Talk Morgan Forums Morgan Sports Cars Morgan Plus Four, Supersport & Plus Six (CX & CXV Generation Vehicles) 2020 Plus Six. A tale of two gear selectors

This all started with an advert in the MSCC Miscellany from Morgan Park in Hamburg showing a modified gear selector. I have always disliked the BMW standard modern gear selector in the Plus Six, the Morgan Park variant is much more in keeping to the design of the car.
The modified selector uses the standard BMW unit, but changes its upper actuator stem replacing it with a chrome stem and a round gear like knob. It retains all the functions of the original BMW selector and with the exception of the selector stick and knob it is all 100% BMW. I contacted Morgan Park to see if they would send me a modified selector to the UK, yes, they would, but first I had to send them a unit to be modified. Much thought occurred over this and I decided to find a used donor selector, so I could always refit the original if needed. A suitable selector was found via Ebay from a crashed Plus Six of the same year and the unit was dispatched to Morgan Park. Two weeks later it was back. The good news it looked great, the bad news, there was a hefty £ hit to the modification cost with import VAT etc.. Beware of the export/import codes used when sending it to Germany and back, this can result in a high VAT and import charge.

Following photo shows the BMW selector removed from the car.




Next fitting.
At this stage I had intended to take lots of photos of the process, but my phone gave up and I had to order a new one, so the photos are a little limited. The first process was to lift the car off the garage floor and secure it, followed by disconnecting the battery. The passengers footwell inner side trim was removed, which allowed access to remove the lower dash alloy finisher section which goes from the internal side of the vehicle to the centre console. You have to then disconnect the audio volume and the Aux power connectors.

The main work to replace the gear selector necessitates the removal of the wood centre upper console.

The wood console is secured at its upper front by two Allan head button flange trim screws that also secures the top of the black side leg vents (that also house the heated seat switch’s), you just need to remove the upper screw, one per each side. The screws go through the black side vent, then through the side alloy (either carpet or leather trimmed) and then screw into an alloy section secured on the top front of the wood console (you cannot see this section until the wood console is removed ).
Next remove the four Allan headed screws that secure the alloy finisher around the gear selector. The longer fore and aft screws go through the console wood and screw into captive nuts in the under alloy, the side screws secure into captive nuts in the wood console.
Next remove the four Allan headed screws that secure the alloy handbrake trim in place, as per the gear selector trim, the fore and aft screws secure the wood console in place to the lower alloy with captive nuts and are longer, the two side screws just hold the alloy finisher to the wood with captive nuts.. Next rollup the leather gaiter over the handbrake, it is held in place by a tie wrap that secures the leather to the hand brake leaver, cut the tie wrap, noting the position it is fastened on the hand brake lever. Then slide the leather and the alloy trim off the hand brake lever.

The next part is a bit fiddly and you need to do this to get the console top wood off. As the car is already jacked up. Go underneath at the rear and remove the hand brake inner cable from each of the rear brake callipers. I found that by applying the hand brake hard, then going back under the car and inserting a piece of soft brass made to fit the gap to go between the actuating arm and its lower stop on each calliper, you can then simply release the handbrake lever inside the car and then go back under the car and lift off each side of the handbrake cable, the brass stays in place and keeps each side hand brake applied on the calliper.

Photo shows disconnected inner handbrake cable at calliper. This photo is not my car, so it does not show the brass spacers made to keep the handbrake engaged and easily remove the cable.



Once the brake cable is free at each of the brake calliper, go back inside the car and undo the two bolts that hold the hand brake lever to the lower alloy body.. Note, you will see that the hand brake cable goes around a pulley on the rear of the handbrake lever, so the cable will not fall off.. be careful with the electrical hand brake switch located on the side of the handbrake, its a bit exposed. The front securing bolt may have packing washers under it, these are used to adjust the handbrake microswitch on and off setting, so take note of how many washers are used.
Go back to the front of the centre console upper section and tape on some card above the wood onto the alloy dash finisher, this will help prevent scratching the wood when you pull the wood console top clear.

