BMW M Says It’ll Keep Using Manual Transmissions Until 2030: Report
The BMW M2 will run until 2030 and will likely be the last new M car to offer a manual transmission. At least we get seven more years of it.
Most "Save the Manual" campaigns fall on deaf ears, as automakers continue to phase manuals out of their lineups — if they haven't completely done so already. However, there are still a handful of brands that are keeping the row-your-own gearbox alive and BMW is going to be one of them until at least the end of the decade.
During a recent conversation with CarBuzz, BMW M Boss Frank van Meel said that the manual transmission will live on in the BMW M3, M4, and the new BMW M2. The latter of which will last until 2030, while the M3 and M4 are probably done by the end of 2028.
According to van Meel, customer demand is the only thing keeping manual transmissions alive. BMW vice president of sales, Timo Resch, echoed that, saying that BMW M engineers (and accountants) need to be convinced to keep the manual around. Resch said M engineers will ask why they need the manual transmission when it's slower than automatics, and the answer is always the same: M customers want manuals.
That all goes away once those cars switch to electrification, though. This BMW M2 is very likely the last new M car to be offered with a manual. Every new M Division product moving forward is going to either be a plug-in hybrid or a fully electric vehicle. Once the entire lineup is electrified, the manual transmission from BMW is as good as dead.
It's nice to know that we still have a little more than seven years of three-pedal driving from BMW, though. Brands like Mercedes and Audi have completely abandoned the manual in their performance cars, so that leaves BMW as one of the very few brands that are giving enthusiasts and customers what they want. Thankfully, that might not change any time soon.
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