{"id":84619,"date":"2026-01-13T10:46:28","date_gmt":"2026-01-13T15:46:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/autosector.com\/?p=84619"},"modified":"2026-01-13T10:46:28","modified_gmt":"2026-01-13T15:46:28","slug":"bmw-manual-sales-usa-2025","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/autosector.com\/?p=84619","title":{"rendered":"Demand For BMWs With A Manual Gearbox Is Fading In The U.S."},"content":{"rendered":"

While Mercedes-AMG and Audi Sport have long abandoned manuals, BMW M has vowed to hang on to the clutch pedal. Still, keeping manuals alive is becoming increasingly difficult as ever more sophisticated driver-assistance systems tend to work best with automatics. Declining interest in performance cars with a manual gearbox only adds to the challenge.<\/p>\n

A nearly forgotten fact about the BMW Z4 is that a manual transmission has been available since 2019. That said, it was limited to the four-cylinder sDrive20i<\/a>, an entry-level variant never offered in the United States. As a result, three pedals didn\u2019t reach American buyers until a couple of years ago, when the M40i gained the optional Handschalter Package.<\/p>\n

Although the take rate for the six-speed manual remains solid, it lost ground to the eight-speed Steptronic in 2025. BMW USA told Motor1<\/em> that demand was split evenly between the two gearboxes last year. In 2024, 65% of buyers chose to row their own gears. It\u2019s also worth noting that 2025 was the last full year for the G29, as production ends<\/a> in the coming months.<\/p>\n

\"2025<\/a><\/p>\n

The M2 with a manual is also less popular than it was in 2024. According to BMW USA, the take rate has fallen from 50% to 40%. While not officially confirmed, the long-rumored xDrive variant<\/a> is expected to be automatic-only. The all-paw M2 is said to debut later this year and could push the automatic\u2019s share even higher.<\/p>\n

Things get more complicated with the M3 and M4. Competition and xDrive versions are automatic-only, leaving the stick shift exclusively to the base models. Motor1<\/em> reports that just 6\u201310% of all M3 and M4 buyers ordered the six-speed manual last year. Speaking strictly about the entry-level versions, however, about half of M3 buyers and a third of M4 customers opted for the do-it-yourself gearbox.<\/p>\n

Looking ahead, the M2 and M4 are expected to keep the manual alive until the end of their life cycles around mid-2029. The Z4 has one foot in the grave, while M3 production is rumored to end in early 2027. The sedan\u2019s replacement, codenamed G84<\/a>, is believed to arrive in 2028 exclusively with an automatic transmission and all-wheel drive.<\/p>\n

All signs point to the manual transmission being on its last legs, so now might be the time to buy a three-pedal BMW while you still can. Skipping a manual option for the M240i was likely a missed opportunity, and that ship has probably already sailed.<\/p>\n

Source: Motor1<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

While Mercedes-AMG and Audi Sport have long abandoned manuals, BMW M has vowed to hang on to the clutch pedal. Still, keeping manuals alive is becoming increasingly difficult as ever more sophisticated driver-assistance systems tend to work best with automatics. Declining interest in performance cars with a manual gearbox only adds to the challenge. A […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":84620,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-84619","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-industry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/autosector.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/84619","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/autosector.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/autosector.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/autosector.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/autosector.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=84619"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/autosector.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/84619\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/autosector.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/84620"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/autosector.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=84619"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/autosector.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=84619"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/autosector.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=84619"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}