[meechy6ix0]

I’m looking to order a new G8x. I’ve had two MT G8x cars, and an curious about the AT. Those who have had both or substantial seat time in both, any thoughts on your experiences?

[nordmanmg]

Auto is better for highway cruising. Since at 75+mph your car will run at around 2k rpm versus 3000 rpm on 6th gear on manual car

[ChrisM4]

I had two MT’s (G82 and G80) and traded for an M4 Comp X-drive due to left hip issues from a previous accident just over a year ago that made driving a manual painful.

The auto is great and the increased power is very nice as well. I think both transmissions are amazing. If you’re doing a lot of driving in heavy traffic the automatic is perfect.

X-drive is an absolute game changer with traction, it’s just insane how well the car launches and the grip and acceleration out of corners is incredible.

If I had the money to burn and a good left hip I’d have both versions

[MT6]

I’d buy a Manual Transmission car everytime

[GolfCoyote]

I’m usually a manual transmission guy but the xDrive is just too tempting so I went automatic.
I have my GTI that’s a manual if I want to bang gears and scratch that itch.

[HeelToeShift]

So have owned both. My first G80 M3 was a 6MT and now have a G80 M3Xdrive. The manual was good car - other than the fact that the gearbox, shift action, and clutch actuation were all mediocre at best (and exacerbated by me owning a 911 and a GT4 in manual at the time as well). I never did the CDV delete, but also not sure this would have alleviated all of issues with the car. Overall, I prefer driving manual cars but the G80 more often had me thinking, 'I said I'd never buy a manual M car after my F80 and F82 M3/4 and I shouldhave gotten the xdrive".
Before getting the xdrive, I had only driven the RWD comp, but really was impressive, most particularly by the gearbox and how much more responsive it was than my F90 M5C (which was not great at all IMO).
Upon first drive in the xdrive, I simply knew I made the right choice. Everything felt a bit more dialed in to me. The chassis feels tighter than the 6MT did, the short gearing paired with the ZF8 is an ideal combo. The steering also feels better to me (possibly down to Michelin vs Pirelli tires?). Overall, the xdrive feels like a more cohesive and gestalt package and you lose nothing in terms of driving dynamics but pick up the AWD stability when needed.

[TopJimmy]

Two questions first…
1) do you have bad stop-and-go traffic that would have you clutching too much?
2) do you need to be the fastest?

If you answered yes to both then you want the AT. In all other situations I’d have the manual.

MT6 has that “feeling” that connects me to my car. 3 Pedals for the love of driving!

[JDUNITNOW]

Originally Posted by TopJimmy

Two questions first…
1) do you have bad stop-and-go traffic that would have you clutching too much?
2) do you need to be the fastest?

If you answered yes to both then you want the AT. In all other situations I’d have the manual.

MT6 has that “feeling” that connects me to my car. 3 Pedals for the love of driving!

You forgot #3.... im too old and lazy to shift gears anymore 🤣

[TopJimmy]

Originally Posted by JDUNITNOW

You forgot #3.... im too old and lazy to shift gears anymore 🤣

I’ll take three pedals in my coffin!

[Prossx]

From My Cold Dead Hands (Replace musket w/ stick)

[xxyion]

I prefer the auto, but specifically for these cars. I'm one of the people that don't like BMW manual transmissions. They are always too rubbery and not accurate and dont feel precise. My F87C was a manual. And i have a G82CX now so it has to be auto. I tried the MT in the base M4 and it honestly felt super similar to the F87 which i didnt like at all. It's a bit better, but not in any of the ways that i wanted it to be better. So for me auto all the way.

[meechy6ix0]

Thanks for the feedback everyone. Just booked a comp on turo to try it out for myself. I love the MT for daily driving, but always felt like the AT would be more fun in the twisties. I know that’s an uncommon perspective, but I find regular driving mundane with an AT, and I like to keep myself occupied by shifting.

[Adcampo]

100% manual. No matter how good a automatic/DCT/PDK is, after a short while we all end up leaving it in D.

[TJR_///M3]

Originally Posted by Adcampo

100% manual. No matter how good a automatic/DCT/PDK is, after a short while we all end up leaving it in D.

Sorry, not “all”…
Other than on the interstate I always paddle shift my ZF8.

[TopJimmy]

Originally Posted by meechy6ix0

Thanks for the feedback everyone. Just booked a comp on turo to try it out for myself. I love the MT for daily driving, but always felt like the AT would be more fun in the twisties. I know that’s an uncommon perspective, but I find regular driving mundane with an AT, and I like to keep myself occupied by shifting.

Oh you said twisties…
MT6 would definitely be more fun. Having 6 gears instead of 8 means you stay in each gear longer. That’s better for curves, and you also KNOW when you’re shifting. The AT can shift during “maneuvers” and off-balance easier. I also LOVED how the stick shift engine-brakes and decelerates when you lift off pedal.

And the thing you CAN’T do with a DCT or AT and can only be done with the MT6 is the “Shift-POW!”. When you are accelerating hard and quickly come off-pedal while clutching-in you get a nice pop from the exhaust. If you do a fat exhaust with diwnpipes that pop becomes a glorious POW! that pisses off Hondas and Subies to no end. I learned how to time it where I pass some jerk and shift-Pow just as my tail passes their window, to scare the sh!t out of them (catless DPs + huge AA exhaust).

