BMW M: Want a manual? Buy it now while you still can

"They are fun products, but let's be honest, the volumes are getting smaller and smaller."

2024: BMW board member issues warning – get into gear now

It's no secret, the manual transmission's days are just about done. Young folk aren't bothering to get licensed for a manual anymore, and the number of manuals you can buy in Australia is getting perilously slim.

At last update, in November 2023, the list of available manual cars in Australia stood at six small SUVs, one small hatch and one small sedan (what?!), one medium SUV, two large off-road SUVs and, thankfully, 24 performance models.

Alas, a number of those performance models are BMWs – and BMW has made no secret that it sees an end to the manual in the not-at-all distant future.

This week, famously outspoken BMW board member Frank Weber has told Italian paper Quattroruote that he likes manuals as much as the next rower, but there's not much of a business case for them anymore. And, as a board member, the business case is his main priority.

How many manuals did BMW Australia sell in 2023?

BMW M may not stand for manual, but its manuals are still popular here.

"They are fun products, but let's be honest, the volumes are getting smaller and smaller," Weber said. "And so it doesn't make sense to develop them anymore. If you want a manual M, you need to buy it now."

It's not only falling sales spelling an end to the manual, however. As more and more cars go electric, including BMW M, there's simply no practical place for the manual.

As BMW M boss Frank van Meel told Wheels in 2023, the brand's motorsport heritage almost demands it use whatever is the most logical path to speed – but it can still be fun, as Hyundai is proving with the Ioniq 5 N's noise machine.

“I like the way they think,” van Meel said when asked about the Ioniq 5 N’s ‘gearbox’. “If you need eight gears, I'm not sure… But it's one solution because what's really clear is that if you drive on the track, and we always come from racing with M, there's no time to look at the speedometer to see how fast you are going."

Of course, all of this is great news for existing owners, with manual sports cars generally boasting the greatest resale values in the market. There's a silver lining after all...

Source: Quattroruote via Motor1

2015: BMW M looking to ditch manuals

Daniel DeGasperi

Fresh talk from the BMW M division is sure to create a divide among enthusiasts as future manual availability is in doubt, while power limits look set to be put in place.

Speaking with Autocar, BMW M division boss Frank van Meel admits, “From a technical standpoint, the future doesn’t look bright for manual gearboxes.”

“The DCT and auto ’boxes are faster and they have better fuel consumption,” he adds.

“It’s difficult to say we’ll stick to the manual, but we still have a big fan community for manuals and we are not going to take away something the customer wants to have.”

Some fans may love the DIY-shifter, but at least in Australia it seems buyers don’t. BMW Australia has confirmed that only one per cent of current BMW M3 and M4 buyers are picking the six-speed manual over the no-cost-option seven-speed dual-clutch automatic.

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Meanwhile, the 441kW/700Nm M5 30 Jahre may end up being the most powerful BMW M division car produced, as van Meel calls out that power output as the “limit” for what is manageable.

“For now, 600bhp is the most you can get in an M car [but] we’re at the limit,” he tells.

“If you go on adding more horsepower and torque, it’d probably be over the limits.”

Experience with the M5 Jahre 30 – designed to commemorate 30 years of the M5 – indicates van Meel may be right, as full throttle acceleration sees the big rear-wheel drive sedan shimmy into wheelspin even as it grabs third gear.

Less power, less weight seems to be the future ethos. But we’ll keep the M3/M4 manual for as long as we can, thanks.

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