[Pantagathus]

I’m hugely torn on whether to go for the comp or non-comp. All things being equal I’d choose the 6MT any day of the week - partly because this could well be the last manual car I ever own just with how the trends are progressing.

I thought I had a comp allocation and had decided to go with it, given it’ll be a daily in the Bay Area and traffic is abysmal. That allocation fell through but a non-comp has come up, which is making me seriously reconsider my choice.

Interested in people who used the 6MT in traffic and got sick of it, or vice versa.

[HK4]

If you truly love manual, you never get sick of it. The only reason I’m getting an 8 speed is because I want an increase in hp and acceleration. The other reason is so my wife can drive the car as she can’t drive manual. I have a feeling I may regret this but I’ve enjoyed driving manual for past 16 yrs and looking forward to shift paddles.

[Lee808]

Originally Posted by HK4

If you truly love manual, you never get sick of it. The only reason I’m getting an 8 speed is because I want an increase in hp and acceleration. The other reason is so my wife can drive the car as she can’t drive manual. I have a feeling I may regret this but I’ve enjoyed driving manual for past 16 yrs and looking forward to shift paddles.

+1! This is my exact thought process on getting the AT. Although, Im afraid I will regret it too.

[heavyD^2]

I can had a manual transmission M2 and ZF8 in my X3M. If I have to make that decision today on a G80 I would probably go ZF8 as it's a really, really good automatic transmission and makes stop and go traffic a breeze. If I lived on a small town or in the country, I would go manual transmission for sure.

[solstice]

Rule no. 1.

When in doubt get the MT.

[Pantagathus]

Originally Posted by HK4

If you truly love manual, you never get sick of it. The only reason I'm getting an 8 speed is because I want an increase in hp and acceleration. The other reason is so my wife can drive the car as she can't drive manual. I have a feeling I may regret this but I've enjoyed driving manual for past 16 yrs and looking forward to shift paddles.

My wife can't drive a manual (or, can only sort of drive one). She gave me the green light to get the manual though, so I'm holding her to it. I'm sure there'll be times I regret it, but I also hope the joy of driving the manual will outweigh it

[BSM2C]

Originally Posted by Pantagathus

I'm hugely torn on whether to go for the comp or non-comp. All things being equal I'd choose the 6MT any day of the week - partly because this could well be the last manual car I ever own just with how the trends are progressing.

I thought I had a comp allocation and had decided to go with it, given it'll be a daily in the Bay Area and traffic is abysmal. That allocation fell through but a non-comp has come up, which is making me seriously reconsider my choice.

Interested in people who used the 6MT in traffic and got sick of it, or vice versa.

I daily a 6spd m2 comp in a major metro city. City driving can suck, but once I'm outside the city I quickly forget about the hassle. Get the 6spd IMO!

[Pantagathus]

Originally Posted by BSM2C

I daily a 6spd m2 comp in a major metro city. City driving can suck, but once I'm outside the city I quickly forget about the hassle. Get the 6spd IMO!

Nice! How do you enjoy the M2C? Originally I was almost certain that's what I was going to go with, but really need the extra doors for hauling kids and dogs around. Would love to have a M2C I could keep as a weekend or track car, but bank account doesn't quite stretch that far

[rak299]

I would argue that I live in the worst place in the U.S. for MT. Stop and go traffic, short trips, tight parallel parking on steep hills. I am not considering an automatic.

[swagon]

Originally Posted by Pantagathus

I’m hugely torn on whether to go for the comp or non-comp. All things being equal I’d choose the 6MT any day of the week - partly because this could well be the last manual car I ever own just with how the trends are progressing.

I thought I had a comp allocation and had decided to go with it, given it’ll be a daily in the Bay Area and traffic is abysmal. That allocation fell through but a non-comp has come up, which is making me seriously reconsider my choice.

Interested in people who used the 6MT in traffic and got sick of it, or vice versa.

6MT cars have never been easier to drive than today with the light clutch pedals, auto rev match and anti-stall features. Don't even have to use the throttle to get going now that the engine revs the car a bit at idle when you engage 1st gear.

Get the manual when you still can.

[CanesM4]

I wouldn't be getting this car if it didnt come with manual trans. This is my 4th M and will be my last if they get rid of the manual. I've had over 10 corvettes, Z06's and ZR1's. I'll never buy another new one if they don't bring back the manual. Sports cars need manual transmissions

[Nkr15]

Enjoy the manual at 3mph going up the on-ramp to the bay bridge, also enjoy it going up Lombard street. That's why I'm getting it!

[dave12285]

I think it's really more about how you drive in traffic. If you need to follow 2 feet behind the car in front of you, mimicking every acceleration and braking move, then it will be much more annoying than keeping it in first or second gear and cruising at a steady speed as traffic begins to move. Will people speed up and dive in front of you to get one car length ahead? Of course. Will you easily make up for that by unleashing 500 horsepower under full acceleration when traffic let's up. Definitely. Get the manual.

I'll add that I've had 6 manual performance cars until the current CS I have and have never been upset about having a manual, regardless of the traffic. I've always just let a gap build in front of me and cruised along. So much more relaxing than brake, clutch, shift, slip, accelerate dozens upon dozens of times on my commute.

