argento thanks for the locking tab tip! It worked like a charm. swapped the knobs from $60 beaten up panel
Now the ceramic retrofit is complete. I'll post a photo here once the sun is up. I realized I forgot to answer your questions.
2TB is for the sport auto shift logic for the 8-speed auto, so unless you want that behavior, you should be able to swap the shifters without any coding.
For the iDrive controller, the buttons might have different functionalities coded in different cars, but as far as I know, the button labels shouldn't change anything. You can just swap, and your car should have the same functionality as the old unit. Although I am not 100% on this, plugging it in and checking the functionality shouldn't cause any issues. (Mandatory do it at your own risk notice here lol). To the best of my knowledge, it's just the button labels that change with the iDrive controller knob; functionality comes from the headunit.
Thanks again for the tip mate!