Photo: BMW
Since the E90/E92 M3 models have gone out of production, we can now take a look at what customers went for in matters of transmission options.
Looking at the numbers, it's quite obvious that the trend in the last years of production in pointing out to a dramatic conclusion: the manual M3 is on the verge of extinction.
Some interesting facts appear though: at the beginning, before the facelift, most customers went for manual gearboxes, both in the US and the rest of the world. After the LCI model was launched, the DCT gearbox became the clear favorite.
That might be due to the reticence people displayed towards automatic gearboxes after the SMG transmission from the E46 proved problematic in some cases. Once the years went by and people got more and more convinced of the advantages of the dual-clutch, options changed drastically.
So, let's get down to the numbers: for the E90 model (pre-facelift) 2080 Manual and 200 DCT cars were delivered in North America, whilst for the E92 (pre-facelift) the numbers were a lot closer with 3707 Manuals and 3793 DCT.
Once the LCI model rolled out, things went crazy: 1055 Manuals were sold whilst DCT accounted for 2532 in the case of the E90. For the E92 things went even worse for the manual, 5771 DCT units being delivered, compared to 2528 manuals.
Looking at the rest of the world, things are even clearer: the LCI E90 was ordered with a manual gearbox in 146 cases, whilst DCT equipped M3s added up to 1070 units! For the E92 models the manual was preferred by 293 customers whilst the automatic was ordered on 5,920 units.
Judging by the looks of things, it's clear that the US and Canada will be receiving the new M3 and M4 (that will replace the coupe M3) with the automatic DCT transmission as standard. The question is if there will also be a manual available, even as an option? We think so, and it will probably be sold as a no cost optional feature.
Some interesting facts appear though: at the beginning, before the facelift, most customers went for manual gearboxes, both in the US and the rest of the world. After the LCI model was launched, the DCT gearbox became the clear favorite.
That might be due to the reticence people displayed towards automatic gearboxes after the SMG transmission from the E46 proved problematic in some cases. Once the years went by and people got more and more convinced of the advantages of the dual-clutch, options changed drastically.
So, let's get down to the numbers: for the E90 model (pre-facelift) 2080 Manual and 200 DCT cars were delivered in North America, whilst for the E92 (pre-facelift) the numbers were a lot closer with 3707 Manuals and 3793 DCT.
Once the LCI model rolled out, things went crazy: 1055 Manuals were sold whilst DCT accounted for 2532 in the case of the E90. For the E92 things went even worse for the manual, 5771 DCT units being delivered, compared to 2528 manuals.
Looking at the rest of the world, things are even clearer: the LCI E90 was ordered with a manual gearbox in 146 cases, whilst DCT equipped M3s added up to 1070 units! For the E92 models the manual was preferred by 293 customers whilst the automatic was ordered on 5,920 units.
Judging by the looks of things, it's clear that the US and Canada will be receiving the new M3 and M4 (that will replace the coupe M3) with the automatic DCT transmission as standard. The question is if there will also be a manual available, even as an option? We think so, and it will probably be sold as a no cost optional feature.
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