Now the faffy bit.. The gear selector has a leather trim around it, this is hard glued to the plastic finisher top that is in turn secured by the 4 nuts that hold the gear selector in place under the wood console top, the bolts are very difficult to access with the wood top still in place, I found it easier to gently push the unglued area of the leather down each side of the gear selector between the wood top, this means the leather trim is not in the way when you lift the wood console top up.
You then have to gently pull the wood console back from the front toward the rear about 6 cm, this allows the front upper section to clear the upper screw points, it also frees the air vents from the heater box. The vents are glued onto the wood console, so they do not easily come off and they stay on the wood console. Now tilt the rear of the wood section and slowly tilt and remove the hand brake lever from the slot in the wood console... You will see at this point why the cable had to be disconnected to allow the hand brake lever to move and clear the wood section. Do this slowly and most likely the handbrake lever will need to be elevated at first then tilted sideways to clear the wood, the loose handbrake cable will allow you to do this. Then gently lay the handbrake lever down and again be careful of the handbrakes micro switch as it’s a bit exposed. Be careful when elevating the wood console top and check the Sports+ button under the wood is OK.

Following photo shows the console with the upper wood removed and the gear selector removed. The selector wiring has the blue connector.



Once the handbrake is clear and gently laying underneath the wood console, you need to go just forward of the gear selector and unplug the Sport + button wiring. Remove the white connector leaving the small circuit board and the switch on the wood console.
To remove the wood console, you need to elevate the rear of the wood, while engaging the gear selector into its rear drive position and hold the selector as far to the rear as you can, this will just allow you to further elevate the rear of the wood console and rotate it slightly toward the driver’s side. ( I placed cloth protection around the gear selector ) the front of the console is very tight with clearance as you elevate and turn, so be careful. The gear selector should now allow the console to be lifted up and off. This last part is very fiddly and you should not force things, there is just enough space to get the wood console top off... Be careful with the Sport+ button board under the wood, ( I keep saying this ) there is very little room to work with and it could be damaged on the consoles main alloy cross brace.
The next stage is to remove the four nuts that hold the gear selector in place and its finisher in place, the finisher just lifts up and off first, gently lift the gear selector and unplug the selectors wiring at the front of the selector unit. In my car it looks like the main wiring loom that runs front to back over the console had been placed on the wrong side, this resulted in very tight wiring to the handbrake wiring switch, the wiring to the gear selector was also poorly run with tight wiring, once the selector was removed, I re-ran the selector wiring to allow some slack and ease of fitting.

Photo shows handbrake exposed.


Once the selector is removed, the next stage is the fitting of the Park switch, the Morgan Park modification means the Park switch has to be relocated, this is placed in line with the starter button and under the dash in the tray centre alloy finisher.

Following Photo is the Park switch installed.




To fit the Park button, I first removed the flanged button head screw located to the side of the steering column, this allows the centre section alloy finisher to drop about 20mm allowing a small section of ply to be inserted to protect the centre dash printed circuit board when drilling the switch hole, I drilled a 22mm hole about 15mm in from the dash edge using a specialised hole cutter and a 90deg drill adaptor.
The park switch as supplied did not come with any means of securing it in place, so I had to find a small 22mm alloy split clamp on Ebay that was easy to fit, but also allowed sufficient clearance to the main printed circuit boards located above it behind the dash. The switch as supplied comes with a length of 30cm two core wiring connected, this wiring has to be connected to the main gear selector circuit board housing wiring, the length allows the wiring to go over the back of the alloy finisher and drop down between and in front of the heater box air vent holes, this allows easy connection. Make sure the anti-rub rubber is still in place on the back of the alloy finisher or the wiring could chafe.
Next comes the fitting of the modified gear selector. The modified gear selector has the BMW’s printed circuit board that is originally in the selector stem relocated to its own clear housing external and to the front of the selector, the housing and the board is connected to the gear selector with the original thin ribbon cable located in a thin flat protector, it is very important not to twist this ribbon cable, from the circuit board housing there are two sets of black/red wiring, one set connects to the Park switch wiring ( now under the dash) and the other wiring set connects to another 2 core wire that comes from the back of the selector, this is the wiring for the gear selector lock button switch, which on the modified unit is located on the top of the gear knob.

