‘The Manual Doesn’t Really Make Sense’

• BMW M’s boss says that manuals may not be around for much longer.
• Engineering challenges and low demand make manuals harder to justify.
• BMW still sells the M2, M3, M4, and Z4 with manuals.

Bad news for BMW M fans: The manual transmission may not be around for much longer. Even though roughly 40 percent of M customers opted for the manual gearbox in 2025 (according to our own data), BMW’s M boss isn’t convinced that the gearbox is worth keeping alive.

Head of BMW M, Frank van Meel, told Australia’s CarSales that, from an engineering standpoint, the manual “doesn’t really make sense.” Van Meel notes that the company will undoubtedly keep the manual around for a few years longer for its hardcore fans, but that it may not have a future in the BMW M lineup.

‘It’s going to be quite difficult in the future to develop completely new gearboxes because the segment in the market is quite small, and the suppliers are not so keen on doing something like that.

So we’re still happy with the manuals we have, and we plan to keep them for the next couple of years, but in the future, probably it’s going to be more difficult to keep the manuals alive, especially in the next decade.’

That’s not the first time we’ve heard that from Van Meel, either. Back in 2024, the head of BMW M told customers that if they wanted a manual M model, they better buy it now. Van Meel suggests that ever-improving technology and waning customer demand make it harder to justify manual-transmission cars—even within the M range.

Don’t worry, though, you still have time. BMW currently offers four manual-equipped vehicles: the M2, the M3, the M4, and the Z4 with the Handschalter Package. Sadly, the Z4 will be gone by the end of 2026, and with BMW prepping a new 3 Series and M3, it’s unclear what the fate of the manual transmission could be for that model.

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Motor1’s Take: Long live the manual. Even though fewer customers are interested in the ol’ do-it-yourself shifter, BMW getting rid of the manual-transmission option on its M cars could be a big mistake.

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