BMW signals the end of the manual M3 in Japan, but it’s safe in Australia
The BMW M3 manual has begun a slow exit from overseas showrooms, with Japan set for a special-edition send-off. But Australians will continue to have a choice of gearboxes for the foreseeable future.
The beginning of the end for the manual BMW M3 has arrived, with news of its exit from Japan – as the German car giant inches closer to discontinuing the transmission type in its sports cars.
However, a six-speed manual gearbox will remain an option for the M2, M3, and M4 in Australia for the foreseeable future, BMW has confirmed.
Images of Japan's BMW M3 MT Final Edition – “MT” representing manual transmission – were revealed last month to commemorate 35 years since BMW’s first German touring car (DTM) racing championship win.
Every example will come equipped with a six-speed manual transmission, in addition to gold wheels and red accents for the seats – touches paying homage to Roberto Ravaglia’s BMW E30 M3 DTM car. BMW will build 50 examples each in Alpine White, Black Sapphire, and M Brooklyn Gray.
More importantly, the special edition – limited to 150 vehicles – represents the last time a manual transmission will be offered for the BMW M3 for the Japanese market.
As the final opportunity to buy a manual-equipped BMW M3 in Japan, the company expects significant demand. It has set up a lottery system to select buyers, with build slots to be drawn in May 2024.
In contrast, BMW in Australia is committed to keeping a choice of gearbox available to local performance-car buyers.
Asked if the brand was committed to manual gearboxes locally, BMW Australia product and market planning boss Brendan Michel told Drive: "Yep, we sure are."
"We've still got [a manual gearbox] available on the M2, M3 and M4s. [It will remain] for the foreseeable future."
The current M2, M3 and M4 – due to exit global production in mid-2029, early 2027 and mid-2028 respectively, according to BMW insiders – are expected to be the last with manual transmissions.
BMW Board of Management Member Frank Weber told Italian publication Quattroroute in February 2024: “There are fun products, but let’s be honest, the volumes are getting smaller and smaller.
“And so, it doesn’t make sense to develop them anymore. If you want a manual M, you have to buy it now.”
Oddly – in contrast – BMW UK representative told Top Gear a month earlier “we owe it to ourselves” to continue offering a manual gearbox alongside automatics, even though BMW UK elected not to sell a manual version of the latest M3 and M4.
In Australia, nearly one in three BMW M2s sold in Australia in 2023 were fitted with a six-speed manual transmission.
But fewer BMW M3s and BMW M4s were delivered in manual guise, just 5 per cent (29 of 529 total) and 4 per cent respectively (11 of 244 total) of local sales in 2023.
A manual transmission in the BMW M3 and M4 is only offered on entry-level variants, with flagship M3 and M4 Competition versions using eight-speed torque converter automatics.
In a small win for manual fanatics, BMW introduced a manual variant of the flagship BMW Z4 M40i earlier this year – however, the model will not go on sale in Australia.
BMW offered the entry-level four-cylinder ‘sDrive20i’ in Australia with the choice of a six-speed manual or eight-speed automatics earlier in the current Z4's life cycle at launch – but removed the manual gearbox option after just two examples (out of 371 Z4s sold) were delivered in two years.