The M2 will be the last manual BMW

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The current BMW M2 is a driving enthusiast’s dream, offering a more compact, distilled experience of the M3/M4. At the same time, it is also a bookend, the last BMW to be offered with a manual transmission — despite BMW M boss Frank van Meel previously saying the company would continue offering the manual until 2030. And, to add insult to injury, BMW has just revealed its intention to do away with the dual-clutch transmissions too. From here on out, every BMW will be an automatic.

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For manual enthusiasts, the first announcement is sad but expected, like finding out your 108 year old Aunt Bertha has just died. I mean, what are you supposed to say? “She had so much to live for! All those miles of rollerblading every day.” The manual long ago moved from standard to rarely-ordered niche status, even for a driver-focused brand like BMW. If you want a Bimmer with a manual, now’s your chance and no weeping later if you missed out.

More surprising is the death knell for the dual-clutch transmission. Often, pedantic Porsche enthusiasts will argue that Stuttgart’s PDK is actually a type of manual, since you can switch gears yourself with the paddle-shifters, albeit with no clutch. They’re wrong, as you can pull the same trick with the automatic in nearly everything else, but a dual-clutch transmission does bridge some of the satisfaction gap between shifting gears yourself and having a computer do it for you. Shifts are quicker and crisper, and choosing a manual over one feels a bit anachronistic.

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However, BMW’s performance engines now make so much power that delicacy is no longer required. You don’t look for nuance when shopping for a sledgehammer, and the M division cars dole out tire-roasting speed through torque converters without issue.

Speaking to Top Gear magazine, M Development head Dirk Hacker indicated that manual or automatic was the present choice, but only automatic in the future. “The double clutch, from BMW M’s point of view these days, it’s gone.” He also added, “Around the M5 there was a big discussion… and the decision was not only because of cost, but also because of comfort.”

Drive one of rival Mercedes-AMG’s smaller offerings with a dual-clutch transmission, and BMW has a point. Something like the A35 is wonderful on the boil and a bit clunky in a three-point turn. As a performance and luxury brand, BMW M’s models can’t only be fast, they need to be polished.

So, automatic it is, and then electric with maybe only a single gear. However, the future hasn’t happened yet, and the manual-equipped M2 is still right there for the taking. You know Aunt Bertha wouldn’t miss her chance.