The march of time, and what counts for progress in the automotive industry, has not been particularly kind to the driving enthusiast. Our vehicles have gotten bigger and heavier. Touch-sensitive panels and screens replaced buttons. Steering feel evaporated about a decade ago. And if you’re a fan of changing your own gears with a stick shift and three pedals, things have been looking bleak for a while now. Which makes BMW’s send off for its current sixth-generation M3 so notable.
BMW’s M division kept the six-speed manual alive for the G80 M3, but only the normal version. If you wanted the more powerful, much torquier M3 Competition or the track-focused M3 CS (Competiton Sport) the only transmission choice was an eight-speed automatic. That automatic happens to be the excellent ZF 8HP gearbox, and for being fast on track, I’d still choose it, because that makes left-foot braking easier.
Using paddle shifts might be faster, but I won’t pretend it’s more engaging than co-ordinating the movement of a gearstick through its gate, timed properly to the action of the clutch—especially if you’re heel-and-toeing, but even if you use the auto-blip feature that revs the engines for you on downshifts now. BMW appears to recognize that too, because it says the 2027 M3 CS Handschalter is designed for maximum driver engagement, and just for North America.
