-
-
To start, we put the GTI on a lift. Unbolt the slip clamp that connects the cat to the exh
-
Remove the snap washers from the heat shields above and just behind the catalytic converte
-
Unclamp the rubber-sleeved oxygen sensor wiring from its place on the heat shield.
-
Slide the front heat shield away from the vehicle.
-
Unbolt the exhaust support from the chassis so that the rear heat shield can be removed.
-
Pry off the bottom plate of the shift-mechanism enclosure using a flat-head screwdriver.
-
Undo the clip that connects the shifter cable to the shifter rod, and pull the cable from
-
Lower the car—it’s time to move to the interior. Pull the boot up from the cen
-
Remove the sound-deadening foam surrounding the shifter mechanism.
-
Remove the clip that holds the shift arm pivot rod in place, and push the return springs o
-
Remove the two Torx head bolts that hold the top plate in place, and pull the top plate fr
-
Pull the rod up, and remove the ball pivot bushing.
-
A little finesse is required to maneuver the shifter from the vehicle. First, pull the piv
-
The boot will need to be reused. The knob was connected to the rod with a crimp. The cri
-
B & M’s unit is one serious piece of work. The contoured section beneath the knob i
-
Using the included grease, liberally cover the ball pivot in preparation for installatio
-
Put the shifter in the pivot hole, moving the top return spring to the top of the ball piv
-
Use a flat-head screwdriver to put the return springs into the retention groove on the sho
-
Lift the shifter a little way out of the pivot hole, and push the pivot bushing back into
-
Put the new reverse lock-out/ top plate in place of the old top plate. Make sure that the
-
The sound-deadening foam is put back into place, and the original boot is worked down the
-
The boot is then pushed back into place on the center console and arranged around the shif
-
The vibration damper and lock-out spring are installed on the shift lever.
-
The knob is then screwed onto the shift lever.
-
Align the B & M billet-aluminum knob insert and push it into the knob.
-
Back under the car, the shift-cable link is pushed onto the shifter, and the clip is insta
-
The heat shields are put back into place and re-secured by pushing the snap washers onto
-
Re-secure the rubber-sleeved wiring on the heat shields.
-
Reattach the exhaust support to the chassis, and reposition and tighten the slip clamp tha
Few factory cars can claim better acceleration times with an automatic trans- mission. Those that can are priced in the six-figure range, well out of the reach of most people. Pricing, however, isnt the only problem with these cars. Another larger problem is that in most instances, it is down-right idiotic to modify them. That poses a huge issue with MAXsters the world over, and this must be why we love our Volkswagens. With awesome potential from the factory, they are great canvasses to begin building an automotive masterpiece, that is, of course, if you purchase your car with a manual transmission.
B&M Racing of Chatsworth, California, found that, while preferable to their automatic counterparts, the VW shifter begs for aftermarket improvement. The OE design has quite a bit of slop built into it through the reverse selection mechanism, something that negates the awesome feeling a manual transmission can give. The VW shift mechanisms can sometimes feel as slushy in your hand as an automatic transmission feels under your foot. B&Ms unit does away almost completely with that slop and shortens the shift throw. Designed for pushdown models (Golf IVs, Jetta IVs, and New Beetles.MAX), the unit is constructed from aluminum and steel and includes all necessary hardware with detailed instructions for installation.
B&Ms history extends back to the 1950s and 60s when the companys transmissions and transmission accessories were dominating several racing series, especially drag racing. B&M products are still used in race and street cars from this era, but B&M has expanded its line to cover the Euro market. B&Ms short shifter is used by Ford Motor Company in its race-ready SVT Cobra R, a testament to the innovation and quality of the products that B&M manufactures. But you dont want to hear about Fords, you want to know about the latest product from B&M for your VW. The most noticeable part of the shifter is how large the lever seems when you pull it out of the box. Part of this is due to the fact that the shifter comes with its own shift knob. The other part of it has to do with how B&M eliminates much of the slop that is in the stock shifter mechanism. Rather than retaining the stock pushdown mechanism, the new short throw shifter uses a spring-loaded sleeve that is pulled up in order to shift the car into reverse. The shift knob is a nice aluminum piece that fits in the palm perfectly and includes a textured billet insert adorned with the B&M logo.
Once installed, the shifter felt awesome, definitely allowing quicker shifts. Aside from the inherent performance improvements in installing the short throw shifter, aesthetically the impact is huge. Follow along as we take you through the install of the new B&M short throw shifter on a 2001 GTI VR6 GLX.