I just installed the eBay Short Shifter into my b5 a4 1998 2.8q and wasn't too sure about one aspect of the install. hope you guys can help me out. The main problem I'm having is with how much play the short shifter has when in all gears. It's not noticeable when shifting, but you def. can see how much when just pushing it side to side in any gear. I followed the directions exactly but noticed that all how-to's online and even the b&m are shown using the facelift models.

The one thing i'm curious about is when you remove the OEM shifter from the shifter housing. In the how-to's it shows the OEM shifter pulled out with the two rubber ends around the ball and the white plastic piece that touches the ball. When i tried to remove the shifter, the ball popped out from the white part and i'm not sure if that should happen for the earlier models or was it supposed to look like in the how-to's?

Any help would be appreciated. Please let me know if i might have confused you and need some more clarification or pictures.