HOW
TO SPOT A FAKE UUC SHIFTER
(and why you should avoid them).
The old expression is
true, "when you're on top, everybody wants to knock you off."
UUC has been building the ultimate BMW shifter kits for many years now,
right here in the USA. It seems that some kind of unscupulous overseas
knock-off shop has copied a few of our designs but, as typical of these
types of companies, using vastly inferior and cheap materials that
absolutely do not deliver the same experience or hold up with the
durability of a genuine UUC product.
A customer called us up and said they were having trouble with the UUC
shifter that came in their car when they bought it, it was feeling
rough and wobbly. That's really a weird thing for us to hear as we
build the UUC Evo3 shifter as a true "lifetime" product that should
feel as smooth and precise no matter if it's 10 minutes or 10 years
old.
Our lifetime warranty on
the Evo3 Ultimate Shifter applies to any UUC shifter, no matter
if purchased by someone else or through one of our dealers. We asked
him to send it in for analysis and a rebuild.
What
arrived was this item.
(click picture for a larger view)
Where to start? Everything is
wrong with this knock-off.
(click picture for a larger view)
Using cheap bearings is a big problem.
The lower pivot is a high-stress point and is exposed to everything
under the car. UUC shifters use a very expensive sealed bearing
designed for automotive use. The fake has a bushing better suited for
toys... it was already seized and would not rotate, or would
"clunk-clunk-clunk" if forced to rotate.
(click picture for a larger view)
UUC shifters use a full-length silicone
isolator bushing and even
another one for the height adjustment guide bolt. Whatever marshmallow
material was in the fake had disintegrated entirely, allowing the upper
section to flop around.
(click picture for a larger view)
The upper section of the fake is a "universal" design, perfect for
fitting your favorite Honda or Pep Boys shift knob. It's also soft
aluminum, so whatever knob had been installed was already chewing
through the material.
(click picture for a larger view)
Little details; the locking bolt on the
fake is a cheap plated steel, standard Philips head. The UUC is a
locking stainless steel and isolated bolt with an anti-tamper design as
there is no reason for the user to ever remove it.
(click picture for a larger view)
More close-up details. Look at the roughness of the machining on the
fake versus the UUC. That says a lot about quality control.
(click picture for a larger view)
Another view of the bearings. The fake has no seal and is already
rusting inside. The UUC is fully sealed and is stainless steel.
(click picture for a larger view)
Is it so hard to machine a perfect
ball? This fake has an oblong pivot ball, which means shifter
effort increased with shifter travel. The UUC is a perfect sphere,
smooth and same effort all the way through the shifter.
Whether the circled areas is a plating error or wear point, the plating
is so thin that it's temporary. This fake is going to be a rusty
shifter after a salty-road winter. The UUC is, as always, 100%
stainless steel and will never rust.
Want to know more about the genuine UUC Evo3 Ultimate Shifter for
BMW? Then
[ CLICK HERE ]
