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

Lukas Zimmermann

And I thought shifting in my E46 was so bad (in comparrison to what I have driven before) because it was so old. Dont get me wrong, it wasnt horrible, but it was far from perfect. As Darren said, it doesnt feel very satisfying and isnt that precise. The only thing I liked was the way you put in reverse. It was a little harder than in any other car I have driven, but it somehow gave me a good feeling and I smiled almost every time I selected reverse. Not a huge laugher but more a small grin.

02/18/2016 - 22:50 |
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Anonymous

The bmw manual can seem fine until you drive a japanesse car like honda or sonething.A 1.3 litre honda civic from 94 shifter it’s so precise and tight and the throw is so right..so yeah. Btw im a bmw fan boy and i drive one =D

02/18/2016 - 23:05 |
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Anonymous

I’ve driven an e60 manual 525i, and I liked it a lot. The shifts were long, but along with the car’s easy clutch, they felt buttery smooth. They suit the character of a luxury car. However, I didn’t drive it hard. I could see how people wouldn’t like that feel in a performance car.

02/18/2016 - 23:10 |
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Samir Benhocine

I was used to VWgroup manuals. I’m the owner of manual Bmw since a few months and i have to say that i miss the VAG manual boxes (not only the shifter himself; gears ratio as well)

02/18/2016 - 23:30 |
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CoolBreeze

From my point of view Bmw’s manual transmissions are great ! I have driven a couple the past year and in 125i coupe from 2008 it really suits it. I had no problems finding gears or having to hammer them in. I guess it takes a little bit of strength to shift but i don’t see a problem for anybody with that, actually i love it and the length of the shift is perfect. I see no reason why i should pick an automatic over a manual. The Bmw 328i coupe from 2007 I am currently driving the automatic transmission just takes alot of joy away from driving a Bmw. In my opinion you can find always something wrong with a car if try hard enough.

02/18/2016 - 23:49 |
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Dave 15

I somewhat agree with this post. The shift is notchy and requires too much effort to use. However, I’ve also taken issue with BMW’s rev matching system, which feels awkward and jumps the car forward if you change up gears too quickly for it. It seems to work much better when downshifting. Anyone else found this or is it just me?

02/18/2016 - 23:51 |
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Smenny

So cheap to fit new bushings or a short shift kit. A little bit of work though. I agree they should be better from factory, but it’s such a small and cheap detail to fix, that I really don’t see the problem..

My first e39 didn’t have a short shift kit, and it was alright. My new one has a short shift kit, but it still has more than enough throw. It’s incredibly precise, yet comfortable. Not like in an MX5, where the clanking almost hurts.

What it really comes down to is preference though. I know some people hate shifting in my car, while others love it

02/19/2016 - 00:05 |
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Anonymous

Replace to knob.
Seriously, I’m on my 5th BMW, it changes everything when you go to knob made out of metal or wood or anything more solid than the tall, floppy, rubber, stock knob

02/19/2016 - 00:13 |
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Anonymous

Gotta disagree with this one. The getrag 6 speed is a fantastic transmission. Being a technician I get to drive manuals from the big German 3 on a regular basis. The bmw always feels the best to me personally. Now if you’re taking issue with the ZF five speed that’s a different story. Any vague feeling is caused by the shift pins on the top of the transmission getting stuck in their bore. When this happens it creates an unnatural throw for the shifter. These sort of articles make me think all the CT guys secretly have SMGs.

02/19/2016 - 00:17 |
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Anonymous

meh, my bmw performance shifter feels amazing. probably sucks stock like you said

02/19/2016 - 00:21 |
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