Personal Blog

BMW E92 M3 - Gear Throw

Sun, 11 Sep 2011 19:17:14 +0100

Earlier this year I swapped cars to a rather groovy BMW E92 M3 in Jerez Black, with a fox-red interior. I think it’s a beauty, and hey it drives OK too. Mildly terrifying at times, but in a good way. Honest.

It did however have an annoyance - or rather, before I get BMW hate mail, it had something that annoyed me. I found its gear throw to be quite long. I.e the distance to travel from 1st -> 2nd/3rd-> 4th etc. Top to bottom travel. It seemed to be massive.

I realise totally that such things are very subjective - there’s very little feedback about it on the interwebs for example. I’m more than willing to accept this is my dislike of the gear throw, rather than there being a general issue.

In previous cars I had fitted short-throw gear shifts but I didn’t want to take this route (I.e. mechanical modification) given that I don’t plan on keeping the car beyond a year. So I started to look for other options.

Anyway, I came across a company called Storm Motorwerks and they offered a range of replacement gear knobs that not only added mass to the gear change (I.e. mass at the top of the stick, if that makes sense) but also sit lower on the shifter therefore shortening the throw of the lever. I’ve done this on previous cars so I thought I’d give it a go.

Firstly, to confirm that it would actually fit - I emailed them and asked if the unit would fit on an E92 M3. Their reply is below.

So, they confirm it fits - so I order it. I ordered this one - the stainless steel unit with the M sport engraving on it. Unit cost GBP75 + about a fiver for shipping. It turned up pretty quickly - within a few days. So good service. The unit itself is very well made and a quality product in my opinion.

Now, on to the problem.... While Storm Motorwerks did say the unit would fit - they didn’t really tell the whole story. Yes, the unit physically fits but what they don’t tell you is that the gear stick in the E92 M3 is combined with the leather gator on the shifter. By way of example - here’s the picture of the gear shift I removed:

See how it includes the leather section that attaches to the car itself too? So, if I remove the old one, and fit the Storm unit - I’m left with a big hole where the gear level is. Not pleasant.

So... Off to find a company that makes a decent gator. I came across a company called Redline Goods based out of the US. They manufactured replacement gators for various cars, and had a number of M specific designs. Sure, I could probably have found a company in the UK too if I looked hard enough....

Anyway, I ordered a plain black leather replacement plain black and it turned up within the week - strangely from a Polish address, rather than a US one. Either way, it turned up, was pretty good quality, and appeared to be exactly what I ordered.

Now, the fitting for this is quite tricky. As I mentioned, the gator and shifter that the car comes with are combined into a single unit - the gator is then glued to a frame that fits to the car. So this is a bit of DIY. I will say though that the DIY isn’t that onerous - even I managed to do it.

You can read the full installation instructions here.

My own notes on fitting.....

-> To remove the gear knob takes a fair bit of pull. Put the car in second gear (engine off, obviously...) and pull quite hard directly toward you. Be careful though not to punch yourself in the face when it finally comes off.... I didn’t do this, honest. Also - be careful of....
-> The gear knob is lit up in the M3. You need to disconnect the cable. There is a connector that’s quite buried away in the base of the gear change area. Pull gently on the cable and you should be able to locate it.
-> They advise to use superglue. I chose not to and instead used normal liquid glue. The problem with super glue is it’s a royal bitch to remove from anything should it get on it - I didn’t want to take this risk.
-> For the tool to remove, I simply used a Leatherman Wave - use the blade to make small gap, and then the screw driver to prise the leather from the frame. Took about 5 or so minutes to do cleanly.

Take a bit of patience and the replacement is easy enough. Also, the removed original should be easy to refit should you feel it necessary.

The whole process took me about 20-30 minutes. So what’s the end result?

I like the fitting - it worked well and matched the car. It doesn’t look particularly after market. But what about the main point of the upgrade - the look and feel?

Well, the gear knob sits a fair bit lower on the shifter, therefore reducing the throw of the gear change. I can now for example rest my palm on the bottom of the shift and access all the gears without having to move my hand very far - this is an absolute godsend if you have to drive in traffic often. It is so much easier - again, bear in mind this is subjective of course.

When driving with a bit more enthusiasm the shortened throw is also of benefit. The gear change feels far more positive and less ‘woolly’ than it does with the standard shifter.

I’m pleased with it. It fits well, and does what I want it to - and it looks ace. What’s not to love?

Cost was GBP75 for the stainless steel gear knob, and 35GBP for the replacement gator. There’s also about a fiver on top of that for delivery.

For me it’s absolutely been worth it - it’s removed one of the only annoyances I had with the car... and that can’t be bad, can it?

Great service from Storm Motorwerks bar not quite telling the whole story about the fitment, and a surprisingly good service & product from Redline Accessories too.

The Dive that Didn't Happen

Fri, 18 Mar 2011 11:25:44 +0000

I’ve spent the week out in Sharm El Sheikh bothering the fish. Write up on that coming shortly - but in the meantime some thoughts on one of the dives I did last week....

