The button is actually the entire shifter. It works like the old or new Vw's you push down to change gears. And as far as the threads....there are none on the 7th gen A/T shifters. The knob doesnt really look good alone without some kind of boot or cutting/shortning of the shift rod. Thats why i put the boot on. I wasnt fond of the boot myself until i put it on....looks way better than stock and doesnt void the warranty by cutting soomething.