Hello, I am looking to have some dash pieces for my 2004 G55 wrapped to change up the interior look. I have everything out except for the automatic gate section. To remove this I need to get the shift knob off of the truck and for the life of me I cannot get it off. I checked in WIS and online videos and everywhere seems to say to twist the black collar at the bottom of the knob counter clockwise and it will release. I have tried over and over and even marred the collar up using a set of pliers to twist and the black section will not turn. I can rotate the whole shifter 360 degrees with some force but the black collar will not rotate by itself.

Am I missing something?? I tried pulling straight up as well but that didn't come off (although I didn't put all my force into it as it doesn't seem this is the proper way to remove the shift knob.

Anyone know the correct way to remove the stock shifter?

Thank you

EDIT: Finally got it out. It did rotate I just needed a better grip on everything.

You do have to rotate the lower collar. It was very difficult. I wrapped mine in several layers of electrical tape and use pliers on it. It unlocks, I believe a quarter turn, and then the knob slides right off.



Not sure if you can see it, but the bottom collar is a little bit lower (larger gap) because it is unlocked.

Be careful removing the shift pattern piece. Mine cracked in several places, including the tabs, and I had to glue it back together. I originally wrapped mine in a CF vinyl, but removed it and went with a matte black color. There was too much CF vinyl weave going on (with the opposite direction I wrapped mine)

Thanks Shiann. I saw your post and wanted to do the same as I just upgraded my steering wheel and think this will really update the look of the interior. I am hoping my wrap guys will be able to match the weave and see how it goes. If I am not a big fan of it I can always remove and change it up. I also had the passenger side clips snap off of the shifter gate portion and need to glue them back on.

I was able to get the collar down as I went out and really went at it and finally was able to get it unlocked. The videos I was watching online showed people doing it with just one hand and 2 fingers on the collar so I was worried since mine was so tight.

Should be good and im looking forward to getting it all wrapped and seeing how it turns out.

Nice. looking forward to some pictures of the results!

I definitely need to redo mine. There are much better carbon fiber vinyl materials available now compared to 5+ years ago, so I'll probably undertake the whole process again.

For sure.. I just bought some cheap stuff on amazon to try but I couldn't wrap it myself (don't have the patience). I talked to the guy I've had 3m wrap all my cars and he said he'd wrap them up for me no problem.. I also ordered a 4ftx10ft roll of cf but my guy said he had some already..

I'll post some pics when I get it done but here's a teaser with my new wheel

Got the pieces back and the guys did a great job on them with all the weave. I'm happy with the result and really updates the interior imo

Can you link where you got the wheel? Do the wheel controls work? Looks great

I purchased off this site
https://www.pathaftercarbon.com/
I don't see the wheel I bought on there either but I would reach out through the site and make sure you clarify exactly what you want. Took about a month and a half for me to get it but that was during Christmas as well..
The buttons on the wheel do work (although I can't confirm the volume works as I have an aftermarket stereo and po of truck hacked the harness). But the buttons do control the cluster (it's a bit awkward at first but you get the hang of it). The wheel also sits further back then the stock wheel and is a bit tight to the signal and wiper stalks. I had to remove the paddles as they would contact the stalks when turning (I would suggest requesting a wheel without paddles.. I know the paddles definely didn't shift the transmission when in manual mode as I tested this before I ripped them off to make sure I wasn't missing anything).

Thanks for the link and writeup! Did you get an airbag from them as well?

Yes I ordered the wheel and airbag from them

Your interior looks great! Slight upgrades and modernizations to a classic interior.

Are those tweeters installed in the door panel forward of the handles?

Yes tweeters installed there. The whole stereo system was done (I am not sure on the details of all the speakers) but everything is ran off the amps that are mounted in the rear. I am not really a big fan of the android headunits for sound adjustments and still need to get it in (I am also running the audio via AUX from the carplay screen to the stereo) so the quality isn't that great (some static). I have a friend who used to be big into stereos and might have him take a look at everything when the weather gets a bit better here and see if I can get everything dialed in.