There’s a mantra in diving: Anyone can call a dive, for any reason they like, with no questions asked and no recriminations. It’s a very important part of diving – accident avoidance is paramount in such a sport and people should not be subject to peer pressure when doing something that is potentially dangerous.

As a long time diver used to leading dives and diving with more inexperienced divers, it’s a mantra I firmly believe in. On my last trip to Sharm El Sheikh however, I had it happen to me. I called a dive. I called it within 3 minutes of descent.

This is the first time I’ve called a dive in nearly 700-ish dives of varying difficulty. It set me thinking about this approach, and how important it is.

Firstly, let’s talk about the dive. Nothing was particularly special or complex about it. It was a drift dive (The Alternatives, for anyone who knows Sharm and the outlaying areas) in an area I’d dived lots of time before. I had a good, known & qualified buddy, and I was using equipment I was used to and happy with.

So, what went wrong? Here’s the thing – nothing particularly went wrong. Or rather nothing that individually would have been much of a drama. Instead I had a collection of annoyances that lead me to believe calling was the safest bet. What were those annoyances? Well, simple really:

> Shallow entry in about 5/6 meters. Doesn’t sound bad but as most divers know this is the most difficult range to keep your buoyancy right.
> Flooded mask – repeatedly. Possibly related to the hood I was wearing…
> First time I’d worn a hood in ages – the hood kept filling with air affecting my buoyancy (see point 1 above) – my guess is this was related to the flooded mask too….
> Main point – during descent I got quite bad vertigo, which immediately made me feel ill. I’ve never experienced this before.

Now, nothing in the above list in individual form would have been much issue. I’ve done whole dives with a broken mask strap, I’ve removed hoods underwater (more difficult than it sounds), I’ve thrown up under-water, I’ve broken fin straps, I’ve fixed a leaking BCD mid-dive, I’ve untangled myself from electrical cable while inside the sunken hull of an old boat…. You get the idea.

I’m quite a relaxed diver. I’ve practiced my skills relentlessly so I’m comfortable with my capabilities. The combination of all the above points though, so quickly, led me to the decision to call it.

Everything I’ve read about diving accidents point to something known as the ‘incident pit’. Essentially what this means is that small issues grow to become bigger, more difficult issues. It’s so easy to let this happen – this was on my mind when I called it.

For a few moments I also considered telling my buddy to team up with someone else and I’d go back to the boat. I dismissed this immediately thinking what a dressing down I’d give somebody if they did this on my watch.

I also felt bad for my buddy. She was looking forward to the dive and yet surfaced and came back to the boat with me without so much as a whimper or moan. If I behave anything like as well in a similar situation I’d be proud of myself.

Back on the boat I was furiously ill. The kind of ill that leaves you shaking for a good 10-15 minutes afterwards. I’d had no inclination of being ill before hitting the water, and also by about 30 minutes afterward I still had no indication of being ill. It was just that small time.

I think I made the right call. While I’ve thrown up under water before (it’s spectacular from a fish feeding frenzy point of view), it was nothing compared to how I felt after being ill on the boat.

I’ll end this with a quote I read somewhere:

I’d much rather be on the boat wanting to be down there, than down there wanting to be back on the boat.

Couldn’t agree more.

A Question of Enthusiasm

Fri, 11 Feb 2011 19:23:14 +0000

I had an email trail forwarded to me today, and in that trail I saw a comment that seemed to indicate I had no enthusiasm for the project that we were working. I’m not going to paraphrase it here, but just to be clear, this wasn’t an insult. It read as a reasoned question as the person involved wanted to know how committed I was to this project.

The person the email was to reassured them I’d tell them if I wasn’t interested... They’re absolutely right, I would. I tend to say what’s on my mind, I just can’t help it in some respects.

To be fair I don’t suppose it’s helped that I’ve been full of man-flu the last couple of weeks of course - it affects your quality of sleep etc.

Anyway, this set me thinking about stuff. I’ve often been accused of appearing uninterested - more often than not in a work environment. One of the first times was back when I was Novell Netware techy (remember that?!). I’d just joined a company in the City who was migrating from a Novell 2.x system through to 3.x and 4.x NDS. They also were having repeated issues with networking on their Token Ring solution.

Bear in mind this issue had been going on for months and they’d not gotten very far with rectifying the issue. Anyway, I’d been there for a bit and the network beaconed again (essentially the network failed, everyone lost connectivity).

We put our heads together, made some progress, and narrowed down the issue, resolving it eventually after some intense overnight attention.

At the end of this process, I got the comment about being uninterested in the issue. At the time this worried me. I wasn’t sure what was expected of me. Was I supposed to run about going ‘Aaargh! The network is down! WOW! Network is down, aaarrrghh....’ ... or would they prefer the calm, concerted effort approach to resolving the issues?

I won them over in the end, but the ‘being uninterested’ or ‘not bothered’ turned into a bit of joke! Luckily a positive one.

