Is the shifter suppose to have some play in it while in gear?
I can put the shifter in gear and still wiggle it side to side about 1/4 of an inch..
don't remember it being like this when I first picked up the car.
will adding a short shifter kit make this solid?

 

I have a short shifter in the car and it still wiggles like that. And ive also had the cables replace because i broke them. So im guessing its normal for the car. It doesnt hurt anything the car is still in gear when u do it and its not moving the syncros at all.

 

That's normal. The housing and left right mechanism are plastic, and have some flex, and play. None of the short shifters I've seen have any change for the left right, only the front back shift.

-Andy

 

Originally my shifter had quite a bit of play in it, so I decided to put in a B&M shifter. When installing the short shifter I discovered the reason for my shifter originally was having so much play was because Mini failed to put in one of the bolts and bushings in the plastic box . Now the shifter if fairly tight.

 

Check the white grommet to make sure its properly secured as well. To do this, just lift up firmly on the plastic trim around the shifter boot and look down. Its that big white plastic part you see around the ball part of the shifter. Play with the shifter while its up to make sure that the grommet isnt moving.

 

I have the same concern and after reading this thread I pulled the shifter boot trim and looked around. It looks to me that it was designed to have such play left to right as when you move shifter from 1-2gear slot to 5-R gear slot the part that connects to actual shift linkage (whie plastic arm) has to move up and down somewhat since the shifter is tilting from side to side. There is slack in the white plastic arm that allows for such movement between geer slots and therefore has room for the shifter to move even when it's engaged in any gear. I don't see how this could be eliminated easily.
Guess I will have to put up with the sloppy shifter. :(