B&M Racing
1/23/06, 05:32 PM
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Well it seems that I have become a victim of those who were having problems with the B&M Short Shifter!
Yes, after all this time of going on how the B&M felt great, well, I've had my second thoughts, now that it has happened to me. I've had this shifter since September/October with no problems, up till now.
I was at work and while on my lunch I drove to boston market, and I noticed that my shifter seemed to "WABLE" or move side to side when it was in gear, either first-second-third-or fourth! I thought that was very strange. So i ignored it and went on. B4 I left work, I contacted B&M Techincal Service Dept., about this matter, and I was on hold for 20 Min!!
Finally got back on with a technical service manager, he came on, I explained what was wrong and if there was anything wrong or any kind of issue's with the 05 Mustang Shifters (as I have heard from most of you guys here on the forum).
His response, "there's nothing wrong with our shifters, its your transmission!" So upon getting that response I was ready to head home and crawl under the vehicle when I got there. 2 miles down the road, I'm driving on 541 over the Mt. Holly ByPass when all off a sudden, while downshifting approaching a red light and changing lanes, the shifter gives out!!! The shifter was LIMP!! I started the car again, the car is stuck in 2nd gear! I am sitting in the middle of the bypass and cant move. 30 min of being stuck out there in the middle of the road in rush hour traffic with people honking at me and giving me dirty looks. I had the chance to finally get the car over to the shoulder since I am in the left lane with a guard rail on the left side and no shoulder. As i slowly approach the shoulder, "CLUNK, CLUNK, CLUNK, CLUNK, CLUNK., as the transmission rod gets beat-up by the driveshaft when it turned. Get out, look underneath, there is the transmission rod dangling! The bolt had fallen off!! Just like everyone else's problem!! I was furious!
I then call a tow co. to come get me, they dont come to get me for an hour. Meanwhile, I am in adrenalin mode to get the number for B&M and to call them back with the problem! I call back and speak to the operator and wish to speak with someone about filing a complaint with the techincal service dept. So i get the "National Sales Manager" of B&M and I tell him what happend and told him what I dealt with. He was shocked that his dept. did not tell me anything about any kind of update with the 05 Mustang and that it was my transmission. So I'm on the phone with this guy for 20 min, he is taking my information down and told me that, "there was a slight change in design with the 05 Mustang shifter and some other parts were upgraded to the shifter, and that I (ME) have the very first design of the B&M that had the occuring problems" so apparently, the manager was aware of the problem, but I got a B.S. excuse from the Technical Service Dept.
So $75 later after a tow, he called me back and told me he would overnight UPS next day morning the upgraded and new parts.
I think it just a shame I had to resort to being furious with this co. in the matter that their technical service. I too think it could of been my fault in not taking a heads up with reading the posts and being aware of the situation from most of the TMS members having this same problem with the B&M shifter, i can take the blame for that. But the matter of the techincal service dept not knowing anything and telling me something else?!?!? That is just downright bull.....
But the car is back at the house now in the garage, sitting and waiting for the parts. I think I am in the thought now where I am going to remove the B&M and put the stock one back in and possibly sell the B&M on ebay along with the parts when they send it to me and possibly buy a Hurst or the Saleen Short Shifter Adapter. The thought of this happening again, I cant bear.
B&M Technical Service - :notnice:
Yes, after all this time of going on how the B&M felt great, well, I've had my second thoughts, now that it has happened to me. I've had this shifter since September/October with no problems, up till now.
I was at work and while on my lunch I drove to boston market, and I noticed that my shifter seemed to "WABLE" or move side to side when it was in gear, either first-second-third-or fourth! I thought that was very strange. So i ignored it and went on. B4 I left work, I contacted B&M Techincal Service Dept., about this matter, and I was on hold for 20 Min!!
Finally got back on with a technical service manager, he came on, I explained what was wrong and if there was anything wrong or any kind of issue's with the 05 Mustang Shifters (as I have heard from most of you guys here on the forum).
