BFI Leather Shift Boot

[afman916]

Was going to post this in Cosmetic but thought it would get more views here...

Has anyone installed one of BFI's leather shift boots? Looking to pick up one of their knobs and thought about upgrading the shift boot as well. The leather quality of the stock boot leaves a little to be desired and was wondering how much of an upgrade the BFI version would be.

I've found a few posts where people installed the alcantara version but trying to stay with matching materials.

 

[slide13]

I have one sitting here and plan on installing it today along with my Raceseng knob. I went with leather w/red stitching.

Quality is great, leather feels nice and stitching is well done, even, and looks great. You get just the leather, no trim rings or anything. I think it’s a little pricey for a sewn up piece of leather but quality wise it leaves nothing to be desired in my opinion and I’m happy I decided to spring for it.

Big part of why I ordered it was so I didn’t have to butcher stock knob/boot to switch to my Raceseng but now I’m really glad I got it because it does feel/look nicer than stock material.

 

[slide13]

Since the whole photobucket debacle I don’t have a good hosting source for images, but I can take some pics and email them later today after I get it on if you want to pm me your email address.

 

[afman916]

Great stuff man, thanks! Just sent you a PM with my email addy. Looking forward to seeing the end results. Would you say the BFI leather quality is a marginal improvement over OEM or night-and-day?

 

[slide13]

Got it, will send pics later!

You know, I never really noticed the OEM being that bad, but after handling this one I realize stock isn’t that great. I’ll reserve full judgment until I can compare both side by side in place.

I think it’s one of those things that many people wouldn’t notice but if you’re the type who does you’ll find the difference pretty obvious.


Or course now you have me thinking of that ebrake boot, haha, will probably have to end up springing for that now too...which makes it a pricey upgrade altogether.

 

[afman916]

Yeah, both of them together does make for a pricey upgrade, but now that most of my power and handling mods are taken care of (or, more accurately, in a closet awaiting install) I've been looking for some tasteful, quality upgrades for the interior. Just a few things to make it stand out. CF wheel, BFI red leather knob, upgraded shift and e-brake boot, autodimming rearview...I think a few select pieces could really give the interior a higher-end feel.

 

[TheWombat]

I have one sitting here and plan on installing it today along with my Raceseng knob. I went with leather w/red stitching.

Do these actually work with the Raceseng? I ask because I looked at them after I installed my Raceseng knob, but it seemed they were being sold as fitting BFI knobs only. I'm guessing that's just marketing talk, and it works with other knobs?

 

[slide13]

Do these actually work with the Raceseng? I ask because I looked at them after I installed my Raceseng knob, but it seemed they were being sold as fitting BFI knobs only. I'm guessing that's just marketing talk, and it works with other knobs?

It works, but the opening is sized for BFI knobs I’d guess. It’s a very tight fit on the Raceseng adapter. Getting it over the widest part was a struggle the first time. I let it sit like that for a couple days to stretch it though and that helped a lot. It’s still a snug fit at the end, didn’t even bother with a zip tie to secure it as it’s not going anywhere on its own I don’t suspect. Probably would have been easier and worked just fine to snip the top part so the opening would be a touch bigger but this worked too.

Hardest part of the install was getting the Raceseng adapter on. Not sure if my adapter was a little small or my shift rod is a bit big. Took some real fine sandpaper to both and a touch of grease and it finally when on by turning it as I pressed down (had knob attached to help). That was with the set screws all the way pulled out so that wasn’t the problem. Good news is it’s not going to slip or wobble, that’s for sure!

 

[NVDuckin]

Since the whole photobucket debacle I don’t have a good hosting source for images, but I can take some pics and email them later today after I get it on if you want to pm me your email address.

Check out Imgur, it's what I see a lot of other people using now and seems to work well.

 

[slide13]

I actually have an Imgur account but couldnt figure out how to reference the images...may have just figured it out, let’s see if this works..

 

[slide13]

Check out Imgur, it's what I see a lot of other people using now and seems to work well.

Thanks for the suggestion! Made me revisit it and finally figured out how the app works for direct image linking!

 

[slide13]

 

[TheWombat]

Nice, thanks.

 

[afman916]

Yeah, those pics are great, thanks again man. Gotta say, the BFI Leather does look much higher quality than our OEM leather. I'm sold.

 

[slide13]

No problem, glad I could provide some reference shots. Leather and stitching quality is definitely top notch.


Here is a shot of the stock next to the installed BFI for others who might stumble on this later. BFI looks nicer and the tactile feel is way better, stock is very thin in conlarisob.