Manual Transmissions Get Closer To Death

BMW F10 M5 Manual - Autoblog.com

In a time where no one respects the concept of controlling a car for yourself, many car companies are screwing those who love to have full control. Those who love to take a screaming muscle car or an exotic hyper car from zero to 60mph one gear at a time (or in the case of some cars, only one gear).

You will be hard-pressed to find a manual high-performance car today. One such tragedy is Lamborghini, who decided to cut manual transmissions from their lineup after only 3% of cars sold were row-it-yourself transmissions. But they are not the only one to do this. Look at the Bugatti Veyron, the new Vanquish, the Ferrari California/458, most AMG powered Mercedes,  and the Lexus LFA; all of these amazing automobiles forgo a manual transmission in favor of an automatic or "flappy paddle" gearbox. Even Porsche, who is traditionally known for manual transmission cars and the first to implement a seven-speed manual, now offers PDK automatics in all of their models. What a long way we've come.

It was rumored yesterday that BMW is now joining that group by taking the manual transmission option out of the next generation of M5 and M6 performance cars. I personally take issue with this because I love the new M5. If I had the means to purchase one, I would in a heartbeat. The idea of a rear-wheel-drive saloon car with over 500 horses and a manual transmission it like an amazing dream. I drove one of these a few weeks ago and I love it. I can't guarantee that I would like the new M5 (which is a few years away) but this doesn't help their case.

The problem is that most of the people buying a luxury performance car want something to show off and keep more as a status symbol for your daily commute rather than its true purpose of screaming around a racetrack. According to BMW, only about 15% of buyers are opting for a manual transmission in their new M5 which equals a monetary loss for BMW.

BMW Seven Speed Manual - Bimmer Post

Now, from a business perspective, I cannot blame them for this move. If your losing money, do not continue to piss it down the toilet. The problem I have from a car-enthusiast perspective is that I will not buy a BMW M5 or M6 now. The teenage dreams of owning a brand new manual M5 are dead. In the minds of stick-shift lovers, BMW is dying.

A bit of good news is that BMW will continue to offer it in their M3 and hopefully a future 1M. You can also obtain a manual in many "basic" BMW models. Even more ironically is that this news comes just two weeks after patent applications show a seven-speed manual gearbox in the works (with an awkward shift pattern that you can see to the right).

I sincerely hope that the manual transmission does not die off. As a memo to auto manufacturers worldwide, I (and many other auto enthusiasts) would take a car with a manual over your next "performance minded car" with any form of automatic or flappy paddle gearing system. These cars are meant to give exceptional performance whether it is on the racetrack or in town. The only reason for an automatic sports car is as a grand-touring car (even then I still rather have a manual to play with as I zip through the mountains.