DIY a REAL wood shift knob + trim for my E36 BMW (*ft. COOLERWORX shifter*)

In today's video, we're making a handmade DIY wood / wooden shift knob and interior trim for my BMW e36 328i. This shift knob is a bit special because it's made specifically for my coolerworx shifter that we installed in the e36 a few videos ago. This was a fun woodworking project for the BMW, something we don't normally get to do on this channel :) But I think the handmade, DIY wood aesthetic it gives the coolerworx shifter a really cool retro, porsche shift ball esque appearance (but in an e36). It also shifts like a dream, and the mahogany wood grain really pops on both the shifter and the interior trim - a commonly missing piece of wood trim on most e36s.
I hope you enjoy today's video! If you're into BMWs, e36, e46, or just cars and build content in general, follow along to see the rest of the "Dory the e36" build come together! We do car meets, build videos, JDM and euro car content, tutorials, installs, and much much more.

[@KuroLegend]

Brother brother I ordered my shifter not to long ago. How long did it take you to get yours

[@logan-taylor]

congrats on the purchase, you’re going to love it. And honestly quite a while - if you’re in the US, give it at least a few weeks. it sucks but the wait is worth it :)

[@davemackey1712]

Well done shift knob! I love your low budget mods. Keep it up

[@logan-taylor]

Thanks :) trying to stay financially responsible

[@vthinkmusic9772]

You know what you should do go down to redmond pd and do a little PD car show off lol cuse why not

[@ternovcalia6542]

Very nice 👍

[@logan-taylor]

thank you :)

[@bryantlaw7918]

Is the coolerworx knob threaded on? I would like to change mine also but don’t want to mess the threads up. Looked like you slide it off?

[@logan-taylor]

The knob is not threaded, the allen bolt just holds it down. The shifter itself is threaded though, so you can probably run a more standard threaded shifter!

[@pawetrocki5781]

CAE knob will fit? Coolerworx knob is ugly...
Anyone know?

[@logan-taylor]

not sure about CAE specifically, but there are also external threads if you remove the coolerworx knob - those should fit more standard shift knobs so you have more options. I just made my own from wood that’s roughly the shape of CAE.

[@curlyman7]

E36 actually used real wood trim

[@logan-taylor]

for real?? whoops. I guess the upside is that it’s now solid wood instead of veneer :)

[@lotar379]

Question. I wanna do this, although I did a tranny swap. And my reverse is far right and back instead of far left and up. Would this still work?

[@logan-taylor]

hmm, that’s a good question.. hypothetically, yes it would work fine. However, if reverse is TOO far over, the shifter might contact the trans tunnel on your car when you try to go over that far. That said, there’s nothing about the shifter itself that would cause too many problems! (as long as your shift linkage from the new transmission mounts up to the shifter in the same way the ZF/getrag transmissions do)

[@lotar379]

@@logan-taylor it does mount on the stock BMW shifter with the same way, so i think it should work as well. My concearn is that this Coolerworx product, when you lift the ring to put in reverse, can you slide it all the way right and back?

[@logan-taylor]

yep! The reverse lockout “gate” position is determined by some little set screws at the bottom of the shifter, and there’s one on both the left and right side. some people use the right side one to lock out 5th for autocross, so you could 100% do the same thing for reverse on the right by just adjusting the set screw. Hope that makes sense, it’s kinda hard to describe.

[@lotar379]

@@logan-taylor I get what you’re saying thank you for that, I’ll buy one and try it out!! Thank you!

[@sergiovhhic1730]

Thanks for making videos and posting. Really appreciate the in-depth installation and practical work.

[@logan-taylor]

of course!! I love making the videos so it’s good to know they’re appreciated :) thanks for the comment

[@zekelepp8023]

The shifter turned out fick actually 😆, at first when i heard your idea i was sceptical

[@logan-taylor]

hahah thanks man!! and me too bro, i really wasn’t sure if it would work.

[@wrexz]

It looks like leopardwood or lacewood

[@logan-taylor]

mystery solved! Thank you

[@wrexz]

@@logan-taylor you're welcome!

[@Weldeddiff]

Looks good bro 👍

[@logan-taylor]

thanks so much bro