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Anyone got any tips for removing the factory gear knob? I've tried to unscrew mine and it just won't budge. The gear lever rotates a lot when I try to apply force to unscrew the knob and it feels like I'm going to damage something.

Not sure, are you twisting the right way?

Righty tighty, lefty loosey. I'm turning it counter clockwise.

hmm, factory knob or aftermarket??
I have heard of some being done up too tight had had the threaded sleeve coming unstuck from the rest making them hard to remove.
Some aftermarket ones (crappy aftermarket ones) don't use a thread and have screws instead

It's a factory one, I've tried pretty hard to undo it and it still won't budge.

mine was pretty hard to 'crack' as well.

it definitely unscrews by rotating counter clockwise when viewed from above.

You could try taking out the five screws that hold the centre console in place and lifting it up a bit, enough to get a good set of large multigrips onto the thick part of the shaft. Two screws at the back, two on the side at the front and the hidden one under the Window switches.

The shaft is about 25-30mm at the level of the top of the tunnel. That should stop it turning while you apply alot of twist pressure to the knob.

You could also try doing it after you've been for a drive and everything has warmed up.

My first gear knob was scratched and crooked when I picked up my car. The dealer agreed to straighten it up but it was on so tight they somehow had to remove the gear stick with the knob attached and used a vice and mulitgrips to get it off. They butchered the knob so badly they had to replace it. After all that when they did the first service they scratched the knob again.

Thanks guys, I'll give it another go. This could just be a good excuse to get a short shifter

Unfortunatly vice grips and a big ass pair of pliers made short work of the knob removal so no short shifter for me