple times.

I'll see how it goes over the next several days. If it bothers me, or pops out again, I'll just cut and re use the original boot, so ensure the ring snaps in.


Also, use a hair dryer to heat up and soften the glue, making removal of base ring easier.

[EMKOOP]

Originally Posted by strokemycocktus

Update on the F80 M3 knob install. The boot size seems smaller than the F10 ones presented here, and most importantly the leather thickness is exactly the same as in original E92 M3 boot. The knob seems to be the same as F10 M5 - weighs 185g.
This thing feels way better than OEM knob. When I compared these two the OEM seemed like a cardboard prototype rather than something to be put on a production car. BMW cheaped out on this one.
Here are some pics of my application. It took less time and effort than I expected and overall I am pleased with the result. I went with paper clips, trimmed the excessive leather and then glued it as recommended

First off I want to thank everyone who has contributed to this thread with their findings and tips on DIY. It really helps members like me who is looking to do this installation.

I think strokemycocktus is really onto sth here as his install is probably one of the cleanest I have seen thus far on fitment of the boot material.

[IMG]https://i.ibb.co/Bt2n5qx/IMG-2307-Fotor2r.jpg[/IMG]

There are 2 areas that I have noticed with the thicker F10 M5 boot material which vary greatly from different installed photos shared here:

1) Area right next to Power & EDC buttons (Inability to make a sharp line)
Since the side of the base ring is parallel to the line of buttons it is very easy to spot the excess/thicker material bulging out.

2) Corner closest to the DSC button (Inability to make a nice rounded off corner)
The excess/thicker F10 M5 boot material I am sure poses a lot of difficulty in making a visually appealing corner/bend as I have seen from multiple installs shared in this thread.


Last time I checked the F80 M3 shift knob (Same boot material thickness as E9x) is roughly $50 more than the F10 M5 shift knob (Thicker boot material causing issues with base ring clips and tucking of material)

I am contemplating if I am to actually spend the $260ish vs $215ish for the peace of mind to have a better end result?

Anxious to see if others have the same thoughts are am I just being OCD?

[waterpanda]

Got mine installed the other night- went with a Coby alcantara boot + stock base.

Original leather was too thick and has too much material on the seams that reaches diagonally to the front two corners.

Only thing that took up a bunch of time was carefully breaking off the plastic piece that had the original leather wrapped around it (right below the exposed silver ring) but rest of install was a breeze, Coby alcantara was perfectly pre-cut to fit around the stock base, even included the cutouts that goes over the plastic clips.

[EMKOOP]

Originally Posted by waterpanda

Got mine installed the other night- went with a Coby alcantara boot + stock base.

Original leather was too thick and has too much material on the seams that reaches diagonally to the front two corners.

Only thing that took up a bunch of time was carefully breaking off the plastic piece that had the original leather wrapped around it (right below the exposed silver ring) but rest of install was a breeze, Coby alcantara was perfectly pre-cut to fit around the stock base, even included the cutouts that goes over the plastic clips.

Looks great!

So with this route you went without the thick F10 M5 boot and zip tied the knob to the aftermarket alcantara boot?

[skyrider1977]

Originally Posted by waterpanda

Got mine installed the other night- went with a Coby alcantara boot + stock base.

Original leather was too thick and has too much material on the seams that reaches diagonally to the front two corners.

Only thing that took up a bunch of time was carefully breaking off the plastic piece that had the original leather wrapped around it (right below the exposed silver ring) but rest of install was a breeze, Coby alcantara was perfectly pre-cut to fit around the stock base, even included the cutouts that goes over the plastic clips.

That definitely came out looking great. I don't want to mess with the thicker leather either, but I also would like to keep the knob illuminated. Tough decisions to be made.

[waterpanda]

Originally Posted by EMKOOP

Looks great!

So with this route you went without the thick F10 M5 boot and zip tied the knob to the aftermarket alcantara boot?

