I picked up my car today from the dealer for some minor service.... and couldnt stop from asking about the black 03 turbo on the rack thats been sitting for 1 month. turns out its my friends. he along with me, had the B&M shifters.... my 2nd gear started to pop out... and sometimes under full throttle wouldnt shift into 2nd(grinded gears).
I got lucky and convinced a dealership to change my tranny under warrenty- that was 2 years ago.
there have been many write ups- some which I participated in, about B&M shifters being same as the porsche short shifter... and how one is $280 and the other is $560. What ever the case, I had then both- and they didnt feel the same.. actually the B&M seemed shorter. I saw 6 months ago, a intercompany memo- shown to me by the service manager and the FOREMAN mechanic of the dealership... stating that B&M shifters can cause problems with sync rolls(do not slow down fast enough).
So now, my friend is out of a tranny plus labor costs because he chose to keep his B&M shifter.
his 2nd gear is grinding / pops out.
He was convinced that Porsche will honor the warrenty... on the contrary he got black flagged and now has a 2003 turbo with well over $20k in modds that will not be warrentied at all.
Porsche will not honor any tranny work if you have ANY aftermarket, including B&M, shifters installed...
just a thought.

 

So glad I bought factory.

You get what you pay for...

 

I got the factory short shift and have problems getting 2nd gear, is this a regular problem and should I take mt car back in for warrant?

 

Your friend should contact B&M. If their equipment has an engineering defect he may have a claim against them. In fact, if there is an inherent defect, all purchasers could have a claim...potential calss action. If there is no material difference between the B&M and the factory ssk, B&M will be the source of that info.

 

To the contrary, the biggest problem causing syncro wear is resting/holding your hand on the shifter after the shift has been completed.

 

The second gear popping out has nothing to do with B&M vs Porshe's SSK. It has more to do with the speed of which you shift from 1st to second. This has been a problem for people who haven't upgraded their shifters at all as well The SSK (regardless of which one) happens to make this shift even faster and ends up bending the syncro fork.

I had the B&M kit installed for about 6 months when my car started popping out of 2nd typically during lift throttle situations. I NEVER slam shifted my car through any gear changes. I did however buy my car used with 6K miles on the ODO so I can't speak for the previous owner. My dealer, Boardwalk of Dallas, replaced the tranny under warranty. They did however tell me if it happened again it was on my tab. I know do the 1-2 shift at a much slower speed just to be safe.

 

Oh yeah, one question, how much is it going to cost your freind to repair the car correctly?

 

The labor to remove, break down, assemble and re install a tranny is about 2K here on the West Coast. Replace them with steel syncro's. Very cheap and a better part.

 

$2k for the tranny rebuild/syncro replacement? Not bad at all, considering.

 

I bought my B&M (not OEM) SSK from the local Porsche dealer. Installed it myself with the blessing of the dealer. Wonder what the warranty verdict would be if my tranny went south?
If Porsche denied warranty, would I have recourse against the dealer for selling me the B&M SSK?

 

Hmm...all this talk is scaring me a bit.

I'm planning to have my B&M installed this weekend possibly. Should I go forward as planned or is this such a wide spread issue (problems in 2nd gear) that I should forget about it?

I'm tempted to call my dealer to see what they say, but I'm leaning towards not calling because I don't want to get black flagged if they respond by saying the warranty would be voided if the B&M is installed.

Thoughts?

 

i have this (and third sometimes) with the CGT too. it's done this since it was new. used to be mainly when it was cold, but now it does it hot too.

 

Jeff, I did the undercar which can be swapped in 20 minutes....why not just do the same? You can check out my car if you want, I'm happy with the undercar...

 

The under-car feels so much better than the in-car and is easier to install and you can adjust the throws to short, medium, or long. I've had both and the undercar is much better.

 

Agree with you . B&M under car is shortened in the fore/aft plane but still butter smooth- you can shift with fingertips . B&M in -car is short but has artificial stiction substituting for the genuine feel of a cable less shifter ( which the Porsche is not ) . The in car also shortens the distance between gates , which I think is dangerous esp downshifting 5th accidentally to 2nd . Plus you can install/remove the under car in 20 minutes ( I've done it in less than 10 ) and leaves no tell tale compared to the in-car , where you'd have to buy a new tower to fool Porsche .