BMW board member Frank Weber made it clear that we'll need to buy manual M cars for the M division to keep the manual transmission alive. Speaking to Italian motoring publication Quattroruote, the BMW official further confirmed that demand for automatics is on the rise.
The cited interview should explain BMW's decision to send off the manual M3 in Japan with the so-called MT Final Edition, which is limited to 150 examples. If demand outstrips the limited supply, BMW Japan will hold a lottery in May 2024 to decide who's getting said 150 examples.
Deliveries will kick off in the second half of 2024, and that's particularly curious because the M3's mid-cycle refresh will start production in July 2024. The Life Cycle Impulse will comprise pretty much every upgrade from the M4 Coupe and M4 Cabriolet, including the laser-accented taillights and 523 horsepower for the Competition xDrive.
Before going any further, it should be mentioned that M hasn't discontinued the manual from the M4. Both the coupe and cabriolet can be had with the ZF-supplied stick shift of the pre-facelift M4 as long as you're fine with 473 horsepower and rear-wheel drive. Stepping up to the rear-drive Competition means 503 horsepower and an automatic.
The aforementioned, in turn, silences the rumor mill that was rife with chatter about the 2025 BMW M3 going automatic only. Turning our attention back to the BMW M3 MT Final Edition for Japan, prospective customers are presented with a grand total of three paint colors: M Brooklyn Gray, Alpine White, and the pictured Black Sapphire.
Photo: BMW Japan
The MT Final Edition further commemorates the 35 years since the M3's first victory in DTM. While on the subject of touring car racing, did you know the E30-series M3 was developed specifically as a homologation special for the Deutsche Tourenwagen Meisterschaft and Group A?
Originally priced at 58,000 Deutsche marks, which is 32,260 US dollars at current exchange rates, the M3 is far pricier today. The G80 starts at $76,000 in the United States for model year 2024 with a manual, whereas the Japan-exclusive MT Final Edition is 14,200,000 yen or just around 95,620 dollars.
Production is capped at 50 units in M Brooklyn Gray, 50 in Alpine White, and 50 in Black Sapphire. Regardless of the paint color, BMW fits the MT Final Edition with 827 M matte gold-painted wheels. The matte gold harks back to the DTM racecar of Roberto Ravaglia, who hung up his gloves after racing a Schnitzer Motorsport McLaren F1 GTR in the 1997 FIA GT Championship.
Further beautified with red accents for the seats, the MT Final Edition is now available to pre-order. The pre-order book will close on March 27 at 11:59 PM JST, and in case of a lottery, the winners will be determined by BMW Japan by late May 2024.
After a 1:43 scale model of a Ferrari 250 GTO sparked Mircea's interest for cars when he was a kid, an early internship at Top Gear sealed his career path. He's most interested in muscle cars and American trucks, but he takes a passing interest in quirky kei cars as well. Full profile
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