Is the short shifter from the 550i available on the 535i with the sports package?

 

TO - to the best of my knowledge it is not (US spec anyway)...only available on the 550i...but I had wanted to know if you could purchase the 550i short throw linkage and retrofit it to the 535i....there are aftermarket companies that make the linkage too, (SSK) IIRC is one of them.

 

I spent some time on the realoem.com site. It appears that the shift linkage is the same on all of the 5 series cars. The linkage is shortened by changing the shift knob.

The linkage is shown here. There is only one linkage, and it is the same on both the M-sport (550 sport package) and the non M-sport cars. However, the knobs are different between the M-Sport and non-M Sport cars. You can see the difference here.

The site is not fully up to date for the LCI models, but the M-Sport package has been offered in Europe for years.
I also did the same analysis for the E46 ZHP, which also had a "shortened" shifter. It is just a shorter knob as well.

So, the good news is that, for $91.51, you can replace you knob and get the same short shifter.

 

So then...the only diff between the 535i Sport Package (shifter-wise) is the shorter shift knob that comes on the 550i? That's easy to rectify

Thanks for the info as the brochure was silent about it...believe it or not, that was one of the reasons I had been strongly considering the 550i before changing to the 535i - good news for sure

 

Sorry to bring up a very old thread here.

I have been reading into SSK for e60 535. I have found that e39 people have been using either Z3 1.9/2.8/M shifter or e60 545 shift lever.

I am not wanting to spend to get a UUC yet and looking at OEM options.

Am I understanding this correctly, if I "upgrade" to a 545/550 shift lever, there will be no difference and will be the same shift lever as my 535? The knob is the only difference?

Are there any other options?

thanks for your help