First of all I'm new to this forum.

I was getting ready to work and and when i tried to put it in reverse i felt the shifter just snap and it now moves freely side to side even when its in a gear.

So i took off the leather holder only to find that the bushing that holds it in place snapped off place. It cannot be screwed back in.

So i was wondering can i just buy a new shifter lever and put it in place of the old one or do i have to replace the whole thing. I don't really know what to do and i need to fix this ASAP.

What do ya'll recommend is best for me in this situation?

 

That appears to be part of the shift lever that broke off..replace the shift lever? I notice the word "performance" on the lever. Guessing aftermarket...if it broke probably cheap aftermarket...?

 

Yea I noticed that "performance" too, I'd figure it was Mini. I just bought the car. And Can I just remove the current shift lever and replace with the stock one? Or is removing the shift lever more complicated than I'm assuming.

thanks for your quick reply

 

i have a complete shifter assembly if your car is 02-04. pm me if interested.

 

That assembly is not an 06 I know that for sure since I just had mine out a week ago. I'm assuming 02-04.

Some PO probably got a cheap eBay short shifter made of inferior materials....and it bit you in the ***, sorry. Replacing the lever is not an entirely fun process. Basically here's what I can say off the top of my head...I may be missing some detail.

1. Remove the **** and boot

2. Place the car of jack stands

3. If you have an aftermarket exhaust, just remove the middle section. Remove the 6 (10mm I believe) bolts that hold the middle hangers in place and unbolt at the cat and rear section if aftermarket, if stock, you may be able to leave the rear hangers in and just let the exhaust hang down, but idk, if not remove the whole thing after the cat.

4. Now you see the heat shielding. There are quite a few 8mm (I believe) body nuts that hold this on I forget the actual number but you're removing the heat shield that starts just before the cat and goes nearly to the "Y" where the exhaust splits. After all these are out comes the fun bolt. Hopefully your cat has cooled down because you need to push it off to the side to get to the last bolt. Its either 8 or 10mm I forget but its directly above the cat.

5. Disconnect the o2 sensor clips from the heat shield and work it free.

6. Now you should see the shifter box. Have fun removing the dust cover mines got a good crack in it now

7. With the dust cover removed, pry the shifter cables off of the lever. These can be a pain but mine weren't too bad.

8. Pull out the cable retainers on the front end of the box

9. Remove the 6 (?) T30 (?) Torx bolts. After this the box should be hanging free. There is a small plastic clip on the rearward side of the shifter box you can see in the shift well. Push that in and the box should drop out.

10. Since your lever is broken you should be able to just push in the three clips around the center bushing and just pull the lever straight out.

11. Installation is essentially the reverse but you may have to take off that little lever thing on the side (where the part of your shifter that broke attaches to) to get the new lever in.

Or you could just buy an entire assembly