His response, "there's nothing wrong with our shifters, its your transmission!" So upon getting that response I was ready to head home and crawl under the vehicle when I got there. 2 miles down the road, I'm driving on 541 over the Mt. Holly ByPass when all off a sudden, while downshifting approaching a red light and changing lanes, the shifter gives out!!! The shifter was LIMP!! I started the car again, the car is stuck in 2nd gear! I am sitting in the middle of the bypass and cant move. 30 min of being stuck out there in the middle of the road in rush hour traffic with people honking at me and giving me dirty looks. I had the chance to finally get the car over to the shoulder since I am in the left lane with a guard rail on the left side and no shoulder. As i slowly approach the shoulder, "CLUNK, CLUNK, CLUNK, CLUNK, CLUNK., as the transmission rod gets beat-up by the driveshaft when it turned. Get out, look underneath, there is the transmission rod dangling! The bolt had fallen off!! Just like everyone else's problem!! I was furious!
I then call a tow co. to come get me, they dont come to get me for an hour. Meanwhile, I am in adrenalin mode to get the number for B&M and to call them back with the problem! I call back and speak to the operator and wish to speak with someone about filing a complaint with the techincal service dept. So i get the "National Sales Manager" of B&M and I tell him what happend and told him what I dealt with. He was shocked that his dept. did not tell me anything about any kind of update with the 05 Mustang and that it was my transmission. So I'm on the phone with this guy for 20 min, he is taking my information down and told me that, "there was a slight change in design with the 05 Mustang shifter and some other parts were upgraded to the shifter, and that I (ME) have the very first design of the B&M that had the occuring problems" so apparently, the manager was aware of the problem, but I got a B.S. excuse from the Technical Service Dept.
So $75 later after a tow, he called me back and told me he would overnight UPS next day morning the upgraded and new parts.
I think it just a shame I had to resort to being furious with this co. in the matter that their technical service. I too think it could of been my fault in not taking a heads up with reading the posts and being aware of the situation from most of the TMS members having this same problem with the B&M shifter, i can take the blame for that. But the matter of the techincal service dept not knowing anything and telling me something else?!?!? That is just downright bull.....
But the car is back at the house now in the garage, sitting and waiting for the parts. I think I am in the thought now where I am going to remove the B&M and put the stock one back in and possibly sell the B&M on ebay along with the parts when they send it to me and possibly buy a Hurst or the Saleen Short Shifter Adapter. The thought of this happening again, I cant bear.
B&M Technical Service - :notnice:
1/23/06, 05:49 PM
#2
the screw backing out is a huge problem. Frankly I'm suprised your center console didnt grenade with the link hitting the driveshaft. When I put in my Steeda shifter I used threadlock on the nut so this wouldn't happen to me.
1/24/06, 06:47 AM
#3
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I'm still waiting on the parts to be overnight, cant get them till wednesday, but I dont think I'll be keeping the shifter, still debating on it.
1/24/06, 10:14 AM
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Let us know what the design change is. I'm curious about this since someone in this forum works for B&M and said it's under redevelopment.
I had the screw backing out problem as well (among others).
At least you're okay. That is a situation I feared when I had that shifter as well.
I had the screw backing out problem as well (among others).
At least you're okay. That is a situation I feared when I had that shifter as well.
1/24/06, 10:35 AM
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The same thing happened to me just before Christmas. The extender nut fell out and I was stuck in first. Had to get flatbedded home. Called B&M and they were more interested in being sure I had a receipt for the shifter than anything else. They "overnighted" me the part for $40! It didn't arrive for two days however. With the part came new instructions: "Put locktite on the threads and torque it to 15 pounds". It hasn't fallen out again, but the shifter is not as smooth as it was before.
1/24/06, 10:59 AM
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Yea, i'm really skeptical about keeping this shifter in, just package everything back in the box including the new parts and sell it on ebay and get something else.
1/24/06, 11:00 AM
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Originally posted by ncblack@January 24, 2006, 1:38 PM
The same thing happened to me just before Christmas. The extender nut fell out and I was stuck in first. Had to get flatbedded home. Called B&M and they were more interested in being sure I had a receipt for the shifter than anything else. They "overnighted" me the part for $40! It didn't arrive for two days however. With the part came new instructions: "Put locktite on the threads and torque it to 15 pounds". It hasn't fallen out again, but the shifter is not as smooth as it was before.
The same thing happened to me just before Christmas. The extender nut fell out and I was stuck in first. Had to get flatbedded home. Called B&M and they were more interested in being sure I had a receipt for the shifter than anything else. They "overnighted" me the part for $40! It didn't arrive for two days however. With the part came new instructions: "Put locktite on the threads and torque it to 15 pounds". It hasn't fallen out again, but the shifter is not as smooth as it was before.
