Hello Everyone,

Unfortunatley we do not really have any positive updates regarding the Shift kit revision. L There are several key challenges presented with Mini's later shifter design. The first issue is the manner in which the relay lever is "pinned" to the selector shaft. In order to install the new shifter, the installer would have to remove the shift tower from the transmission, and press out the pin holding in the factory relay lever. This is a relativley quick and simple procedure when you have the proper tools and experience, but could be a non-starter for an enthusiast. We have been prototyping a tool to aid in removal of the factory lever. We also have a working prototype of the product for some time. However, we have been hesitant to put the updated shift kit into production for several reasons;

Whenever we begin to design and engineer a new product, it must meet certain criteria. In this case, we wanted the shifter to be original, easy to install, and offer it to market at or under $225, which we thought was the competitive threshold. The current state of the product dictates a price point in the $300 range and a more difficult installation then our current early R56 shifter.

While we believe we have engineered a solid solution, we are not sure that the market would be comfortable with the removal and installation procedure necessary (partial disassembly of the transmission). Although it is still a clean and relatively simple installation, it could appear daunting to a novice enthusiast. Please correct us if we are wrong in this belief.

Also, due to the complex nature of the assembly the shifter kit would come to market at a slightly higher price than originally anticipated. It is because of these reasons that we have decided to suspend the completion of this project :-/ Again, please share your thoughts with us. We do have our 08-09 R56 model shifter available. Thank you everyone for your continued interest in this product and support of TyrolSport. Here are some cad images of the main components:

 

pm sent to tyrolsport

scott

 

I would be very happy, if you would finish the product.

Every shifter needs some kind of technical work. As long as the instructions are detailed, I would not hesitate to install one at all.

To the price: Look at the price of the CAE Shifter and people are buying it


But, is the way from 2nd to 5th going to be longer or shorter?

 

That's too bad you're having trouble. I've been pretty happy with the Craven SSK, but it's a pain to install. The biggest draw of the Tyrol kit was the ease of install, to me at least.