E36 gets a self centering shifter from COOLERWORX... IS IT WORTH IT?
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- Опубликовано: 24 мар 2022
- Today, we install, explain, and review my new Coolerworx self centering shifter on my e36. This has been the one modification I've been most excited to install on my e36, and it completely changes the character of my car. I love it. If you have any questions regarding the installation, shift linkage, notchiness, or self centering functionality, ask them below I'll answer to the best of my ability.
Regarding coolerworx vs. CAE vs. RTD vs. IRP, etc: there are lots of options out there if you're looking for a self centering shifter for your BMW e36 / e46 / etc., I just opted for this one because it offered the best tradeoff between cost/quality. Plus, they have the direct fit kit for basically every BMW chassis, so installation of the shifter was a breeze and I didn't have to drill out the transmission tunnel.
If you're considering this for another BMW chassis (e90, for example), this shifter should work with most 5 and 6 speed manual transmissions. Coolerworx also has tons of shifter options for 350z, 370z, g35, g37, genesis coupe, ford fiesta ST, and a bunch more. I can only speak to the quality of the BMW unit, but if it's anything to go off of, you'll love the shifter for your car too :) 
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You absolutely have a great way of making videos I dig the awesome personality you have thanks for making watching this video such a great experience
Laughed and learned gotta say when the pictures came in I was laughing non stop thanks for this Love from Sonoma Ca
hahaha thanks so much! Glad you liked the video and thanks for the kind words :)
Binged your videos and I gotta say BIG UPS. Such quality content and it’s great watching someone who doesn’t have years of experience and knowledge but finding a way to do it at home proper. This channel is gonna grow fast my man
THANK YOU BRO that honestly means so much - i’m lucky to have access to a garage and tools but otherwise i’m just fumbling my way through lmao. Thanks so much for watching and supporting g i really appreciate it
yes finally someone who likes the feeling of going fast instead of racing.
I have this shifter for my e46 and love it so much
heck yeah! Glad you’re enjoying it too. Totally changes the car in a wonderful way.
hey man I just bought a e46 w this short shifter but can’t find reverse, I was wondering if you had a clue, that would be helpful
Looks dope! Great vid
Thanks so much, I appreciate it!
Great content bro 👋🏻, greetings from Mexico, subscribing rn
thank you bro!! Good to hear from you, thanks for watching :)
Love the content man
Thank you so much! I appreciate it
Slide show was very funny thanks
In my mind the self centering is complete nonsense. The 2-3 shift for example, if you literally just push forward on the shifter without grabbing it, it will go straight to 3rd because its already designed to center itself. Same with 5-4, just guide the shifter backward and it will align itself with 4th. The self centering aspect is actually pointless and just another way to sell people into thinking their fixing a problem they never had. honestly i dont know why you would want 1st and 2nd to look the same as 3rd and 4th. Not only that (and this is just preference) but when I put it in gear, I want to know that it is in gear and not going anywhere. If I put it in 2nd, I don't want it to move even the slightest bit, I like the feel of a sturdy and solid shifter. Alr enough yapping I just hate seeing people get shafted by this "innovative" bs. Lmk your thoughts and whether or not I'm completely crazy or what
I think the that shifter is pretty cool. I have the cliqtuning chassis mounted shifter in my e46 and i like it but it still has a lot of side to side play. The short and notchy shifts are beautiful tho but i can put it in gear and still wiggle it almost like its in neutral. The coolerworx self centering is a little weird that no matter what gear you are in it got back to center but it still stay forward if youre in 1,3,5 or back is youre in 2,4 but 1,3,5 will all look like its in 3rd or 2,4 will always look like its in 4. The racing aspect of the shifter is awesome as well because itll be way harder to miss gears because all you really have to do is push it forward or back. No need to worry about getting hung up on a gate or money shifting especially since most of the time its the 2-3 that gets messed up. I think its all about preference. If you like it, awesome if you dont, cool. I think i might get one for my e36 to see how it feels. If i dont like dailying it ill just swap it with my e46 since its the drift car.
But it’s badass
Of all your projects so far, it looks like this netted you the highest _(fun result)/(time+money)_ ratio. You're making my Maxima CVT transmission look soooo boring. 🙂
hahaha that’s a great way to put it - it’s the most fun per dollar i’ll probably ever get out of a car. Maybe one day you can manual swap the maxima and get a big ol’ shifter for it.
Cool tool from dad for the btch clip; I used a set of pry bars and used the corner of the shortest one on the very back of the clip.
In hindsight, a pick and hook set from harbor freight (1.99) would've worked much better, but I also had no clue what to expect as I own an auto and was just learning at the junk yard.