It’s interesting how your outward attitude can be completely misread by people - often to your detriment. Anyone who knows me, whether through work or personally, will know that I may appear calm and relaxed but they’ll know that I have a whirlwind going on in my head. I’m always thinking about what I’m doing, what’s next, how can I/we achieve this. Just because I’m not running around with my hair on fire* doesn’t mean this stuff isn’t going on.

At work I can be quite intense - my diary is usually pretty full, and this is how I like it. I wonder if that’s part of it? The smaller items or things that are not really applicable to my business unit or are less important/urgent than the issue I’m dealing with right now, well, I’ll often push them to the back of the queue. Maybe the person was actually questioning whether I was doing that or not?

The calm & considered approach can make people underestimate how much effort goes into things too. You get presented with a problem on Thursday, you say leave with me and I’ll come back to you. You then spend all weekend trying it out in your lab, scripting possible solutions, talking to your associates (via Twitter etc.)... Monday you present a reasoned and qualified response - and often the amount of effort that goes into such things is unappreciated or misunderstood.

I’m one of those people who very much works out what they want to do, and THEN works out how to do it. I don’t like constraints. I think it’s this attitude that’s taken me to some amazing places in my time. I also love the fact I’m starting to see this attitude develop in my little girl too.

If there’s something I don’t understand, or don’t have an answer to, I’ll spend a lot of effort rectifying that. I can’t see how I could be any different. It annoys me when I don’t understand things.

Anyways, I found it interesting that it came up again today - maybe it’s something I should work on.

By the way, this item is not intended and as a moan about work. If I’m unhappy with something I deal with it, I don’t moan about it on a blog! It’s just an observation on how your outward interaction with people can often incorrectly set their perception of your interest in something.

*Be quiet at the back.

2011 Easter Holiday Oddity

Thu, 4 Nov 2010 20:12:42 +0000

I was looking at the diary for next year and I noticed an oddity around Easter next year. Easter has a habit of moving for some weird reason I’ve never cared or bothered to look into....Next year the Easter weekend is Friday 22nd April....

Now, this means that Friday 22nd & Monday 25th April are Bank Holidays.

The following weekend is May day - or the first May Bank Holiday. Bingo! So, book off 26/27/28 & 29th of April and get a cracking 11 day break at a cost of only 4 days holiday.

My public service for today is complete.

Importance of Backups - I lost my stuff!

Fri, 27 Aug 2010 20:14:43 +0100

Well it had to happen I guess. For ages I’ve gone on and on and on about the importance of backing up your stuff. See here:

Online Backups - Mozy
Hard Disk Recovery

I was going through my iPhoto library looking for some example photos today - specifically to do with white balance during underwater photography. All the photos from 2008 were coming up with a big exclamation mark. All of 2008. Not 2009, not 2007 - just 2008. How weird is that? It’s obvious that I’d done something at some point to damage this particular year. Computers are deterministic - they don’t just decide to delete a whole year of stuff between two dates.

How annoying.

Now, I like to think I have a good backup routine. I backup my laptop (that has my iPhoto library) with TimeMachine, I also backup to my my home server, and my home-server has online backups to Mozy.

A combination of events however meant that my deletion of these photos fell out of my backup routine. Events such as:

Fail Number One
I got a new laptop in April so I restarted my TimeMachine backups. I kept my original TimeMachine volume for a couple of months just to make sure then I re-used the volume. So I no longer had my previous TimeMachine backups. FAIL because my iPhoto library that is being backed up to my TimeMachine volume is already missing the 2008 photos....

Fail Number 2
My backup to my home server for onward sync’ing to Mozy is an image based rsync process. My iPhoto library is synchronised to the one on my server, and this is uploaded to Mozy. FAIL because this syncs across my library without the 2008 photos.

In effect I failed because I was not keeping an archival copy of my iPhoto library. An obvious one. I keep archival copies of all my other stuff so why not my iPhoto library? I’ve no idea - my guess is it’s big (some 60Gb) so I don’t often back it up as a ‘point in time’ backup.

So what did I do? Being in IT means I often go through hard disks. I have a box of hard disks kicking about, a lot of them 2.5” SATA units that have been through my laptop(s) at some point in their life.... So I thought why not - what have I got to lose? I located about 5 such drives ranging from the original 120Gb unit in an old Macbook to 500Gb units from earlier in the year.

Joy of joys I found a library from January 2010 that has the 2008 images in. So somewhere between January 2010 and August 2010 I managed to delete all my 2008 photos.....

I’ve now of course put in an archival copy routine for my photos - I don’t want to go through that again.

Losing work documents, spreadsheets and the like - they’re replaceable. You can re-do them. Ok, it’s a real pain in the backside, but they’re not irreplaceable. Photos of my daughter, my diving, my time out with my friends - thoroughly irreplaceable. I can’t just make them again.

I find myself again stressing how important it is backing up your stuff...and making sure you’re doing it properly. I consider myself to be quite fussy about backups, and yet I find myself very nearly in the position where I’d lost very important stuff.

Be careful out there, and protect your stuff.