F30-Style Shift Knob in the E90 Is a Weird But Popular Retrofit

Of course, purists are going to be offended by what we said. Some believe the E46 was the last true BMW, but that depends if you see them as a sports car brand or a luxury one. And you can't have the latter without automatic gearboxes, because shifting gears yourself is for poor people. Just ask Rolls-Royce; they'll explain everything.

In any case, the E90 3 Series came with a 6-speed automatic which, unless we're mistaken, was made by ZF. It's not as fast as the modern 8-speed equivalent, but for that era of car, it's perfectly acceptable.

Some owners think the shifter itself is what's dragging their decade-old 3 Series down, not the piece of machinery shifting gears. So a company has created a retrofit product. We say "a company" because most of these YouTube videos seem to show the same shifter. However, there's probably a billion Chinese alternatives out there.

The new shifter features the same design and buttons as on the F30 3 Series, as well as other BMWs of that era. It looks like a gold club, has those double buttons and even illumination using LEDs, which the older model obviously didn't offer.

But the transformation is not complete. The old shifter had gates, while the F-series didn't so you're left with a leather boot too.

The cool thing is that the mod is really cheap, only $100. It's on sale for 10% off right now and will fit other BMWs too, like the 1 Series or even the 5 Series or the 6er Coupe. If you're interested, check out Rush Customs' website. There's a whole list of models they cover, so check them out.