So I have been having problems with my B and M short shift kit, the factory is blaming it on destroying two transmissions (both replaced under warranty which I thought was very generous of them)....My previous car was a 99 Acura NSX so I had become accustomed to precise, very short shifts. That Honda gearbox is a gem..admittedly it has to handle much less power. I found the Porsche stock shift set up somewhat imprecise and had an agricultural feel.

According to the corporate rep under hard use the factory shift kits are "designed" to have the transmission cables breakaway from the shift linkage housing. Whereas the after market short shift kits, since they are not made of 50 cent plastic parts from Outer Mongolia, do not breakaway and therefore do not release the cables and thus bend/break parts in the the tranny.....it sounded like a pretty weak explanation to me personally and justification for incredibly cheap looking parts in the factory shift kit.

So to fix this problem going forward (I doubt they will replace a third tranny for zero dinero) when talking with the corporate rep, I suggested putting in the the factory short shift kit from that new rip off (oh I mean the $60k factory limited edition with a whopping 6 extra hp) "550" boxster since the B and M part fits both 996's and 986's. He countered that a GT3 has a short shift kit and that this might work in place of the B and M shifter......Any thoughts, comments etc?

 

After talking to a few dealers and independent part providers, it looks like the the factory short shift kit is in fact a private label b and m short shift kit. The only difference are the colors of the parts....ahh! What is this corporate guy talking about....

 

This seems to imply that either the B&M or Porsche-colored
variant are similar, and cannot be argued by Porsche to be
the cause of your problem!
Joe

 

I called B&M in California directly.....Guess what, they manufacture the 986 and 996 short shift kit for Porsche. It is the same part.

 

The OEM plastic shifter linkage is the "weak link" that may break loose from the shift cable. This is not part of the B&M short shift kit and is not replaced unless you replaced it with the EVO Billet shifter linkage.

 

your reply was a little confusing....so what you are saying is, even when you replace the oem linkage with the b and m linkage the breakaway part still remains?

 

Yes,
When you replace the Porsche shifter with the B&M SSK the OEM plastic shift link is used. Here's a link to help EVO Shiftlink click on the 996TT-GT2 link to the left then click on the shifter link to the right.. This "weak link" remains as a connection between the shifter and the shift cable. Most of us have replaced this crappy part with the Billet Shiftlink which I suppose (if one were to be jamming through the gears) could transmit the force to the tranny whereas the original part might separate.
Does this make sense?

 

thanks.....for the clarification.

 

Because of the decreased leverage with short shift kits the forces on internal transmission parts are reduced not increased.

 

B.S., if you go to the B & M website you will see why, they manufacture the SS for Porsche.

 

Get the factory SSK and they can't say anything.

 

the factory ssk is the b and m.......so that's why I have tranny number two

 

So Porsche charges $800 for the same shifter kit as the $200 B&M shifter kit?? Is there no difference at all?

 

ablsolutely there is a difference......some of the parts are different colors! well worth the $600.00

 

The $600 difference in cost covers Porsche's amortized warranty costs for reduced synchro longevity with the SSK .