The selector is placed in position, firstly fitting the main wiring loom connector to the base of the gear selector then carefully locating the ribbon cable and the circuit board housing over the front curved section of console bodywork that contains the console top mounting nut. I then stuck on and built up some cloth each side of the ribbon cable to protect the ribbon cable when the wood console top is tightened back down.
The next phase is to connect the two sets of red/black wiring from the Park switch and the unlock button from the gear knob. I used tape around the connectors to make sure they did not come loose in operation. At this point I decided to secure the modified circuit board housing to the internal body work using black automotive silicon, this both allowed the housing to be secure and also give it some shock protection.
Lastly the gear selector and its upper trim is re-secured with its four nuts. I also tidied the original wiring around the console top. The heated seat wiring plugs were already fitted by the heater box, so I placed them in position so they could be used if we retro fitted heated seats. Also of note, the antenna for the central locking runs past the gear selector, our central locking always needed the fob to be close to work, but by repositioning the antenna so it was not buried under the main loom it now works at a distance!.

Photos show side view and rear view of modified selector showing circuit board housing. The disconnected wiring with the white connector in front of the modified selector connects to the Sports+ switch.






The wood console top was then refitted, in reverse order of removal. The key points are firstly getting it over the gear selector knob, then reinserting the handbrake lever through its console hole. The wood top is then carefully positioned to place it back roughly in position, watch out for the Sports+ switch, its tricky to get the console tops air vents to re-engage back into the heater box and allow the Sports+ switch to pass over the console alloy body brace. In our car I think the Sports+ switch has been located too close to the gear selector, if it was 20mm further forward it would have made fitting a heap easier. At this stage reconnect the Sports+ wiring to the switch. Now make sure the upper alloy section on the wood is between the main carpeted (or leather) sides of the console. Gently ease the wood trim forward making sure the air vents are engaged in the heater box, watch the Sports+ switch and drop the wood top into position. Once you are happy all is ok, position the handbrake lever into its position and retighten its two bolts. Now make sure the hand brake cable is sitting correctly around its pully ( Go back underneath and pull out some of the inner cable slack, this pulls the cable into the pulley. )
The next step is to gently pull up the leather trim around the gear selector and over the wood, reattach the wiring to the handbrake micro switch ensuring it is free and not fouled during the handbrake operation. Go back under the car and reattach the inner hand brake cables to the calliper hand brake actuator arms, remove the temp brass sections. The handbrake should then be tested for function, making sure the cable is still in position around the handbrake lever pulley. Refit the leather gaiter that goes over the handbrake lever.
The screws that go into the upper top of the console are now inserted, but not fully tightened. Next place the alloy trim over the gear selector and reinsert the trims screws, make sure the leather trim is in position correctly between the alloy trim finisher and the console wood top. Do not fully tighten the screws. Lastly, place the alloy trim over the hand brake gaiter, making sure the leather is also correctly positioned and reinsert the screws. Once all screws are in position, fully tighten the front upper screws, next the fore and aft longer screws that are in the gear and handbrake alloy trims (These secure the wood top to the alloy console), lastly fully retighten the remaining alloy trim screws.

Whew.. now coming to the final stages..
Reposition and refit the dash alloy finisher that is located above the passenger footwell, in the process of this, reattach the volume control switch and the aux power.. Now reattach the passenger footwell side trim.

Lastly… reconnect battery. The car should safely still be off the ground, making sure all is safe and very secure, enter driver’s seat and turn on ignition, check all warning lights are on as expected (particularly the hand brake). Start the car up, check functions of the drive gear selector being Drive, Neutral, Reverse Manual and Sport, these are all to be seen on the centre LCD display. When in Drive select Sport and check the Sports+ button is functioning. Also check the steering wheel paddles are functioning. Also don’t forget to test that the Park switch is working. At this stage I turned the car off, inserted a OBDII dongle, restarted the car and checked for fault codes… All was ok…

The End..

Following photos show the modified selector fitted and operational.





