Yeah c/d valve delete is a must. You can rebuild the shifter bushings and linkage ends etc, to firm things up. My shifter cup is on the loose side, so I added some high vescosity silicone lube the the junction of the plastic pivot ball and the cup. Helped for the moment. As far as a short shifter goes, no dice so far. I will be buying a SS kit from Schmiedmann and modifying it for my 6mt. My 2nd gear is the same way. I have become quite good with rev-matching to take it easy on it.

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2005 X5 3.0, 6MT, Alpine White on Truffle Brown, Sport, Preim, and Cold Weather, Alpina Stainless Headers, AFe Intake, UUC SSK, OEM 87's, 3.64 Differential Swap,Performance Modified Euro 2 Tune, UUC LTW Flywheel and HD clutch, Bilstein B12 Suspension kit
Future mods ZHP/Schrick Cam Shaft upgrade, Operation code name:Doppelschrauben-Kompressor

Wife's Ride: 2011 e70 X5 351 M///Sport.

Also in the fold: 2004 X3 3.0, 6MT, Black Sapphire on Terracotta, port, Premium, Cold Weather.