M3 steering wheel and ZHP shift knob review. E46 325i.
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00:00So, as a guy that's way too into cars, I'm all about tactility and the experience of
00:14driving my car, so I do care very much about the quality of the interior.
00:20When you're driving a car, there's only a couple different things that you touch.
00:24Your bum touches the seat, you might turn the radio, and you have your hands on the
00:28steering wheel.
00:29If you drive a manual, you also have your hand on the shifter.
00:34So I was very concerned about making sure that the things that I drive with, the tools
00:41that I use to operate my vehicle, my steering wheel and my shift knob, were of a quality
00:46that made my experience while driving my car enjoyable.
00:50So today I'm going to just briefly give you a quick review of the ZHP or the M3 steering
00:58wheel and the ZHP shift knob, or the M Performance shift knob, because it does not come standard
01:04on this car.
01:05Now, I know it has an M badge on it, and that's kind of a no-no to somebody who doesn't have
01:10an M car, but I'll make this very clear and I'll say this once, I don't care.
01:16Now if you're going to get one of these steering wheels, you have to already have the sport
01:21package because you need the circular airbag in the center.
01:24Now you can switch a steering wheel out yourself, I did it, but I'm not going to recommend it
01:29to you because this is a Takata airbag, and apparently they're known for exploding and
01:35sending hot, fiery shrapnel into your carotid artery.
01:38So I'm not going to recommend that you change an airbag on your own, I would suggest you
01:43get somebody else to do it.
01:44I found an Alcantara wrapped steering wheel for like $80.
01:49That's unheard of.
01:50If you look at these things on eBay, they're like $600.
01:53Now there is a minor issue, I have a hole in it over here that I had to wrap, but other
02:02than that, it's in okay condition, and for $80 I can't complain.
02:06The M Sport steering wheel has much, much better hand grips.
02:09It's got little thumb guards here that you can use to make sure your hands stay in the
02:13right spot.
02:14It's a little bit beefier, it's squishier, and it's soft, and it just fits my hands,
02:19I don't have very big hands, and it, whatever, it fits my hands perfectly.
02:23So that really, really added to my driving experience, to have a steering wheel that
02:28when I put my hands on it, it just feels really, really good, right?
02:33So you can find these steering wheels on eBay, as long as you have that circular airbag,
02:38or $200 if you get lucky, $100, or if you get really lucky like I did, $80.
02:44I don't think that guy knew what he was doing.
02:45The whole idea is that you can find these, and they are much better, in my opinion, than
02:51just the basic Sport steering wheel.
02:53That really added to my driving experience.
02:55Now the ZHP shift knob, okay?
02:59So this actually has a genuine performance advantage, because it's a little bit shorter
03:06than the stock shift knob, and it's heavier, it's weighted.
03:10So it actually changes the throw of the shifter.
03:15So think about a lever, right?
03:16So like if this pivots here, right, and you're holding onto this part up here, your hand
03:21moves that far, but if you cut this off, and you pivot here, your hand doesn't move as
03:27far.
03:28So it basically just shortens the shifter a little bit, so the throw of your shift is
03:31shorter.
03:32And the weight is noticeable when you drive it.
03:35Now the thing though that matters to me most is that it is wrapped in Nappa leather, which
03:41is very, very smooth and nice.
03:43There's a cool aluminum one, but unless you really are into getting third degree burns
03:49in your hand when you get in the car on a hot day, I recommend just getting the leather
03:53one because I have a metal shift knob in my Saab, and it might as well have just come
04:00out of a furnace every single time I get in it on a sunny day.
04:04So this also, on the top here, has a glass, it's actually made out of glass, I found
04:10this out, shift indicator, so for your one, two, three, four, five gears, or six if you
04:15have a six speed.
04:17So that is really, really nice.
04:19It doesn't scratch, you can polish it and it looks really smooth.
04:23It's just very satisfying to use as your shift lever.
04:27So that aside, it actually made a difference for me shifting because in a BMW, the shifts
04:35are kind of long, it is kind of like spaghetti noodle-ish.
04:38It's very silky, it's very smooth when you engage a gear, but these knobs make a difference
04:44for you.
04:45If you don't have a short shift kit, you don't want to spend that much money on a short shift
04:48kit, this is kind of a way to get you halfway there.
04:50I short shifted a couple times on the track, very embarrassing, especially when you do
04:54it right in front of a whole bunch of Honda dudes.
04:58So I did that once and I was like, okay, this stock shifter's got to go, because my arm
05:02motion was like this, and it was just getting a little bit out of hand.
05:06So this made enough of a difference that I haven't short shifted since, and I recommend
05:12that.
05:13That short shifter, or sorry, that shift knob was, oh, I don't remember, 80 bucks, 90 bucks
05:18Canadian, something like that.
05:19You can find them online for a little bit cheaper.
05:21Just make sure you get a genuine BMW one, because if you get like kind of a copycat
05:26off eBay, it's not made out of glass on the top, and it's not going to be real Napa leather.
05:30It won't last as long, and it won't feel as nice, it's that tactility piece, right?
05:34Now when you remove the shift knob, basically you take it in your hands like this, and you
05:39pull straight up as hard as you can.
05:42It's not glued on, it's just clicked on.
05:44Now somebody warned me ahead of time, do not put your face in front of the shift knob when
05:51you pull it straight towards you.
05:53And I had this in my head the whole time I was, okay, don't hit myself in the face, don't
05:58hit myself in the face, don't hit myself in the face, I hit myself in the face.
06:02Wish I had it on video, you would have loved it, it would have gone viral, this channel
06:05would have been huge in no time.
06:07But that is something to really, really, don't like kind of pull off this way or something,
06:13don't pull it towards your face, because you're just, it just comes abruptly and it fires
06:16up and it has mass to it, right?
06:18So if you want to punch yourself in the face with a chunk of lead, that's a good way to
06:21do it, you just got to make sure that you're careful when you're taking that shift knob
06:24off.
06:25And then when you put it back on, you just put the new shift knob over top, line it up
06:27and go slam, and it goes, and done, okay?
06:31Easiest like mod you could ever do.
06:33So that is just a super quick review, I'm just sitting in my car, thought that I'd do
06:37one for you, I've been talking way too long here.
06:40So subscribe to my channel if you haven't already, I've got lots more reviews for E46
06:46parts coming, as well as other reviews of cars and experiences that I'm hopefully going
06:52to have in the near future.
06:54I'll talk to you next time.
06:55Bye bye.
06:56Transcribed by https://otter.ai