Interesting side notes… Once the console wood top was off I found several “extras” that had been left to rattle on the alloy top during its construction, these were washers and push on type clips, about 5 in all. I also found a new unused wiper axle washer.
As previously noted, the wiring looms were not well positioned, placing a lot of strain on wiring, these were repositioned to stop the strain..
I took a week and a lot of cups of tea to do the above, as I went very very slowly carefully checking each stage. Morgan Park fits this modification in about 1 day!!.

The Morgan factory advised me not to remove the centre console wood top as it was tricky to do, as only a main dealer can do it.. Clearly this is not the case, if you have sufficient experience or training it can be done at home, just go slowly.

I am sorry there is not that many photos, but if anyone is considering the above modification, please PM me and I can advise you. If you feel you don’t have the mechanical skills then I would say use an independent Morgan dealer or maybe a main dealer to see if they will do it.

I am very pleased with the outcome, to me the gear selector now looks right, plus it still retains all the electronics and functions of the BMW unit.

Thanks go to Morgan Park in Hamburg, I changed my mind twice regarding the gear selector knob colour, in the end I think gloss black looks right in a black leather interior. Morgan Park also supplied me with photos to answer my questions ref console top removal and fitting of the unit, it would have been a longer process without their help.

dave

I just have to add that this modified autobox selector is also applicable to the automatic Plus Four, but for both Plus Six and Plus Four I believe the vehicle has to be out of the MMC warranty period.

Women have botox and boob jobs only fair you have a new knob Dave. Looks good hope you enjoy it ......Em

Well done. It looks far nicer

Its not what you have, its how you use it..

Great result Dave ... I admire your skills and the courage to install it yourself 👍
Many thanks for the accurate report

Fabulous write up, just shows one can tinker with the CX too. I admire your skills, but most of all your patience, taking the time and have a cup of tea to think an rethink!

Thank you for the interesting "tale"!

Although I have a trad, this report was very interesting.

And the costly consequences of Brexit for us Morgan owner -on both sides of the channel- have spoilt a lot of my fun....

Excellent job and it looks great, I would have thought exporting one BMW gearlever then reimporting it again (with a different coat on) would not have attracted duty or taxes if the paperwork from both sides reflected this fact. We are often doing this sort of thing for large yacht parts , though it does require both parties stating the same thing on the documentation.....

Ref the export/re-import of the selector to and from Germany.. Its slightly tricky now to ship small parcels into and receive from the EU. The two main requirements are the units value and the assigned codes to describe the item being sent. From my perspective I considered it a second hand unit and assigned the second hand value, if I had sent the original selector from the car I would have thought a similar value could be used, being the cost to fit a second hand unit if the original was lost. The additional cost occurred when the selector was sent back from Germany, the cost of the modification to the selector had been used as the value of the unit, this was considerably more than the units actual second hand value. So VAT and import duty was assigned accordingly at the higher value. The duty costs on small parcels coming into the UK are handled by the carrier company ( DHL, ParcelForce, TNT etc ) they calculate and apply the duty on behalf of HMRC. So you have to deal with the carrier if you think the import duty is incorrect. I did try to question the import and VAT duty assigned, however, dealing with a carrier was difficult and slow. Basically they told me that once a value and description code had been applied by the shipper, it was very difficult to change for duty recalculation..
If I were to do this again I would have a discussion with Morgan Park regarding the selectors actual value before it was shipped. You live and learn.

Fabulous write up, and what a courage and a nice result. I did see the Gear lever at MP Hamburg last year and it looks nice. It certainly is een improvement, I dare say, using the BMW gear lever daily in my tintop BMW! I am glad my CX Morgan is a manual PlusFour...!!!😅
By-the-way: these import costs make it more attractive to plan a short but nice holiday across the Channel and leave your Morgan at the dealer to have it fixed locally abroad. That is especially true from the continent to the UK. E.g. I collected my improved bonnet stays at Williams when I was around last September and they were installed in Holland by the dealer as it just needed a little service (I think I should be able to do the job by myself, but this was the easy way....!) Shipping/Tax costs are huge. I am thinking about doing a Nitrons Upgrade at Williams, unless my own dealer comes with an attractive offer, of which I am not so sure....... Time will tell.
Enjoy your upgraded PlusSix!