1981 E21 323i Loose Gear Shift

[chestnut_323OZ]

Hi There,

Firslty am new to this so if the answer to this problem has already been posted, forgive my ignorance.

I have just purcahsed an 1981 E21 323i as a project. What an awesome car. However:

Whilst the gear box is "sweet" can access all gears with ease and mesh works fine, when in gear the gear stick can be moved about 4cm in all directions. My question: does the gear box have to come out or is there a simpler solution?

BTW I am handy with tools but not up to a gearbox reconstruction!

Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks All.

[Markdas]

Although its much easier to re-furbish all the bushes and links with the gearbox off, you can get to most of them if you remove the exhaust and prop shaft.

Likely culprits are the rubber bush ontop of the gearbox in front of the gear lever and the larger mount that bolts to the underside of the tunnel, behind the gear lever. You should also check the white nylon shifter bush as they can get pretty sloppy. Also, consider a short shift conversion, its an easy mod and makes life much better when changing gear!

Mark