Yep! These were the steps I took:
1. Cut around the leather from the F10 M5 boot and left the plastic ring on. This was to get better access to the plastic ring affixed to the silver trim and has the leather glued. There's a small hole that the wiring passes through from the top of the knob so I took a needle nose plier + start breaking the inner ring piece by piece.
2. Fitted the Coby alcantara onto the stock plastic ring and super-glued
3. Slide the boot + stock ring back onto the exposed shift stick, with the plastic ring still loose
4. Guide the wire from shift knob into the boot hole
5. Slide the knob on top
6. Check fitment, install ziptie underneath the boot along with the wire without pinching it (pushing up towards the top of the knob as much as possible)

Happy to take pictures if anyone's interested, there was a DIY guide that illustrated the above steps but can't seem to find it

Originally Posted by skyrider1977

That definitely came out looking great. I don't want to mess with the thicker leather either, but I also would like to keep the knob illuminated. Tough decisions to be made.

Honestly, it wasn't as PnP as I wanted it to be, but the fitment came out looking MUCH better than I thought AND I kept the illumination. I'd recommend pulling the trigger

[EMKOOP]

Originally Posted by skyrider1977

That definitely came out looking great. I don't want to mess with the thicker leather either, but I also would like to keep the knob illuminated. Tough decisions to be made.

We're in the same boat.

That's why I am contemplating paying the extra $50 for the F80 M3 knob to not have to go through the potential fitment issues due to the F10 M5 thicker boot material.

[skyrider1977]

Originally Posted by EMKOOP

We're in the same boat.

That's why I am contemplating paying the extra $50 for the F80 M3 knob to not have to go through the potential fitment issues due to the F10 M5 thicker boot material.

So the F80 M3 knob has a thinner leather boot attached? Is that one BMW P/N 25112284705 that you're talking about? I didn't realize how expensive that one is. FCP Euro has it listed for $329 which if it was a direct swap I'd consider, but unfortunately BMW doesn't want to make that an option for us E9X M3 owners.

[s14_kev]

Originally Posted by waterpanda

Yep! These were the steps I took:
1. Cut around the leather from the F10 M5 boot and left the plastic ring on. This was to get better access to the plastic ring affixed to the silver trim and has the leather glued. There's a small hole that the wiring passes through from the top of the knob so I took a needle nose plier + start breaking the inner ring piece by piece.
2. Fitted the Coby alcantara onto the stock plastic ring and super-glued
3. Slide the boot + stock ring back onto the exposed shift stick, with the plastic ring still loose
4. Guide the wire from shift knob into the boot hole
5. Slide the knob on top
6. Check fitment, install ziptie underneath the boot along with the wire without pinching it (pushing up towards the top of the knob as much as possible)

Happy to take pictures if anyone's interested, there was a DIY guide that illustrated the above steps but can't seem to find it




Honestly, it wasn't as PnP as I wanted it to be, but the fitment came out looking MUCH better than I thought AND I kept the illumination. I'd recommend pulling the trigger

So you just break the inner plastic ring and the leather will come off with it? Is cutting the leather required?

[EMKOOP]

Originally Posted by skyrider1977

So the F80 M3 knob has a thinner leather boot attached? Is that one BMW P/N 25112284705 that you're talking about? I didn't realize how expensive that one is. FCP Euro has it listed for $329 which if it was a direct swap I'd consider, but unfortunately BMW doesn't want to make that an option for us E9X M3 owners.

Yes F80 is the same illuminated knob but with thinner boot material just like E9x as per confirmed by few members earlier in this very thread.

(F80/F82)
https://www.ecstuning.com/b-genuine-...g/25112284705/

(F10)
https://www.ecstuning.com/b-genuine-...d/25112284205/


If you dont want to deal with the F10 M5 thicker boot material:

1) F80 ~$265 (Thinner boot material similar to E9x) retrofitted over E9x M3 base ring

OR

2) Zip tie F10 ~$215 knob + ~$60 aftermarket E9x shift boot fitted over E9x M3 base ring

[EMKOOP]

Went the F80 M3 shift knob route and can confirm what previous owners have suggested... Illuminated ZHP knob and that its boot material being similar/same thickness as the OE E9x setup.