[8987847]

to me the question is simple:
if it is not a manual, i would rather just get a pickup truck or suv, or any tesla(faster than M3).

to me, auto trans falls into the "normal car" category, it is the same regardless if it is M3 or Tacoma.
there is no reason to buy an auto sport car if you can drive manual and there is manual option imo...

[Salty B.]

Originally Posted by dave12285

I think it's really more about how you drive in traffic. If you need to follow 2 feet behind the car in front of you, mimicking every acceleration and braking move, then it will be much more annoying than keeping it in first or second gear and cruising at a steady speed as traffic begins to move. Will people speed up and dive in front of you to get one car length ahead? Of course. Will you easily make up for that by unleashing 500 horsepower under full acceleration when traffic let's up. Definitely. Get the manual.

I'll add that I've had 6 manual performance cars until the current CS I have and have never been upset about having a manual, regardless of the traffic. I've always just let a gap build in front of me and cruised along. So much more relaxing than brake, clutch, shift, slip, accelerate dozens upon dozens of times on my commute.

This is how you do it. I live in suburban Atlanta and while my daily drive is ten minutes of back roads, when I am grinding through ATL traffic I pretty much don't need to touch the brake unless a full stop is needed. And of course idiots are going to cram into your space ahead but as long as you're not in rage-bear mode just back off the gas and deal.

I do this in automatics too, but for some reason engine braking in most of those rental appliances is nearly nil, so more braking. I'm glad to see more cars coming with "hold" where you don't have to stand on the brake pedal forever and end up with a sore ankle.

I think autos are worse to drive in traffic and most people don't know how to do it right.

[arunym]

Originally Posted by Lee808

+1! This is my exact thought process on getting the AT. Although, Im afraid I will regret it too.

Fully agree. I owned an F82 6MT as daily driver in ATL traffic. Never once wished I had gotten the dct. If you're a passionate manual driver, I'm not even sure why it's a question. These cars are bought for fun. Have fun with it.

[SYT_Shadow]

Agree with the prevailing sentiment here. I can drive in the worst NYC traffic and I never regret 6MT.
Automatics have gotten really good, etc etc etc, but 6MT is still so much nicer. Besides, think of it like a exercise routine!!

[weingarm]

Agree that this is a sports car so the only way to go is 6MT. But we all know car makers are offering fewer and fewer MT as time goes by. Once electric cars become 50% of BMWs' business forget about ever seeing a MT again. That means this M3/M4 is the final one with a MT. Likewise, the next M2 will be the final generation of that with a MT also. Get one while you still can!

I have an F90 and people on that forum sometimes talk about how their cars are "boring" to drive. I'm convinced it's because they're slogging through traffic with an AT all the time. When they finally get a chance to "punch it" on a back road the AT is less fun than a MT obviously so these folks end up thinking the F90 is "boring". A 6MT will cure that in the G80!

Therefore my next car will be... G80 6MT.

[frankiebones]

Originally Posted by rak299

I would argue that I live in the worst place in the U.S. for MT. Stop and go traffic, short trips, tight parallel parking on steep hills. I am not considering an automatic.

You, sir, are a hero

I live and commute in NYC and I drive through Brooklyn on a daily basis.

Brooklyn is the most populous of the 5 boroughs of NYC and has only one East/West highway. My left calf is typically twice the size of my right calf muscle after a daily commute.

[Jproos]

I have a poll going on the question of MT or not for your daily driver.

https://g80.bimmerpost.com/forums/sh....php?t=1803092

Jason

[Tacoma]

Originally Posted by rak299

I would argue that I live in the worst place in the U.S. for MT. Stop and go traffic, short trips, tight parallel parking on steep hills. I am not considering an automatic.

All the cars I've ever owned have been with manual transmission. In all the years, the only time I wished it was automatic was in heavy stop & go traffic going up a steep hill. I ended up using the hand brake a lot and slipping the clutch (this was before hill assist) to hold the car. The other 99.9% of the time in traffic was no problem.

[Jeff01234567]

Originally Posted by Pantagathus

I’m hugely torn on whether to go for the comp or non-comp. All things being equal I’d choose the 6MT any day of the week - partly because this could well be the last manual car I ever own just with how the trends are progressing.

I thought I had a comp allocation and had decided to go with it, given it’ll be a daily in the Bay Area and traffic is abysmal. That allocation fell through but a non-comp has come up, which is making me seriously reconsider my choice.

Interested in people who used the 6MT in traffic and got sick of it, or vice versa.

Living in San Francisco/Peninsula and driving manual transmissions for about 5 years straight now. During that time, I've only had maybe 10 days in total where I hated myself for driving manual because of extreme heavy traffic. The rest of the 1,800+ days or so I've loved it. So don't let those 0.5% of bad days make decisions for your 99.5% of good days.

I thought manual was super easy to drive in even in the hills of San Francisco. Maybe because I learned to drive manual through trial-by-fire with a 1997 Miata with no hill-hold or any assists whatsoever.