Memo or not, the slightly different angle (if there is one) would have NO impact on the shifting back at the transmission. Also, the B&M and Porsche short shifter both reduce the shift travel essentially the same amount.

Assuming each shifter is actuated at the same rate of travel, the gears in the transmission are also actuated at the same rate.

Porsche doesn't like the B&M because it's the same shifter as their's (both made by B&M) and it costs a lot less.

 

This was a intercompany memo that has nothing to do with the public... Im not supposed to see it.
So porsche is not making this public nor trying to get customers to change to their shifter... They just want the mechanics to report the b&M shifters on porsches so later if you show up with a broken sync roll... they can go back and tell you... sorry.
i ve had both in my car... have you 'DOCK" ?
Im not arguing that b&m makes it for them... Im just saying that they are not exactly the same... I checked b4 putting it in...also...im telling u that i had problems with it... and for some strage reason i don't anymore. I can understand if its a replica of the b&M... but its not... so porsche must have done some research.
Dont get me wrong... i liked the b&M.... I just could not afford to mess up the 2nd trans... so I was willing to spend $480 for the porsche shifter... meanwhile i ebayed and sold the b&m for $150

 

Except for the color they are the same as far as I am concerned. Here is my post from November where I noted 2 trivial differences. Since then our local group has put in a few more shifts, B&M units. And I noticed that the top of the blade was now machined flat like the Porsche unit, and the pivot bolt was exactly the same length. These were trivial cosmetic differences to begin with.

http://www.renntech.org/forums/index.php?showtopic=766

 

Hey, why not go with the under car kit and avoid this?

 

Porsche kills two birds with one "memo". 1) They want owners to buy their short shifter (for $$$ reasons). 2) Telling owners with transmission problems that they have to remove the B&M shifter or they won't repair the transmission, or scaring them into removing the B&M because in the future they won't cover the transmission work at all...no matter what..., increases Porsche short shifter sales and in their mind releases them from an expensive warranty repair if push comes to shove. Porsche is just using the fact that one shifter has a Porsche parts emblem on it and the other does not to avoid warranty repairs.


I've looked at both. It doesn't take installation to realize both are the same. Tool Pants post above says it all.

Have you installed either shifter? If so then you know that two shifters with the same throw will have the same result back at the transmission. It's just cables we're talking about, connected to levers at the transmission. The speed at which the gears are changed and the impact this has on the synchros is the key, and both shifters are capable of the same shifting speed.

If my dealer ever had anything to say about warranty work and my B&M (they wouldn't by the way) I'd fight it all the way to court. There is no way a case can be made by Porsche that color and company emblem have anything to do with the mechanical operation of two parts that are otherwise functionally alike.

 

Regardless of the shifter, does shortened shifting time put more stress on synchros because they have less time to sync up?

Then wouldn't double-clutching help circumvent potential problems?

 

It depends on how shortened the shift time is. But but you can out shift the synchros with the stock shifter thougt too. Then again, you can go slow and not use the clutch at all, just using rev matching to disengage and engage the gear.

 

I'm sorry but I along with paul , a porsche tech at napleton porsche put in both shifters..... and he also said that they are not the same... the height is different along with the angle...... the picture above does not give any justice... he should have taken out the other shifter and compare them side by side, from all sides. I did. the throw is definately shorter in a b&m. Which if too short... it does not allow the sync rolls to slow down fast enough. I'm not an engineer, I think I'm areasonable pearson and I know what i saw....
I have over 30k miles ON MY TURBO... and at the track the shifter did not perform all the time.... especially into 2nd gear. I even let my friend( an experienced 1/4 driver and a rally race team engineer.) do the 1/4 mile... it happended to him as well.... about 40% of the time.... Even after I switched trannies.
I had to be "careful" going into 2nd gear... I'm only talking about going thue the gears 100%.. all out - that's when the problem ocurred.
EVER SINCE I SWITCHED TO A PORSCHE SHORT SHIFTER... I CAN'T GET MY TRANS TO MISS A GEAR.
I checked and double checked both side by side... it seemed like a small difference to me...
I'm not trying to convince anyone... I am sharing my story... a real one... and I don't regret swithing from a B&M to porsche short shifter...
It got to the point that I was thinking about "2nd gear"... is it going to happen again.... at the track .
$480 solved my problem. maybe its just me...
I wish someone had pics side by side from all sides... that would prove that they are not identical.

 

Dock, I have to agree with Markski, no way in hell the Porsche short shift is the same as the B&M.

I have the factory short shift with the complete base on my GT2 a and I find it to be quite a bit better than the B&M version.

 

The plot thickens again...

Can we get a B&M spokesperson to get to the bottom of this?

 

B&M hardly does much web-based communicating, but it would be nice to hear from them.

 

Well, if they don't start communicating, this kind of news/rumor is going to scare everyone away from their products.

Everyone's going to question whether they did the right thing by saving a few $$$ on B&M or not, which may/could cost them more in the long run? Only time will tell...

 

Your B-M may not have been installed/adjusted correctly. I have never had a problem finding 2nd,3rd,4th... with my B-M after many a track day.Still, it would be interesting to see that memo.

 

It is hard to prove something that does not exist. Someone needs to put both shifts side-by-side and take pictures from all angles. I did not because I would have had to take the car apart that had the B&M already installed before I installed the Porsche shift.

If someone had a problem with the B&M and the problem went away with the Porsche unit then the only guess I have is that the B&M was not put in properly or adjusted properly or their driving style changed.

The angle of the B&M is identical to the Porsche unit, and both are identical to the oem shift. You cannot see the shift blade because it is covered by the boot. All blades are angled so the the shift lever will point straight up when in neutral - the angle has nothing to do with the function.

As I said there were some trivial differences in how the blade was machined, but I have seen the same differences between B&M units. I suspect the are machined by hand. The differences are cosmetic only.

Of course, if I paid Porsche a lot of money for a B&M clone I would think the Porsche unit was better. It is human nature.

 

Both shifters claim the same reduction in shifter throw, ~37%. The ONLY thing the transmission knows is how fast the gears are being moved. It doesn't care if you have the cable ends exposed in the cockpit and are actuating them by pulling them with a pair of pliers. It doesn't matter if the cables are being moved with pliers, the B&M, or the Porsche short shifter. Given the same rate of movement of the cables by the driver, the gears in the transmission will be moved at the same speed. This is the crux of the issue with regard to warranty issues; how fast the gears actually move during the shifting process.

The B&M and the Porsche short shifter BOTH will move the gears at the same rate if the driver moves the shifter of each at the same rate.