The manual gearbox’s days at BMW M may be numbered. BMW M CEO Frank van Meel has admitted the financial case for developing new manual transmissions is rapidly weakening.
Speaking to Australian outlet Carsales, van Meel said BMW will continue offering its existing six-speed manual for the next few years, but warned that keeping the third pedal alive into the next decade will be increasingly difficult. The issue isn’t enthusiasm — it’s engineering and economics.
As performance outputs climb, transmissions must cope with ever greater torque loads. BMW’s current manual unit is capped at around 440lb ft, restricting where it can be used in the line-up.
Today, buyers can still specify a manual in the M2, M3, M4 and Z4, but more powerful CS variants exceed the gearbox’s limits. Creating a new, higher-capacity manual would demand significant investment for a shrinking niche.
Van Meel was candid: suppliers are reluctant to develop fresh manual gearboxes for a market segment that continues to contract.
For UK enthusiasts, that’s a sobering reality. While demand for driver-focused cars remains strong here, tightening emissions rules and rising performance figures make the traditional manual harder to justify commercially.
Still, BMW M isn’t pulling the plug just yet. Van Meel acknowledged the emotional pull of a manual transmission and insisted the brand intends to keep it “as long as possible”. For now, at least, the analogue BMW M experience survives — but the clock is ticking.
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