Dear BMW: Please Sort Out Your Manual Gearbox

After driving a manual BMW, and again being left utterly disappointed with the gear shift, I think it's about time we called on BMW to make a manual worthy of the brilliant cars it makes
Dear BMW: Please Sort Out Your Manual Gearbox

As a car enthusiast, I love a good manual shifter. Modern automatics are so good these days that you can be very happy with a performance car that shifts cogs itself - and in high performance cars an auto really is the only option - but there’s something inherently more engaging about changing gear with one hand on a stick and one foot on the clutch pedal.

You see, cars are more than just objects. To the kinds of people who care about things like manual gearboxes, cars have character, and getting in tune with your car is half the fun. A manual shift allows you to do that, as it gives you ultimate control over your vehicle, and requires focus and coordination between your hands, legs and mind to get right.

Dear BMW: Please Sort Out Your Manual Gearbox

So when you make fantastic enthusiast cars and offer them with a manual - which many manufacturers are ditching, so kudos for that - the initial response is to say “good on you, BMW, for caring about real drivers.” The problem is, shifting gears in a manual BMW is not particularly satisfying, and is the one aspect of the driving experience that lets down the package as a whole. In fact, until BMW completely changes its manual transmission, I’m left with the only option of recommending the automatic equivalent of any given car (if you can afford the premium).

Recently I spent some time driving both an SMG and manual E46 M3. Both cars were great as a whole, but the one thing that let the pair down was their respective gearboxes. Fortunately, the SMG is no more and has been replaced with far more up-to-date technology, but I can’t say the same for the manual. In the E46, the throw was too long, and offered little feedback when selecting a gear. It was just all very vague, but I put it down to the fact the car was over a decade old.

Dear BMW: Please Sort Out Your Manual Gearbox

However, this week I spent time with both a 2016 M235i and 2011 1M Coupe, and the manual problem persists. First up the new car, and immediately on moving the thing around a car park I noticed that changing gear required a bit of force. (In fact, finding reverse requires you to almost punch the shifter across past first, so why not just use a lift or depress of the shifter like other manufacturers do?)

Once you’re going at speed, the problems are exacerbated. The throw isn’t as long as in the old E46, but it’s anything but short. Worst of all, changing gear requires you to really concentrate and ram the shifter into place; the action of moving the stick doesn’t inspire great confidence as to where exactly you are in the gate, and when you push the stick into a gear, you have to get past an initial resistance. It’s almost like the stick is catching on something.

The 1M, despite being older, is actually a little better, but it’s far from perfect. I found with both cars that the shift action is vastly improved by rev matching, so perhaps the problem lies in the syncromesh? When giving the 1M stick in Sport mode, braking hard and applying a heel-and-toe blip of the throttle as you downshift improves things immeasurably. Unfortunately that’s not very practical in most driving situations.

Dear BMW: Please Sort Out Your Manual Gearbox

It’s frustrating, because in all other aspects you make fantastic cars, BMW. Sure, the interiors hardly ever change between generations and the orange dials feel hopelessly outdated in 2016, but it all works nicely. As a driving experience, you’re on top of your game in chassis feel and engine performance - if you could fix arguably the most important feature of tying everything together, you’d have 10 out of 10 cars.

I think if you spent a bit of time with some of the elites of the manual world, you’d see where I’m coming from. In a Honda Civic Type R, every movement of the stick is purposeful and it feels solid underneath. You know exactly where you’re going and there’s a satisfying slotting action. The king of this is the Toyota GT86. It almost feels artificial in its brilliance, as it’s like the stick is sucked into place with a pleasurable thunk. The merest suggestion of a shift and you clunk quickly into place. It’s a wonderfully tactile experience and it means that when you’re really pressing on you’re not taken out of the moment because you’re having to focus so hard on making the gear stick.

Dear BMW: Please Sort Out Your Manual Gearbox

With the new M2 imminently upon us, I can only hope that you’ve addressed this issue. That car has so much potential - like the 1M it’s the perfect size and power output for a road car - but a dodgy manual shifter could easily put a dampener on proceedings. I take heart from one early reviewer, who said “the manual is even pretty good…it’s a tighter and more precise shift than we’ve come to expect from BMW.”

