Folks,

I have found a few threads on shift cable install, but have not been able to find out how much time it should take.

On Friday, when the first really cold snap came here in Massachusetts, the the shifter in my 02 MCS froze - it literally would not move. I had the car towed to the dealer and they told be that water'd gotten into the housings and then froze. We'd had a week of crappy slushy weather followed by and overnight freeze, so that made sense.

In any case, they said that it was 3 hours labor to install them - is that about right? They also are charging $150.00 per cable, which I think is HIGHER than list. The bill is about $700.00. and that sounds high.....

Thoughts?

TIA for your help!

Dave
02 MCS - Original owner

 

Hey Dave take a look at this link http://www.realoem.com/bmw/showparts...86&hg=25&fg=05

seems odd to me that the shifter box, under shift handle got water in it. It's a sealed box, protected by the heat shield and getting water up there without also getting it to the bottom of the doors seems unlikely to me.

The price on the parts may be high, but the labor sounds about right.

 

I asked for the parts back, but my guess is that they get water in at the other end where they connect to the control rods - I know its up high, but I suspect slushy gloppy stuff can still get splashed up there. From What I have gathered, the cable design has been changed to include a rubber accordion boot - the early cars did not have that.

Also, I called back and my regular service guy told be the parts were $115, not $150, so the parts are only a little more than realOEM.

It does suggest that PM on the cable ends is a good idea if you have an early car. I will see when I get the parts back.

Dave

 

So... I broke the washers at the tranny end on the right cable. My repair guy says october backorder and real oem.. there is no link to buy it. Any other ideas? :(

 

Can't buy from realoem, but it does have nice diagrams and parts numbers.


Get the part numbers and then go to www.ecstuning.com or www.pelicanparts.com
or the dealer or one of several other options online to find about price, brands,
availability, and shipping costs.


If you ask nicely, you can also have the parts department at the dealership do a system
search for that part number and find out which other dealer parts departments in the US
are listed as having it in stock. Then you have to call each dealership mentioned yourself
to see if they actually do, as the system search inventory is often not kept up to date.
This has helped me out a couple times when no one seemed to have a part that I needed
or was on backorder for a month or more.

 

+1 we have them here, what year are you, also It good to know if you have condition A or Condition B . See the diagram and unclip the lower shift boot and take a look at the top of the shifter lug and match the design. www.realoem.com is a reference site not a purchase site. Copy the part number and pop it into our serch box , without spacers or dashes.

www.ecstuning.com


Link to diagram example :

http://www.realoem.com/bmw/enUS/show...diagId=25_0386

 

ECS, you guys saved my butt! I called yesterday And ordered it!

 

Great , thanks and we appreciate the orders. Let us know when you get it fixed.