Hello all. I am in need of your expertise. I have a 1998 528i w/ manual trans and recently installed the understeer SSK based on many of the posts I read here. I installed it this weekend and now have two problems.

1) This is probably the easiest to answer. We double checked to make sure the yellow washers were on all ends prior to fastening the circlips. Well, upon backing out of the garage, we found a brand new yellow washer on the garage floor. Obviously, we missed one. It was too dark to jack the car up again and I may not be able to get to it for a few weeks. How crucial is that yellow plastic washer? Can I still drive it or should I garage it until it can be jacked back up and taken apart again?

2) This is the most unsettling. While the shifts are now excellent, I have a unique problem. The car will go into gear, but if I engage the clutch, throw it in third, take my hand off the stick (while keeping the clutch engaged), the transmission just comes out of third on it's own. The car does this in 1st and 5th also, but not quite as easily. 2nd, 4th, and Reverse seem to be fine, although it does not take much effort at all to take them out of gear. Now, if I keep my hand on the stick while in 1st, 3rd or 5th, and disengage the clutch, the car stays in gear and seems to drive fine. However while in 3rd, if I engage the clutch while keeping my hand off the stick, the stick moves down out of gear on it's own. Am I explaing this ok?

I have two theories, both of which may be completely and totally wrong, but here goes. 1 - I added the 1lb of plumbers solder to the selector rod to make it weighted. Is it possible the weight is coercing the car out of gear? 2 - The rubber boot that goes over the stick and insulates the car from the outside was a B***H to get off and back on. It is possible that I did not get this down far enough on the stick and the rubber is putting pressure on the stick in those particular gears. **Something weird to substantiate this thought......after 20 minutes of driving or so, the gears seem to stay in place better. Maybe the heat from the engine is "softening" up the rubber putting less tension on the stick? Does this make any sense at all?

Someone please help! I'll be calling Understeer in the morning to see what they have to say. Thanks in advance.
Hoss

1. its not very important

2. Changing your shifter shouldn't make a difference. the weight also wouldn't change it. are you making sure your putting it in gear hard enough? the shorter the throw, the harder you gotta push.

and the rubber thing isn't rubbery enough to disengage a gear. if you spit on it before sliding it on it will go much easier. it just takes a little bit of persuasion.

Thanks. I'm positive it is going in gear because if I keep my hand on the shifter and disengage the clutch, I will be in gear and I can go on my marry way. However, if I engage the clutch and do not touch the stick, it will come out of gear on it's own. I can definately feel it going into the gear, it is just like there is nothing there to keep it in gear.

Your other thoughs regarding the weight were the same as mine, but I really do not know for sure. It is the stock selector rod with and the shifter itself is the same length, just bent slightly with the ball a little higher. The ONLY difference is the weight I added and the fact that I had a hell of a time getting that rubber boot back in. I know I got the rubber under the sheet metal to seal, but the rubber was still high up on the neck of the stick (no dirty comments please).

Thanks again.