I have the 440QE and love it. The trick with the threader is to hit the foot pedal with your heel, which will put the needle either in its highest position or lowest. (If it goes down, hit the foot pedal with your heel again.) The needle needs to be in that exact position to use the threader. There's also a button on the sewing head that will do the same thing, but I always use the foot pedal. If you have the BSR be sure to learn about the two settings. It's wonderful.