1/24/06, 11:29 AM
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Gentlemen, It is I who you are looking for. I am the former Banks employee who is now the national sales manager for B&M . Yes, it is I who you spoke with. Now, before this gets out of hand Keep in mind I have just started with B&M and was not aware of any previous problems. Those of you who know me are aware I post here quite alot and am very active on these forums. I have handled Paul's situation and the parts needed have been sent first of all. Second,our instructions have now been updated to indicate the use of loctite on the thread and torque to 15/lb (which apparently was not in the intructions before i'm told) 3rd, I was not here before when these other issues took place, or as you can see I would have made certain this problem was corrected earlier.
Now, as you all are aware I am obviously busy doing 100 things at once in this capacity, but like I said before when i started here: I will always try to help the forum members out with deals or rectify any problems that may arise. Paul, I am sorry you suffered this setback on the shifter and if you feel the need to ditch it then so be it, I understand. But, mistakes do happen and now that I have been made aware of it and made the engineering folks aware of it, the problem has been corrected. Of course I run this shifter now in my car and do not want to experience the problem you have had,nor do I want any future B&M customers to experience this. My job is to satify the customer and if you feel I could offer something to give you piece of mind and continued support of the B&M products please let me know in a PM. I hope you accept my apology for this occurence & know that I am looking out for my forum friends...Chris McCollum
Now, as you all are aware I am obviously busy doing 100 things at once in this capacity, but like I said before when i started here: I will always try to help the forum members out with deals or rectify any problems that may arise. Paul, I am sorry you suffered this setback on the shifter and if you feel the need to ditch it then so be it, I understand. But, mistakes do happen and now that I have been made aware of it and made the engineering folks aware of it, the problem has been corrected. Of course I run this shifter now in my car and do not want to experience the problem you have had,nor do I want any future B&M customers to experience this. My job is to satify the customer and if you feel I could offer something to give you piece of mind and continued support of the B&M products please let me know in a PM. I hope you accept my apology for this occurence & know that I am looking out for my forum friends...Chris McCollum
1/24/06, 12:17 PM
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Originally posted by subzero05@January 24, 2006, 2:32 PM
Gentlemen, It is I who you are looking for. I am the former Banks employee who is now the national sales manager for B&M . Yes, it is I who you spoke with. Now, before this gets out of hand Keep in mind I have just started with B&M and was not aware of any previous problems. Those of you who know me are aware I post here quite alot and am very active on these forums. I have handled Paul's situation and the parts needed have been sent first of all. Second,our instructions have now been updated to indicate the use of loctite on the thread and torque to 15/lb (which apparently was not in the intructions before i'm told) 3rd, I was not here before when these other issues took place, or as you can see I would have made certain this problem was corrected earlier.
Now, as you all are aware I am obviously busy doing 100 things at once in this capacity, but like I said before when i started here: I will always try to help the forum members out with deals or rectify any problems that may arise. Paul, I am sorry you suffered this setback on the shifter and if you feel the need to ditch it then so be it, I understand. But, mistakes do happen and now that I have been made aware of it and made the engineering folks aware of it, the problem has been corrected. Of course I run this shifter now in my car and do not want to experience the problem you have had,nor do I want any future B&M customers to experience this. My job is to satify the customer and if you feel I could offer something to give you piece of mind and continued support of the B&M products please let me know in a PM. I hope you accept my apology for this occurence & know that I am looking out for my forum friends...Chris McCollum
Gentlemen, It is I who you are looking for. I am the former Banks employee who is now the national sales manager for B&M . Yes, it is I who you spoke with. Now, before this gets out of hand Keep in mind I have just started with B&M and was not aware of any previous problems. Those of you who know me are aware I post here quite alot and am very active on these forums. I have handled Paul's situation and the parts needed have been sent first of all. Second,our instructions have now been updated to indicate the use of loctite on the thread and torque to 15/lb (which apparently was not in the intructions before i'm told) 3rd, I was not here before when these other issues took place, or as you can see I would have made certain this problem was corrected earlier.
