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B&M shifter broke!!!!

C

csvt99

CEG'er
Joined
Oct 23, 2001
Messages
142
Location
Lancaster PA
My B&M shifter broke! If you look at the shifter, is the very bottom part that broke off, the little ball that looks like a grease zert, snapped off of its weld. What the heck do I do now? I managed to get it into 2nd gear and took it to the shop. I guess I'll have them weld it back together if they can, and then I'll just have to get a new shifter I guess. Not too impressed with B&M....:mad:
 
csvt99 said:
My B&M shifter broke! If you look at the shifter, is the very bottom part that broke off, the little ball that looks like a grease zert, snapped off of its weld. What the heck do I do now? I managed to get it into 2nd gear and took it to the shop. I guess I'll have them weld it back together if they can, and then I'll just have to get a new shifter I guess. Not too impressed with B&M....:mad:
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Did you buy it from B&M, or was it already in your car when you bought it? It could be a knockoff, which they all break... just a matter of time. :)

I have heard of a few B&M's breaking though. Get it reinforced and leave it alone. No need to buy a new one if it is properly repaired. It should be better than new.
 
Yeah I bought the shifter new. They have a lifetime warranty so I guess they'll have to send me a new one. I dropped it off at the shop but I'm going to take it home because I don't want to pay a mechanic to take it apart and fix it when B&M owes me a new one. Its a good thing I only live 5 minutes from work and can have my wife drop me off "roll eyes"
 
My B&M broke where yours did when i was bangin gears. I had to find some one to weld it but now it is better than new
 
csvt99 said:
Yeah I bought the shifter new. They have a lifetime warranty so I guess they'll have to send me a new one. I dropped it off at the shop but I'm going to take it home because I don't want to pay a mechanic to take it apart and fix it when B&M owes me a new one. Its a good thing I only live 5 minutes from work and can have my wife drop me off "roll eyes"
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What if the new one breaks too? I woud weld the exisiting one up, make sure it's nice and beefed up. As opposed to waiting for a week for a new one and what if that one breaks too?
 
Yeah that was a concern I had. I really expected more from B&M. I'm going to give them a call and see how they want to handle the situation, and go from there.
 
Anybody have instructions for B&M install?

Anybody have instructions for B&M install?

Well, B&M won't answer my emails and I've spent more than 20 minutes on the phone on hold with them this morning waiting for their next "customer service representative" and still haven't spoken to a human being. What I really need are the instructions on how to install/remove the shifter so I can take the dumb thing out and have it welded. I installed mine 6 years ago and moved 3 times since then so I couldn't find my directions, and I forget how the heck I got it in there. Could anyone help me out? I tried searching online and couldn't find anything there either.

TIA
 
csvt99 said:
Well, B&M won't answer my emails and I've spent more than 20 minutes on the phone on hold with them this morning waiting for their next "customer service representative" and still haven't spoken to a human being. What I really need are the instructions on how to install/remove the shifter so I can take the dumb thing out and have it welded. I installed mine 6 years ago and moved 3 times since then so I couldn't find my directions, and I forget how the heck I got it in there. Could anyone help me out? I tried searching online and couldn't find anything there either.

TIA
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All you need to do is pull the shifter knob and boot off. removing the console makes it a ton easier. Then there are 4 bolts that are torx iirc take those out and it will come right out
 
Welcome to the club. So far I've broken an OBX and a B&M, even after re-welding. My advice: buy a Steeda. Their welds are a little more solid than the others and I've never read one report of a Steeda breaking. And also, keep the stock shifter in the trunk. Nothing sucks worse than being stuck at a light in neutral.
 
i bent my first B&M.
they sent me a new one with no questions asked.
then i bought a Steeda and modified it to the height of the B&M to have a Steeda/B&M hybrid.
then i had the ball at the bottom welded for re-enforcement.
havent had a problem since, and now i have a real short throw.
 
Thanks for the help, I already have the console off and I know which bolts you are talking about, I'll just have to invest in the correct bit. I'll let you know what I decide to do. I might just have it re-welded and go from there, my dad has an excellent welder at his shop and it shouldn't cost much if I take the shifter out of the car and give it to him. I'm still really disappointed to hear this about B&M, I would expect them to make a quality product, especially at the price they are getting for these things!
 
Way to go Speed Racer! Why the hell would anyone need to be Speed Racing around this day and age with these Gas prices? I don't think i've slammed any gears since I like the first day I put my B&M in... I'm more affraid to blow out my tranny than anything...
 
I finally got a hold of B&M the other night. They agreed to send me a new one, but I had to send mine back to them first. Unfortunately this is not an option for me, since I don't have the stock shifter to put back in there. I can't go 2-3 weeks without a car, I need it to get to work. I just had my dad's shop weld it back together. Works fine now, hopefully it doesn't brake again.

I must say I am very disappointed in B&M. The technician I spoke with on the phone told me he was surprised that the shifter lasted as long as it did without breaking (40,000 miles) :shrug: I can't believe B&M would sell a product with a million mile warranty that isn't even supposed to last 40,000 miles. That means they design the product to last less than 4% of its advertised life. What about the B&M shifter that was OEM on the 2000 ZX2 SR? Was that built to fail as well? I put this on my old zx2, and I just spoke to the current owner and the I saw the shifter was still in the car.

Anyway, needless to say, I highly doubt I will ever buy a B&M shifter again!:p
 
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