Please, let this be the turning point for BMW’s manuals. For a company that once proclaimed to make the Ultimate Driving Machines, you’ve been seriously lacking in one vital department. The one thing that makes good cars great: a quality manual shift.

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Comments

Anonymous

I don’t know about you but I’ve taken a M135i DCT around a racetrack and it’s Flippin brilliant.

02/18/2016 - 12:38 |
6 | 8
Shreyas Mudumbai

In reply to by Anonymous (not verified)

Lost you at DCT. He’s talking about shift action and feel in manuals, right?

02/18/2016 - 13:42 |
38 | 0
Samir Benhocine

In reply to by Anonymous (not verified)

DCT ?

02/18/2016 - 23:21 |
0 | 0
Anonymous

At least I don’t feel what you
just talked about I’m my E46 ZHP (same 6 speed as an M3) It’s got one of the best manual transmissions I’ve ever used… My opinion as a multiple BMW owner..

02/18/2016 - 12:41 |
8 | 4
Anonymous

In reply to by Anonymous (not verified)

Same here.

02/19/2016 - 03:55 |
0 | 0
Dat muscle guy (Sam Stone)(Camaro Squad)(Die augen leader)(E

Take heed people this will be the reason why BMW will stop manuals forever

02/18/2016 - 12:43 |
2 | 2
AX53

I kinda like old bimmer transmissions. I like how the reverse gear takes abit of force to get in

02/18/2016 - 12:49 |
14 | 0
Enz0

In reply to by AX53

It’s the border between the first gear and reverse, otherwise every idiot will reverse while waiting for green light.
Make it lighter and you will have a lot of disappointed insurance companies.

02/19/2016 - 22:34 |
0 | 0
🇮🇩Mk7Golfer 🇦🇺

But still, you’d rather have a crappy manual option (or standard) car than an auto only car, right?

02/18/2016 - 12:55 |
0 | 2

Not with an F-Type Jag, the manuals in those are right ‘orrible

02/18/2016 - 13:25 |
0 | 0

If the auto was better, then that’d be my choice.

02/18/2016 - 14:14 |
0 | 0
Anonymous

E46 has a long throw? I’m not sure where you get that. My room mates 2011 sti feels like the throw on semi compared to my m3. I will admit, it feels light but im just gonna get a weighted knob and it should feel a lot better.

02/18/2016 - 12:56 |
4 | 0
The Dakov

Having driven many manual BMWs, I know exactly what you mean. Especially going in reverse, which you can forget about if the car is cold. However, I really enjoy that kind of slightly rubbery, but at the same time very labour intensive gear change. It feels macho.

02/18/2016 - 13:14 |
24 | 2

As an owner of an E46 I can confirm this. A shorter and more precice manual would really help the car. My next one will get a Short shifter

02/18/2016 - 16:38 |
2 | 0

My girlfriend shifts my e46 into reverse with no problem, and she’s barely 60kilos :) At the end of the day it’s still better being a bit heavy and hard, then to go too easily(like in some audis etc..).

02/19/2016 - 06:16 |
0 | 2
Fastlane Blocker

well, I really like my shifter. It is manly and yeah reverse requires some power. But is not this what makes you apreciate a manual gearbox. And I do not think, that it is unresponsive. In cold condition yes. But after around 10 minutes I think my gearbox is just perfect. And as you said revmatching does the trick better. You learn it faster if you Need it for better shifting.

02/18/2016 - 13:25 |
0 | 0
Anonymous

You certainly haven’t driven enough manual BMWs.

02/18/2016 - 13:46 |
64 | 16
Gabz

In reply to by Anonymous (not verified)

Darren has driven hundreds of cars (including old and new BMWs) so I wouldn’t doubt what he says about these gearboxes.

I owned a manual E46 and E90 and they were both rather disappointing in terms of shifting feel.

02/18/2016 - 16:52 |
30 | 18
iAlexFIN

In reply to by Anonymous (not verified)

Came here to say this, these are the basic characteristics of BMW manuals.

02/19/2016 - 01:12 |
6 | 2
Antiprius

Carmaker ditches manuals for DCTs: “This sucks! Give us a manual!”
Carmaker keeps the manual option: “This sucks! The DCT is better!”

If you’re really that bothered about the BMW’s shift action, ///M Performance offers a factory short shifter kit.

02/18/2016 - 13:59 |
4 | 4