You must've done something wrong... I shifted a 2000 pre june 323i 5 spd from 1st to 2nd very quickly and hard and the shift knob ended up in the back seat... It was b/c I was holding it in a wrong position, I shifted with my fingers and not the palm of my hand.... My friend and I couldn't stop laughing... Theres no way that shift knob would come off unless you force it to...