Totally - hindsight is always 20/20 with these projects
Did you figure out which trans and engine mounts to run with this shifter? I want to get one but also don't want the dodgy vibrations. Do you think the coolerworx non pro shifter for e36 plus fresh OEM mounts would be ok?
I think fresh OEM would be totally fine, esp for the non-pro without the centering spring - i’m running 80a poly mounts from garagistic for both, but had it make the trans mounts reeeeaally loose (like barely snugged up) so it wouldn’t vibrate. it’s been great since then, but i would probably suggest 80a engine mounts + brand new OEM trans mounts if i did it again. It won’t stress the transmission, but will take out a ton of vibrations while still being firm.
Im fitting one to mine as we speak
Question. I wanna do this, although I did a tranny swap. And my reverse is far right and back instead of far left and up. Would this still work?
Does this fix issues with the detents?
I have issues with reverse and 5th. Will this help that? Until I can fix them obviously
Did the selector rod come with the direct fit kit?
What year is your car and what size DSSR did you get that did not work? I have a early 95 M3 and I think I need a 189mm DSSR vs the later cars which use a longer one but I havent been able to find concrete answer.
Mine is a 1998, so that would make sense. I don’t have access to it to measure, but I’m guessing it would work on your OBD1 given the bend for the guibo/simultaneously being too short for my obd2 with the same ZF. Sounds like it should work for you 👍
Not surprised they sent you the wrong shifter selector rod ? Did you purchase the 189mm or 198mm curved link listed at for m3?
What year and month production is dori? Did you manual swap this car by any chance ? Or was in manual originally from day 1? Why I ask is because I know all there is too know regarding those linkages.
I got the curved link specifically for the ZF that’s in the M3 and 328i - although maybe i misunderstood which to order? Dory’s been manual since day 1 :) Any advice/insight would be cool, would like to eventually get the correct one in there to replace stock.
Hey man, Quick Q. I installed a coolerworx regular (no centering spring) shifter on my e46 M3 and It's pretty hard to get into each gear. Like the effort is much more pronounced. I had a CAE shifter on my other BMW and it wasn't that hard. Is there a way to adjust the effort level? Any thoughts?
I saw you ask the same question in a different video did you ever get it sorted out?
Does it get rid of the shifter linkage/shifter arm since it’s technically chassis mounted ??
yep that’s the idea! You still need the linkage to connect the bottom of the shifter to the shift selector on your trans, but this completely removes the weird arm and stock shifter that causes so much shifter slop.
How long did it take for you to get yours? I ordered one but just checking
i think 3-4 weeks? it was a while but worth it
Sweet thank for being you my brother from another check out my e36 on my channel You’d fall in love
Any time :) and your car looks so sick! Congrats on the purchase
For a sedan, would I have to trim the center console?
as far as i’m aware center console spacing should be basically the same, so you might have to do some trimming. That said, if you trim it nicely it’s 1000% worth it.
The dssr was not a correct fit for this aftermarket shifter?? You had to use the OEM rod?
yep :-/ I ordered the correct one for the ZF gearbox, so not sure what happened. For what it’s worth, the stock rod has been working great for many months now!
Is there a specific dssr size or brand that you recommend for this coolerworx shifter?
Any DSSR that’s the right length should work great! The coolerworx shifter has the same connection width as the stock shifter. usually i would recommend garageistic (which is what I bought) but i would recommend emailing them first so you’re 1000% sure it’s the right one for your application.
Isit must change the trans mounts to solid mounts? or we can get away with oem/original mounts?
It’s pretty much necessary, or else you’ll start missing third gear which isn’t fun. BUT don’t do poly trans mounts with stock motor mounts!!! that’ll put lots of stress on the bell housing and potentially crack it over time - I would say maybe go for poly motor mounts + fresh new trans mounts and that should keep the engine/trans from shifting around too much.
@@logan-taylor aight, thank you veryy much
@@yoshen9556 no problem!
Wait this fixes 5th gear lean? This might make it all worth it
hahaha kinda. It’ll remove most of the symptoms, but it’s still a little tough to go into 5th when the car is cold. But the lean itself is totally gone and you can slam 2nd to 3rd without ever missing.
I don’t know what I did wrong but it grinds in first and doesn’t want to go into 3rd gear
it sounds like it could be an alignment thing - before you bolt it all in, you should be able to move the entire base left/right on the transmission tunnel just a tiny bit when the bolts are loose. line it up so that when it’s self-centered in neutral, you can push the shifter forward from neutral into 3rd with the least resistance possible (1-2 fingers of pressure shojld be enough, otherwise it’s probably slightly off center with 3rd and 4th gear shift gates)- it took me a couple tries to get right, it’s just important that the self centering is truly at dead center otherwise it’ll lock you out of third and fourth (and also cause issues getting into 1st/2nd/5th). Let me know how it goes, that sounds frustrating.
