Best place to get E30 shifter bushings, shift knob, and boot?

So I found my 5 speed swap today (in an '88 325i at a Pull-A-Part), pulled it, and took it home with me. Trans with shifter, pedal assy with clutch master, slave cyl, hose/line, drive shaft, flywheel and clutch (looks new!), and Bilstein HD inserts for the front, all for $145. I'd like to freshen up the shift bushings, and the knob falls off and is missing the pattern emblem, and the boot is torn. Where's the best place to get that stuff cheap, and is there anything else I should replace while I'm there. So far on my things to get new list are the rear main seal, pilot bearing, fluid, shift bushings, shift knob, and shift boot.

I'd say Pelican parts, for ease and quick shipping. Rockauto may have a couple of the parts too, for even cheaper.

Check the trans mounts for cracking or wear. Pelican is the easiest, but you can find cheaper if you shop ebay and such...

The past couple years I've been using http://blunttechclassic.com/ They know e30s very well.

Steve at blunttech, he's fantastic, literally spent thousands with him over the years. In fact, I've even bought Miata parts from him.

I'm not sure where your located but http://www.gutenparts.com/ is also a great resource as well if your on the east coast, they carry or can get everything E30, ask for Levent

In reply to 16vCorey:

Get the little plastic doohickey that the other side of the clutch fork rests on. It is a nipple that pushes into the bell housing. they deform/wear and cause E36 M3ty engagement issues.

Bavarian Autosport probably has the parts you need as well.

www.bavauto.com

bav autosport is <1 hour from me, and dang if I've never had any luck getting anything from them. They're either too expensive or out of stock.

It sucks because they're so close.

Holy mother of....

...anyone know where to get a rebuilt driveshaft for a reasonable cost? Vs. the $943.75 Pelican wants?

I'm glad I was already sitting down...

I've pretty much bought everything from either Pelican (OE stuff) or Ireland Engineering (aftermarket bushings). I bought the enitre shifter/Z3 lever rebuild kit from Pelican. FWIW, if I have to pull the driveshaft again, my UUC SSK will go in. Not sure what kind of time frome you're looking at, but all of the Z3 stuff has under 5K miles on it at the moment (car is currently my DD while I annoyingly drag out a TB change on the TDi).

Hey Ian, just a word of advice. I'm not sure what you do with your car, but I have personally witnessed 3 separate UUC shortshifters fail in some form or another on E36's at the track. I'm sure they're fine for street use, but they can't handle track type use without rod or bushing failure it seems.

Interesting. How are they failing? It seems more stout than the craptastic OEM shifter bits.

2 snapped in the same spot on the rod- about .75" up from the lower pivot. The other one was bushings. Possibly installation error I suppose though. Regardless, after seeing 2 break in the same spot, it was enough to have a local machine shop make me one instead of using them...

Ian F wrote: Holy mother of.... ...anyone know where to get a rebuilt driveshaft for a reasonable cost? Vs. the $943.75 Pelican wants? I'm glad I was already sitting down... I've pretty much bought everything from either Pelican (OE stuff) or Ireland Engineering (aftermarket bushings). I bought the enitre shifter/Z3 lever rebuild kit from Pelican. FWIW, if I have to pull the driveshaft again, my UUC SSK will go in. Not sure what kind of time frome you're looking at, but all of the Z3 stuff has under 5K miles on it at the moment (car is currently my DD while I annoyingly drag out a TB change on the TDi).

Driveshafts of Portland.

A few years ago, a rebuilt one (with a serviceable Ujoint) cost around $475 shipped.

In reply to 16vCorey:

nice price! i'd try to throw a helicoil in the shift knob -- i did that on the 8-ball knob in the V8Vair and it worked great.

In reply to AngryCorvair:

He'd need to thread the shifter lever as well. BMW levers have a slot-sort of attachment system for the knob. I'll admit I've been thinking of doing that...

Another Blunttech happy customer here. Steve can get anything you want and his service/prices are very competitive.

I have always gotten the parts the next day in Florida.

Get a Z3 shifter while you are doing the repairs, its well worth it.

J