BMW M boss Frank van Meel says the manual gearbox is not off the table, but he stopped short of promising a future for it. Speaking to BMW Blog, he called the stick 'really difficult' to keep in the lineup as 48-volt mild-hybrid tech, rising torque and a shrinking supplier base close in.
The one clear commitment: the manual survives in the M2 for at least a couple more years, though van Meel declined to guarantee anything beyond that window.
Van Meel's comments walk a careful line. 'No, it is not off the table,' he said, while adding 'I cannot promise anything' about the longer term. BMW M says it will revisit the manual's future rather than kill it outright.
That is a weaker guarantee than enthusiasts once had. Van Meel himself previously argued the manual did not really make sense for the brand's performance calculations.
Demand is not the problem
BMW M acknowledges the appetite. 'We do acknowledge that there is a high demand, and it is a very emotional issue,' van Meel said.
The sales data backs him up. In recent G87 model-year sales, about half of US M2 buyers chose the six-speed manual over the automatic.
The current lineup reflects that split. The manual is offered on the rear-wheel-drive M2, while the G82 M4 CS on sale in the United States is automatic-only with the eight-speed M Steptronic gearbox. The M3 CS Handschalter arrives for 2027 as a limited-run, rear-wheel-drive manual priced by BMW at just over $107,000 before destination, and North American dealers quickly claimed their allocation of build slots.
Why the engineering is getting harder
The obstacle is mechanical before it is philosophical. BMW's current six-speed manual cannot handle the full torque output of the S58 twin-turbo inline-six in its most powerful tunes, which is why automatic-only M3 and M4 Competition variants already sit alongside the stick-shift base cars.
A 48-volt mild-hybrid system makes the packaging harder still. Integrating an electric motor, its control software and the added mass into a car built around a clutch pedal is no simple bolt-on job.
Suppliers are the other half of the squeeze. Fewer companies worldwide build manual gearboxes rated for this kind of torque, and BMW M has less leverage to commission a bespoke unit when global manual demand keeps shrinking outside a handful of enthusiast nameplates.
What it means for the next M3
The combination points toward the G80 M3's current Handschalter likely being the last manual version of that chassis. Industry reports expect the next M3 generation to adopt a mild-hybrid inline-six and likely stick with an automatic, but BMW has not confirmed any details.
For buyers, the practical reading is simple: if you want a new manual M car with more than the M2's output, the 2027 M3 CS Handschalter may be the last realistic chance, and its build slots are already spoken for.