[TJR_///M3]

Originally Posted by TopJimmy

Oh you said twisties…
MT6 would definitely be more fun. Having 6 gears instead of 8 means you stay in each gear longer. That’s better for curves, and you also KNOW when you’re shifting. The AT can shift during “maneuvers” and off-balance easier. I also LOVED how the stick shift engine-brakes and decelerates when you lift off pedal.

And the thing you CAN’T do with a DCT or AT and can only be done with the MT6 is the “Shift-POW!”. When you are accelerating hard and quickly come off-pedal while clutching-in you get a nice pop from the exhaust. If you do a fat exhaust with diwnpipes that pop becomes a glorious POW! that pisses off Hondas and Subies to no end. I learned how to time it where I pass some jerk and shift-Pow just as my tail passes their window, to scare the sh!t out of them (catless DPs + huge AA exhaust).

Let me preface this by saying I am not expressing a preference either way as I like driving MT and AT - they give different experiences and similar enjoyment.
I do like your last point
On the purely technical front, however, the more gears you have (although somewhat dependent on overall ratio spread) the greater the area under the wheel torque vs. road speed plot and that will translate into better acceleration performance.
A DCT or appropriately calibrated AT will have ‘no torque-break’ shifts. This is impossible with a MT (although clutchless shifts can get close at the expense of gearbox durability). With no torque-break the vehicle will not be unsettled whereas an MT shift will definitely unsettle the car to some degree due to a longitudinal weight transfer.

[TopJimmy]

Originally Posted by TJR_///M3

On the purely technical front, however, the more gears you have (although somewhat dependent on overall ratio spread) the greater the area under the wheel torque vs. road speed plot and that will translate into better acceleration performance.
A DCT or appropriately calibrated AT will have ‘no torque-break’ shifts. This is impossible with a MT (although clutchless shifts can get close at the expense of gearbox durability). With no torque-break the vehicle will not be unsettled whereas an MT shift will definitely unsettle the car to some degree due to a longitudinal weight transfer.

I agree with the “no torque-break”…IF our cars would do it, but both the DCT and AT seem to have some “torque punch”. I went from base trans to the CS trans tune and the punch increased. That punch could be tuned all the way out with XHP trans software, but XHP takes a LOT of tweaking to get it to the Formula1 feeling (no punch but no power dip/loss between shifts). Another option would be to try carving curves in Sport+ for the power and responsiveness, but in S1 trans mode for the least kick/punch. S1 also has a slower shift speed, and I don’t like any delay in my shifts, so I will have to tune with XHP for maximum stability and grip.

The manual trans having longer gears has you shifting less (or needing to shift less). I’ve beaten other DCT cars on the straight because I didn’t have to shift when they needed to. That was another nice advantage.

If OP does get the MT6 all they need for improvements is a set of $65 Rogue Engineering trans mounts, which will take out any bushing flex but not introduce any NVH. Also a $10 clutch-stopper improves the pedal feel at bottom, and reduces any engagement lag when lifting the foot. I don’t think the MT6 needs a shift linkage kit, and I hear the G-bodies already have no clutch delay valve in the piston.

[GrannyShiftG80]

Originally Posted by TopJimmy

Oh you said twisties…
MT6 would definitely be more fun. Having 6 gears instead of 8 means you stay in each gear longer. That’s better for curves, and you also KNOW when you’re shifting. The AT can shift during “maneuvers” and off-balance easier. I also LOVED how the stick shift engine-brakes and decelerates when you lift off pedal.

And the thing you CAN’T do with a DCT or AT and can only be done with the MT6 is the “Shift-POW!”. When you are accelerating hard and quickly come off-pedal while clutching-in you get a nice pop from the exhaust. If you do a fat exhaust with diwnpipes that pop becomes a glorious POW! that pisses off Hondas and Subies to no end. I learned how to time it where I pass some jerk and shift-Pow just as my tail passes their window, to scare the sh!t out of them (catless DPs + huge AA exhaust).

Can you teach me how to do this

[MT6]

Manual Transmission on winding roads is ultimate as the driver is in control of gear shifting.

[TopJimmy]

GrannyShiftG80 At the top of a gear clutch-in just before you let off the gas pedal. Clutch-in usually opens the wastegates and causes a blowoff Pow! Timing the release of the gas pedal can increase or reduce the pop.

Having catless resonated downpipes into an AA Signature Kit (fat 3.5” pipes) helped increase the sound. That MT6 plus fat exhaust is till my favorite BMW M driving experience so far. When I’m too old/beat to race drags in my G80 AT then I’ll go back to a F80 MT6 and enjoy that full-control feeling again.

[meechy6ix0]

Just dropped the rental M4 Comp back off. It wasn’t an xdrive, but that wasn’t what I was looking to test anyways. So I’m going to stick with a manual. It just wasn’t engaging enough from stoplight to stoplight. Car is definitely faster and more composed even despite the higher capabilities. But I just didn’t have anything to do outside of the twisties. It made 90% of the drives purely about the destination rather than the drive. With a manual, every drive feels more like an occasion.

[TopJimmy]

Originally Posted by meechy6ix0

So I’m going to stick with a manual. It just wasn’t engaging enough from stoplight to stoplight. Car is definitely faster and more composed even despite the higher capabilities. But I just didn’t have anything to do outside of the twisties. It made 90% of the drives purely about the destination rather than the drive. With a manual, every drive feels more like an occasion.

Perfectly said.