Cant wait to complete this project and install along with my SSK from Ronald/Autosolutions.

[KrPa]

Are the height/weight the same between the f10 and the f80 shift knobs? I'm planning on ordering an Autosolutions kit and want to accommodate for the height decrease

[EMKOOP]

Originally Posted by KrPa

Are the height/weight the same between the f10 and the f80 shift knobs? I'm planning on ordering an Autosolutions kit and want to accommodate for the height decrease

Yes they both utilize the same illuminated ZHP knob which should be 13 mm lower than E9x M3 stock shift knob.

I went with +8 mm on the AS SSK lever height to be in the best of both worlds approach. Hope that helps.

[smithl3]

Originally Posted by EMKOOP

Yes they both utilize the same illuminated ZHP knob which should be 13 mm lower than E9x M3 stock shift knob.

I went with +8 mm on the AS SSK lever height to be in the best of both worlds approach. Hope that helps.

Just installed my F10 M5 knob tonight. The heat gun does wonders to soften the stock glue for both the original and replacement knobs to remove the plastic rings. I ended up using Elmers clear drying rubber cement with a brush applicator. I let it dry 15 minutes before repositioning the clamps to better secure the leather to the plastic. After adding slots like the original boot, and cutting slits for the clip area, and trimming away the excess leather, the new setup snapped into place with a little brute force.

I love the new look and can't wait to get some miles behind it!

[EMKOOP]

Originally Posted by smithl3

Just installed my F10 M5 knob tonight. The heat gun does wonders to soften the stock glue for both the original and replacement knobs to remove the plastic rings. I ended up using Elmers clear drying rubber cement with a brush applicator. I let it dry 15 minutes before repositioning the clamps to better secure the leather to the plastic. After adding slots like the original boot, and cutting slits for the clip area, and trimming away the excess leather, the new setup snapped into place with a little brute force.

I love the new look and can't wait to get some miles behind it!

That looks to be one of the cleanest installs yet. Very nice sharp clean lines even with the thicker F10 leather

[Lito335]

Originally Posted by smithl3

Just installed my F10 M5 knob tonight. The heat gun does wonders to soften the stock glue for both the original and replacement knobs to remove the plastic rings. I ended up using Elmers clear drying rubber cement with a brush applicator. I let it dry 15 minutes before repositioning the clamps to better secure the leather to the plastic. After adding slots like the original boot, and cutting slits for the clip area, and trimming away the excess leather, the new setup snapped into place with a little brute force.

I love the new look and can't wait to get some miles behind it!

Been trying to do this thing for the last couple of weeks.. freekin annoying. Even the tabs broke. Fml. If anyone wants to help out am willing to pay lol

[Aleks2505]

Just finished this today. I used contact cement and it works amazing. I did this upgrade on my 335 before I had my M3 and the feel of the shifter is way better. Car is stored for the winter but can't wait to try it out

[Aleks2505]

As mentioned previously I did use the heat gun and I found that does work the best to remove the ring from the boot in both cases. Contact cement and binder clamps did the trick as well. it's too cold in my garage now but like others I do notice that the clips don't engage all the way so probably have to remove the center console and have them go in and then put it back together.

[Bomb617]

Well worth the numb fingers (from removing both old and new shift boot rings). Simple mod and shift feel much better now.

[Bimmer-ish]

I don’t know if it’s been mentioned yet, but if anyone would like to keep their stock knob and boot, eBay has the ring for sale. So no leather dissection is needed.

[hsaguirre]

Originally Posted by Bimmer-ish

I don't know if it's been mentioned yet, but if anyone would like to keep their stock knob and boot, eBay has the ring for sale. So no leather dissection is needed.

Do you happen to have a link?