he is drafting you but I was saying the heads up on the discount and free shipping made me pull the trigger. I'm bad at taking pictures when i am trying to do work but I will have to slow down and get some for this. I got some questions regarding appurtenances to refresh that I am posting in the thread you started on this. LMK what you think.

From my discussion with UUC Rob, I think the gearshift rod joint [12 in the realoem diagram, part no. 25117580281 for an '06] is the most likely refresh part outside the kit, for which you might want to have an extra clip [11] on hand. The rod joint in mine was fine, didn't need replacing.

Okay I think I will probably order the rod joint and clip like you said than. With the angle that these come down at I could definitely see the rod joint wearing out quicker anyways. The other parts (2 and 5) probably don't ever have much of a load on them and I guess the fact that ecs doesn't stock at there warehouse probably says something as well.

http://realoem.com/bmw/diagrams/l/u/196.png

Yep, the oval bushing [2] was a failure point in earlier bimmers because there was one, not a two bushing yoke like now on ours' - that's why you see a replacement delrin bushing for older bimmers in earlier UUC SSKs. I believe the SSK also replaces [7] and includes at least one clip [11]. You might pm Greg in Switzerland for his thoughts.

No problem man I'm glad I helped you pull the trigger, I'm still in full on recession of 2009 mode, I basically NEVER buy anything without a discount or coupon nowadays, as they are so readily available, why should i ever buy something full price/not on sale? Lol!

Going to order mine over the weekend as well, I asked my CEO to help me choose whether to get Titan interior trims or this short shifter, she said she really enjoys the wood on the interior of the X, and it's not bothering me too much at the moment so I'm pulling the trigger on the short shifter. Take an already rare X (3 pedals) and add an ever rarer mod and we are quite the exclusive crowd here now lol!

Folks - has anyone had both 5 and 6 speed that could offer direct experience of comparison or any specific pros/cons? I currently have a 6 speed and have opportunity to pick up a much lower mileage 5 speed. Personally, I find the odd ratios in the 6 to be a pain - I am rarely comfortable to start in second unless it is from a slow roll or downhill.

I have driven a 6 spd briefly...that 6th gear is like an Ahhhhh, at cruising speed, imo.

Fwiw, the 5 spds have the identical gear ratios, 1 through 5, and same rear diff ratio.

You will learn to like the 2nd gear starts in a 5 spd, too, but you will miss the lowered RPMs at any speed above 60.
GL, mD

Ratios
 

Thanks - I guess I assumed the rations were different and they split the difference on bottom and top to end up with the stump pulling 1st so good to know that is not the case.

+2 on what MD said. I've owned both the 5 and 6 speed. Same ratios. A couple suggestions. If you haven't pulled the clutch delay valve out yet, do so. It takes some of the akwardness out of the shifting equation. *My next suggestion is not for the faint of heart. You can swap your differentials out in favor of 3.64 ratios. My wife's manual X3 has this ratio, and is considerably better in my opinion. Differentials can be sourced on the cheap from '01-9/03 e53 4.4i. I will be doing mine later this year.

I'd second what Green Dragon said; 1st gear became much less of a problem after I did the Clutch Delay Valve delete, and even launching in 2nd is easier. It's a super easy mod and makes a huge difference in drivability with these beasts.

I've considered doing the diff swap to get a top gear ratio better suited for highway driving, but I think I'd miss that low gear when towing. Maybe what I need to do is shop around for a 6-speed to get the the higher road gear. Too bad there's no such thing as a two-speed transfer case for these things... I'm sure modifying a transfer case from another vehicle would be pretty high on the difficulty scale.