While Mercedes-AMG and Audi Sport have long since abandoned manuals, BMW M has vowed to stick to the clutch pedal. Still, it’s becoming increasingly difficult to keep manuals alive as increasingly sophisticated driver assistance systems tend to work best with automatics. Declining interest in manual transmission performance cars makes the challenge even greater.
An almost forgotten fact about the BMW Z4 is that a manual transmission has been available since 2019. However, it was limited to the four-cylinder sDrive20i, an entry-level variant that was never offered in the United States. As a result, three pedals only made their way to American buyers a few years ago when the M40i was equipped with the optional manual package.
Although the adoption rate for the six-speed manual transmission remains solid, it lost ground to the eight-speed Steptronic in 2025, BMW USA said Engine1 Last year, this demand was evenly distributed between the two transmissions. In 2024, 65% of buyers chose to row their own equipment. It’s also worth noting that 2025 was the last full year for the G29, as production ends in the coming months.
The M2 with a manual transmission is also less popular than it was in 2024. According to BMW USA, the acceptance rate has fallen from 50% to 40%. Although not yet officially confirmed, the long-rumored xDrive variant is expected to only come with an automatic transmission. The all-paw M2 is scheduled to launch later this year and could increase the share of automatics even further.
Things get more complicated with the M3 and M4. The Competition and xDrive versions only have an automatic transmission, so the shift lever is reserved exclusively for the base models. Engine1 reports that only 6-10% of all M3 and M4 buyers ordered the six-speed manual transmission last year. However, for the entry-level versions, around half of M3 buyers and a third of M4 customers opted for the do-it-yourself transmission.
Looking forward, M2 and M4 are expected to keep the manual alive until the end of their life cycle around mid-2029. The Z4 has one foot in the grave, while M3 production is rumored to end in early 2027. The successor to the sedan, codenamed G84, is scheduled to come onto the market in 2028 exclusively with an automatic transmission and all-wheel drive.
All signs point to the manual transmission being on its last legs. Now might be the time to buy a three-pedal BMW while you still can. Giving up a manual option on the M240i was probably a missed opportunity, and that ship has probably already sailed.
Source: Motor1
