RE SSK for Helga

[Jersey Girl]

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.

[gixxer_kidd]

Nice write-up! Thanks for sharing. Ben and Mark are good peeps. I had them install their ssk in my e46m3 and it worked out great. Much smoother than the previous one that I had. So far I'm happy with the stock shifter but I know when the time comes I'll go to Ben.

Are you saying this shifter is an inch taller than the stock one?

[J08M3]

Already got mine on order from IND. Can't wait to get it. Hopefully it's not too hard to install as I'm gonna try and do this lying on my back in my garage

[Jared@ACGsandiego]

Good write up, it addressed the issues some of my customers were having with the stock throw from 1st to 2nd when getting on it hard.

[sparkyg]

Helga ftw!! Thx for the write up, I have one on order right now.

[gthirtyfizle]

Will b picking this up as well. I saw the shifter pasrts in person and they r absolutely flawless

[ersin]

Originally Posted by Jersey Girl

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!

...

Helga (my car) is a very happy girl, and she’s about to get a little louder, and a little lower.

You look like Danica Patrick there. And from those pictures it looks like Helga is not the only happy girl. Thanks for the report.

Cheers

[///M PWR 00]

Wait so does this ssk actually raise the shifter up? Is it height adjustable?

[Ben Liaw]

I'll answer some of the questions here, for those that don't want to read it on the website.

1. Yes, the knob is higher, by approximately 0.5" (yes, 1/2"). Our lever is not, and never has been, height adjustable. It is imperceptible with the stock knob on, as the boot is not stretched or in a strange position. You can see how we've improved the shifting geometry here. We played with a few different positions, and found this one to be the best of them all. It's a great balance of height and throw reduction while minimizing shifter effort.

2. The top of the lever is move slightly backwards as well. The factory lever is moved back (with it's double bend), but actually tips slightly forward. We maintain the angle of the shifter which positions it slightly rearward, away from the lower console. Some other companies just bent another factory lever backwards, which does NOT emulate the current E9X M3 lever. The bend in the lever is to position the upper part of the lever rearward, not to tip it backwards. This is difficult to explain in words, easier in pictures. I'm working on some more pictures for the webpage, to illustrate this.

3. On a lift, anticipate 2.5-3 hours for installation. It's not hard, there's just a lot of stuff to take off to install it. Of course, if you're planning on torturing yourself on jackstands and a lift, anticipate even longer.

Any other questions, PM me, or call the shop. 201.444.8150.

[sparkyg]

Originally Posted by ersin

You look like Danica Patrick there. And from those pictures it looks like Helga is not the only happy girl. Thanks for the report.

Cheers

+1, model material

[veightkiller]

Nice write up .

[Cab5er]

Originally Posted by Jersey Girl

Helga (my car) is a very happy girl, and she’s about to get a little louder, and a little lower.

You getting the rogue exhaust? that mean its coming out soon?

[aus]

Originally Posted by ersin

You look like Danica Patrick there. And from those pictures it looks like Helga is not the only happy girl. Thanks for the report.

Cheers

Actually better than Danika, who never seems to smile, and she looks to be a lot taller; maybe close to 6'.

Originally Posted by Cab5er

You getting the rogue exhaust? that mean its coming out soon?

I'm waiting on the exhaust too.

[MMMorish]

I'm waiting on the Rogue exhaust too before I choose between that and the RPi.

[Straz M3]

Someone I know will be beta testing their exhaust prob sometime in April...stay tuned!!

[monsta]

good review & cool pic if I didn't already have a AA SSK(at a great price) I would be all over this one....I live so close to Rogue that I'm ashamed to say that I've never been their shop, soon I will