Next-Gen BMW M3/M4 Models Receive Manual Transmission Options

During the recent BMW M Festival in Canada, Markus Flash, the newly appointed CEO of BMW M, gave a big interview and shared some interesting insights regarding powertrain design in the upcoming M3 and M4 models.

While the majority of automakers gradually rule out manual transmissions from their line-ups, BMW M’s boss surprised reporters by confirming that the upcoming G80 M3 and G82 M4 will have manual transmission options. The possibility of manual options for these models has been widely rumored since the beginning of this year, but numerous admirers of manual BMWs expressed certain concerns related to low demand for cars equipped with manual transmissions. But now we can say with confidence that their fears were in vain.

Markus Flash, CEO of BMW M devision

Mr. Flash turned out to be a true admirer of manually shifted cars and pointed out the importance of this option for BMW M series. He admitted that due to advanced technologies implemented in modern automatic transmissions manuals do not provide any performance advantage anymore and any race driver can prove this point. It is all about the character that a manual transmission gives to your car and the way it feels when you drive with a stick shifter. It is like with watches: people used to wearing a mechanical watch will never change it for an automatic analog.

Next-Gen BMW M3 spied during testing at the Nurburgring

As for release dates, Mr. Flash pointed out that the G80 M3 may be officially presented in the second half of the following year, thus it will hit the market as a 2021 model. The manual gear shifting mechanism in this car will be paired with the new S58 engine with the power capacity of 473 hp (while the automatic-only AWD Competition version with the same engine will give 503 hp of power).

Moreover, it should be noted that the long-awaited M3 will also be the 1-st M3 in history with AWD configuration. According to media sources, there will be 2 variants; a RWD model and an AWD model. The RWD M3 will be offered in manual as well as automatic versions, while the AWD version will be automatic only.