Now, as you all are aware I am obviously busy doing 100 things at once in this capacity, but like I said before when i started here: I will always try to help the forum members out with deals or rectify any problems that may arise. Paul, I am sorry you suffered this setback on the shifter and if you feel the need to ditch it then so be it, I understand. But, mistakes do happen and now that I have been made aware of it and made the engineering folks aware of it, the problem has been corrected. Of course I run this shifter now in my car and do not want to experience the problem you have had,nor do I want any future B&M customers to experience this. My job is to satify the customer and if you feel I could offer something to give you piece of mind and continued support of the B&M products please let me know in a PM. I hope you accept my apology for this occurence & know that I am looking out for my forum friends...Chris McCollum
Chris,
I kindly accept your appolgy with the events that have happened with the shifter. I was mainly upset and discourgaged with the answer that I got with your Technical Service Dept. BEFORE the incident happen and I was given an excuse. I am not trying to discredit B&M and their reputation. I know B&M has been around for as long as Hurst has been. Its the matter of the people who work for B&M and the kind of customer service they give you when they call to inquire information about the product at hand. If I was aware of the situation with the shifter, I would not have even driven the car; especially home from work, which is where I started noticing the problem. I would of parked it and got a ride home. Instead I got stuck on a very very dangerous high speed highway unable to move when the shifter went, and cost $75 to tow me home. Neatless to say, when I got on the phone with you, I was treated with Customer Service, which is what I wanted to get in the first place when I called. I am greatful for your promptness and your speedy performance in getting back to me as quick as possible with the problem and being able to get the parts to me as fast as you could, and I thank you for that! If I can be assured that the new parts would not cause anymore problems with the shifter, then i will continue to use the shifter and represent the name B&M.
1/24/06, 12:18 PM
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Originally posted by subzero05@January 24, 2006, 2:32 PM
Gentlemen, It is I who you are looking for. I am the former Banks employee who is now the national sales manager for B&M . Yes, it is I who you spoke with. Now, before this gets out of hand Keep in mind I have just started with B&M and was not aware of any previous problems. Those of you who know me are aware I post here quite alot and am very active on these forums. I have handled Paul's situation and the parts needed have been sent first of all. Second,our instructions have now been updated to indicate the use of loctite on the thread and torque to 15/lb (which apparently was not in the intructions before i'm told) 3rd, I was not here before when these other issues took place, or as you can see I would have made certain this problem was corrected earlier.
Now, as you all are aware I am obviously busy doing 100 things at once in this capacity, but like I said before when i started here: I will always try to help the forum members out with deals or rectify any problems that may arise. Paul, I am sorry you suffered this setback on the shifter and if you feel the need to ditch it then so be it, I understand. But, mistakes do happen and now that I have been made aware of it and made the engineering folks aware of it, the problem has been corrected. Of course I run this shifter now in my car and do not want to experience the problem you have had,nor do I want any future B&M customers to experience this. My job is to satify the customer and if you feel I could offer something to give you piece of mind and continued support of the B&M products please let me know in a PM. I hope you accept my apology for this occurence & know that I am looking out for my forum friends...Chris McCollum
Gentlemen, It is I who you are looking for. I am the former Banks employee who is now the national sales manager for B&M . Yes, it is I who you spoke with. Now, before this gets out of hand Keep in mind I have just started with B&M and was not aware of any previous problems. Those of you who know me are aware I post here quite alot and am very active on these forums. I have handled Paul's situation and the parts needed have been sent first of all. Second,our instructions have now been updated to indicate the use of loctite on the thread and torque to 15/lb (which apparently was not in the intructions before i'm told) 3rd, I was not here before when these other issues took place, or as you can see I would have made certain this problem was corrected earlier.
Now, as you all are aware I am obviously busy doing 100 things at once in this capacity, but like I said before when i started here: I will always try to help the forum members out with deals or rectify any problems that may arise. Paul, I am sorry you suffered this setback on the shifter and if you feel the need to ditch it then so be it, I understand. But, mistakes do happen and now that I have been made aware of it and made the engineering folks aware of it, the problem has been corrected. Of course I run this shifter now in my car and do not want to experience the problem you have had,nor do I want any future B&M customers to experience this. My job is to satify the customer and if you feel I could offer something to give you piece of mind and continued support of the B&M products please let me know in a PM. I hope you accept my apology for this occurence & know that I am looking out for my forum friends...Chris McCollum
Thank you for the quick reply. My name is Tom Lamano and I would like my $40 refunded since this appears to be a well known problem. I did not have any towing charges as I have a AAA card. However, my free towing miles have been depleted by 20 miles. Please send me a PM.
