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Hi! I just picked my car up (late 2005 M3 cabrio, Euro, manual, 80k miles, had it 7 years) from my usual car wash place and the gear stick, in neutral, looked odd - it was sitting maybe just under half an inch higher than usual. Pressing straight down on it, it readily slotted back in to its usual position, but can also be pulled vertically up to its "popped out" state with moderate force. Selecting gears seems to be fine, although when nudging it out of first, it now has a tendency to "pop up" to its raised state, unless I apply a little downward pressure too (which I don't, usually). Going in to third also feels strange (I've not had chance to try a higher gear yet) and it seems to raise up whilst going in.
Does anyone have any idea if this is a major concern? Could it be that this shift mechanism has always had the tendency to lift upwards like this, but I've just never applied force in the right way before? Or is it more likely something that would take physical misuse to break (thus giving me cause to pursue the car was place for cost of fixing)?
I can't get under the car but I'm not afraid to take stuff apart, so I've tried to get in from the top - I can get as far as a rubber housing around the ball joint of the stick, but can't get that out. Doing some delicate prising with a screwdriver though it looks like the ball joint might be just lifting out of its plastic home, as in this photo (not mine, just found on the web):
http://25tolife.net/images/gear stick bit.jpg
Assuming my diagnosis is right, would this thing breaking be a wear and tear thing, and it's just coincidence that it went when the car wash people had it - or would it take excessive force to bugger it up? Any light you can shed would be greatly appreciated! Thanks for reading
Does anyone have any idea if this is a major concern? Could it be that this shift mechanism has always had the tendency to lift upwards like this, but I've just never applied force in the right way before? Or is it more likely something that would take physical misuse to break (thus giving me cause to pursue the car was place for cost of fixing)?
I can't get under the car but I'm not afraid to take stuff apart, so I've tried to get in from the top - I can get as far as a rubber housing around the ball joint of the stick, but can't get that out. Doing some delicate prising with a screwdriver though it looks like the ball joint might be just lifting out of its plastic home, as in this photo (not mine, just found on the web):
http://25tolife.net/images/gear stick bit.jpg
Assuming my diagnosis is right, would this thing breaking be a wear and tear thing, and it's just coincidence that it went when the car wash people had it - or would it take excessive force to bugger it up? Any light you can shed would be greatly appreciated! Thanks for reading
