I’m currently in a 2021 M340i Sedan and I love it. I was thinking that the 2024 Manual M3 was potentially the last opportunity to get a new gas-powered manual M car. Maybe it will be my last gas car. Anyway, I have never driven a manual M3 and was told there is no way to test drive one. I’ve enjoyed owning manual cars in the past, however only up to perhaps 180 HP. Is this a crazy idea? Are there any M specific things (manual or otherwise) I should consider?
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Very happy with my 2023 G80 M3 MT and wouldn’t even consider an automatic.
My M3 is older (E46, 2003) but once I tweaked the SMG by coding in the CSL blip and shift speed I absolutely love it and would never go back to manual. It’s faster, I can still easily drop a couple gears in one go for a quick highway overtake, and my left leg doesn’t get tired out in traffic. Lots or people slam the sequential gearbox without actually trying it. If they’ve improved the feel on recent ones to be as good as my 20-year old coded example, I’d say manual is not optimal.
I have a Manual 2019 M4. I don’t regret it.
I’ve seen some say the BMW MT isn’t great. I don’t know why. Love mine. Just went for a drive to Taco Bell and smiled the whole time! Haven’t had a manual for 20 years and this is the car for it in my opinion. Enjoyable and satisfying. Almost every BMW I’ve seen on my track days are manual too.
No. Go for it.
The manual in those cars really isn’t great. The shifter is rubbery and the clutch can be vague and resemble more of an on/off switch than a clutch. They’ve been out long enough where you can probably easily find a used one to test drive and judge for yourself. Given the criticism of the manual I’d absolutely try to try both transmissions and see what you prefer before ordering anything.
2017 F23 M240i; B58 6MT. (Sorry, I don’t know everyone posts the flair).
I love it. Rev matching is nice. Changing from 1st to 2nd is a bear. I also find there is little difference in great ratio between 5th and 6th.
Also, driving a manual is really much more fun in an underpowered car. However, my B58 engine really does have a lot of power for daily driving, that there is often no need to downshift even for quick accelerations or steep hills.
In short, it isn’t perfect. But I still love it more than I would an auto-transmission.
(On a separate note, I did have an issue the other day, though. The ABS sensor started to act up. I lost cruise control, and then changing gears was really awful because the rev matching over-revved. The car was vibrating terribly. The next day, I lost rev matching completely, which was better and just did toe heel, then the damn computer warned me that the clutch was overheating. I always toe heel out of old fashioned habit even with rev matching switched on, so not sure where this nonsense was coming from. In either case, all problems disappeared after I got a new ABS sensor.)
TL;Dr - get the manual! It’s your last chance!
Ours is manual, don’t regret it one bit. But, we didn’t realize it had gear shift assist in M1 mode, with it on shifting is janky at best. Now that it’s off it’s buttery smooth.
I wish the assist could be disabled by default.
My personal experience is manuals are the only way to truly be tied into the car.
Having said that I drove a new manual G M3 and feel like they built the car. Said oh we should put a manual in and then grabbed an old one from a box. The gearing just felt off for me. And since it’s a luxury car it felt very soft to me. It also Revs over 3k at 70mph
I have a ‘17 Focus RS and the manual is super notchy and feels great.
G80 was built around the auto. And also comp pack power bump is not trivial that you can’t get with manual. If I were in the market for a g80 it would be the auto. That choice is easier because I presently enjoy a f80 m3 with the (same I think) 6mt they shoved in the g80. Highway speed cruising in 6th in f80 and g80 is higher rpms that it needs to be.
I’ve worked as an SA at a BMW dealership. The only thing I can say is if you get the manual please respect the hell out of that clutch. The amount of people I’ve seen come in with 5-10k miles with clutches in tatters is astounding.