Thanks,
Tom Lamano
1/24/06, 08:21 PM
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I have a B&M shifter as well. I have been happy with it. At first I had the problem with the screw backing out so I tightedned it up good. It seems to be fine now. Next time I am down there I will retorque and apply locktite. I am having trouble with a nocking noise coming from the shifter when accelerating. My shifter does have dynamat on it. Do the updated parts address this problem? How can I tell if I have the latest parts? Thanks
Jon
Jon
1/24/06, 09:32 PM
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Guys, you can call into our tech services department and express your concerns/issues to one of the reps and it will be noted. To my knowledge there have been no changes to any of the bushings etc. on the kit.Dynamat is always on option for install on ANY aftermarket shifter application and will likely quiet it down further if you need it.Typically speaking, you generally will get a bit of noise and or vibration from a short throw shifter on many applications.Some transmissions are just naturally noisier than others and therefore when you shorten up the throw and change factory specs around some, you sacrifice some.Some trans harmonics or noises are inherant of this particular trans which is NOT uncommon for the mustang in general.I can tell you on mine I do get some vibration/noise from the shifter, but expected some. I did not expect it to be totally like stock in terms of noise generated.
1/25/06, 03:40 PM
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This isn't an attempt to hijack the thread, but I can't find any other threads about this (maybe I suck at forum searches).
Has this problem effected all aftermarket shifters (such as the Hurst that I have), or is it somehow a B&M thing? It sounds like something that would effect them all, so I'm wondering if I need to get under my car at regular intervals to make sure that screw doesn't back out on me. I used medium threadlocker, but now this has got me worried.
Has this problem effected all aftermarket shifters (such as the Hurst that I have), or is it somehow a B&M thing? It sounds like something that would effect them all, so I'm wondering if I need to get under my car at regular intervals to make sure that screw doesn't back out on me. I used medium threadlocker, but now this has got me worried.
1/25/06, 04:14 PM
#17
Originally posted by subzero05@January 25, 2006, 12:35 AM
Guys, you can call into our tech services department and express your concerns/issues to one of the reps and it will be noted. To my knowledge there have been no changes to any of the bushings etc. on the kit.Dynamat is always on option for install on ANY aftermarket shifter application and will likely quiet it down further if you need it.Typically speaking, you generally will get a bit of noise and or vibration from a short throw shifter on many applications.Some transmissions are just naturally noisier than others and therefore when you shorten up the throw and change factory specs around some, you sacrifice some.Some trans harmonics or noises are inherant of this particular trans which is NOT uncommon for the mustang in general.I can tell you on mine I do get some vibration/noise from the shifter, but expected some. I did not expect it to be totally like stock in terms of noise generated.
Guys, you can call into our tech services department and express your concerns/issues to one of the reps and it will be noted. To my knowledge there have been no changes to any of the bushings etc. on the kit.Dynamat is always on option for install on ANY aftermarket shifter application and will likely quiet it down further if you need it.Typically speaking, you generally will get a bit of noise and or vibration from a short throw shifter on many applications.Some transmissions are just naturally noisier than others and therefore when you shorten up the throw and change factory specs around some, you sacrifice some.Some trans harmonics or noises are inherant of this particular trans which is NOT uncommon for the mustang in general.I can tell you on mine I do get some vibration/noise from the shifter, but expected some. I did not expect it to be totally like stock in terms of noise generated.
Every other mustang I have swapped out my shifter on, including friends of mine, always had a bit more noise/vibration than the stock shifter.
1/25/06, 07:59 PM
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Well the parts came, was satisfied that I got just the bolt and 2 plastic washers, but didnt get any new set of directions or even a lil thing of threadlock. Luckily i kept everything from when I first installed it, had some left over threadlock in the lil tube and had the old instructions, just needed to find out which way the shifter attached to the tranny linkage. But its on, its threadlocked and torqued to 15 lbs! Same great feeling again!!
1/25/06, 09:55 PM
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Glad you got the parts paul..Sorry I did't get the instructions in there for you, but my concern was to get the replacement parts out to you right away and the gettin the instruction manual printed may have delayed things somewhat because of the other people who need to get involved from production and printing etc etc..Plus, I figured you have already done it and with the info I found out and posted there was really no need...Hope it works out well..Chris