Why they make those short shifter so LONG shifters actually? I wouldn't want to grab the knob so high
that’s a good question - a big reason is that the shift knob is significantly closer to the wheel, so you can reach your shift faster. Also I think some people prefer it, but it’s definitely not for everyone :) took some getting used to but i love it now
Soo its a shortshifter with a feel of a mechanical keyboard ?
depends on what switches you put in the keyboard, but conceptually a similar idea :)
yo bro i have a thing for bluetooth like you too but mine has this little static ring constantly, does yours does that too ? if not can you send me where you bought it ? it worked perfectly in my tundra but ig it’s too much for my car sooo if yours works perfectly help me out :)))
mine works great! it’s an Anker Roav i think, i got it because it matches the 90s amber numbers on my dash perfectly. It works really well, but i noticed that it works better without my cars antenna screwed in (weirdly). I think when your radio reception is too good, it’ll pick up static/other stations as you’re driving around and damage sound quality. If you take your antenna out (lol) it only picks up the signal from your bluetooth gadget because it’s so close by. That all could be totally wrong, but might be worth a shot.
@@logan-taylor got it thank you 🙏🏼 love your videos btw really helped me out
thanks so much! I appreciate it :)
“Breaking the law, it happens 🤷♂️”
😂😂 just made me buy this shifter it’s cheaper than doing the detents killing two birds with a nice stone 😁
Is this the pro or original?
pro!! The self centering spring was my priority, but the size of the original is definitely tempting
@@logan-taylor I don’t really want to spend all that money for it to be pretty much the same height as the oem but then again I don’t want it too high as it’s for daily driving not for drift/track, not sure what to do 🤔
tbh the pro is tall but suuuuper fun for daily driving, the height has never bothered me - also, it’s a huge conversation piece at meets. If you’re already spending so much money, might as well go for the top notch one if you want it :)
"People less smart than you have done it..."--- That's quite the assumption there bud!
RTD or Coolerworx? (CAE is to much)
lmaooo i chose coolerworx because i liked the aesthetic a lot better (cable, exposed reverse lockout, knurled knob, etc.) but i’ve only heard good things about RTD. RTD also doesn’t require drilling or cutting, so no direct fit kit required - that’s definitely a benefit/cost savings measure to consider over CW.
@@logan-taylor Reverse lockout is cool and missing on the RTD, one of the cool thing on the RTD though is that it allows for different shiftknobs, and the have a shorter version with the self centre option. Coolerworx only have the tall version with self centering...
Coolerworx also has the direct fit kit with the boot too keep water and the cold out. that might actually be the selling point for me.
Great video btw, will help me pick one of the other and with the install to.
@@uscp2 totally! Glad the video was helpful :) For what it’s worth, you can unscrew the shift knob on the coolerworx using the allen key on top, and underneath is a more standard thread for regular shift knobs (although unsure on the size/pitch). Either way you’ll love whatever shifter you end up with.
@@logan-taylor How do you like the height of the coolerworx Pro?
I want the self centering function, so the shorter CW version isn't an option, but the Pro is kinda high for road-use
(it is my fun car, so no daily driving but it doesn't see track use)
@@uscp2 height has been fine for DD, but I believe you can shift the pivot point about 1 inch higher if you want (shorter throw obviously, but then you have a slightly shorter self centering one - not quite as short as the non-pro i don’t think). I haven’t tested that out, but something to consider.
Anyone use this on a track car? Any good?
5:07 Can somebody explain me why people keep putting this weird white mesh thing around their shifters? Every Turkish person puts this uncomfortable thing on it and it makes me so piss3d off somehow
I think they just ship it that way to protect the shift knob! I took it off pronto once i installed the shifter
This seems so overkill for daily driving,esp considering u don't shift hard. Did u really have that much of a problem finding ur gears?
my brother overkill is the point
Stop using the selfie stick it gives me a headache 😞
my bad haha, i’ve actually never used a selfie stick in my life (just a wide lens handheld). Will try to keep it smoother going forward!
Also if your gonna work on cars man your gonna have to get over that fear of jack stands if you use them correctly it won’t ever fall
Knew I shouldn’t have wasted my time on this video or these comments should have watched a better video with more details
dude, relax haha
Omg this guy can talk.is a good video but he can talk 😮
This dude can’t drive I’ve had 3 bmws with stock shifters for 3 years and 1 of them is worn out and I’ve never actually went to reverse on the highway only the driveway a couple times when I first got them 😂
This seems like a waste of money...
then consider me financially irresponsible 💯🙏
cool build!