My Xsara Picasso's gear shift knob started to peel off the upper layer which was ugly, annoyed me and caused cuts on my hand.

So I bought an aftermarket gear shift knob which fits to original "leather" cover's upper mounting diameter.

Besides, a shorter rood looks nicer to me. To get it even more stylish I've also added a custom made plexiglass light pipe illuminated by the LEDs. LEDs are connected in series with 470 ohm resistor to provide a suitable voltage. They are powered from the passenger's front window switch so the gear knob is illuminated when car is in ignition II and run mode.