![\"2025](\"https:\/\/cdn.bmwblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/2025-bmw-m2-manual-review-java-green-01.jpg\" "\\"2025-bmw-m2-manual-review-java-green-01\\"")
<\/a><\/p>\nThe M2 is,for now until the M2 xDrive launches<\/a>, the only BMW left where you don\u2019t have to read the fine print to get a clutch pedal. Every M2 starts with a six-speed manual as the standard transmission, with the eight-speed automatic available at no extra cost if you\u2019d rather have the quicker 0-60 time. Pricing starts right around $69,000, which makes it the most affordable new M car BMW sells, and the S58<\/a> inline-six puts out 473 horsepower and 406 lb-ft regardless of which gearbox you pick.<\/p>\n The M2 CS<\/a> doesn\u2019t follow the same script. BMW bumped it to 523 hp for 2026 and sells it strictly with the automatic. There\u2019s no manual option for it at any price. So the standard M2 is now the only way to get a stick shift and the lightest, purest version of this car at the same time.<\/p>\n There\u2019s also a properly weird one-off for collectors: the M2 Turbo Design Edition<\/a>, a tribute to the 1973 2002 turbo, built in extremely limited numbers starting in January 2026 and sold exclusively with the six-speed manual at $82,900 before destination. No automatic option exists for it. BMW clearly knows which buyers are paying that kind of premium for a small M car, and what gearbox they expect to find in it.<\/p>\n Worth flagging for the future: BMW has confirmed an M2 M xDrive for 2027, the first all-wheel-drive M2 ever, and it\u2019s automatic-only. Getting traction in the snow is going to cost you the manual.<\/p>\n BMW M3 (G80): Manual Sedan or Automatic, Never Both At The Top<\/p>\n The M3 sedan splits cleanly into two camps. The base car, at $79,300, comes with the six-speed manual, rear-wheel drive, and 473 hp. Step up to the M3 Competition<\/a> and the manual disappears entirely: you get an eight-speed automatic and 503 hp with rear-wheel drive, or the same transmission with xDrive and 523 hp in the Competition xDrive, priced up near $88,600. There is no manual Competition. There never has been, in this generation.<\/p>\n That makes 2026 a meaningful year to pay attention to, because it\u2019s likely the last one for the manual M3 sedan as we know it. The G80 is expected to give way to a new ICE M3 around 2028<\/a>, reportedly with xDrive and an automatic only, no clutch pedal, and for the first time ever, with a mild hybrid<\/a>.<\/p>\n Before that happens, BMW is giving the outgoing M3 a proper send-off. A 2027-model-year M3 CS Handschalter<\/a> (the CS badge returning specifically for a rear-wheel-drive, manual-only special edition) starts at $108,450 and undercuts the automatic, xDrive-based M3 CS by around $11,000. It\u2019s lighter than the regular manual M3 by close to 75 pounds with the optional carbon-ceramic brakes, and it\u2019s reserved for North America. BMW isn\u2019t saying how many it\u2019ll build. If you\u2019ve been putting off a manual M3, this is the one to chase, and it\u2019ll be the last new one.<\/p>\n BMW M4 (G82): The Manual Exists, But Only For The Coupe<\/p>\n The M4 follows the M3\u2019s playbook almost exactly, with one extra wrinkle: the manual is coupe-only. There\u2019s no manual M4 Convertible at any price. Drop the top and you\u2019re buying a Competition, automatic, and either rear- or all-wheel drive. The base M4 Coupe starts at $82,200, with the same 473-hp S58 and six-speed manual as the M3. The Competition Coupe runs into the mid-$80,000s with 503 hp and an automatic, and the Competition xDrive Coupe tops the regular range at 523 hp and roughly $91,700. The M4 CS is gone for 2026, leaving these three trims and nothing hotter.<\/p>\n There\u2019s a small silver lining here that doesn\u2019t apply to the M3: insiders have suggested M4 production is sticking around well past the M3\u2019s, into 2029, with the M2 expected to run about as long. If that holds, buyers chasing a new manual BMW coupe will have considerably more runway than M3 sedan buyers do. Order books typically close a year or so before a car actually stops being built, so don\u2019t take \u201c2029\u201d as a green light to wait around indefinitely.<\/p>\n BMW Z4 (G29): The Last Non-M manual, And The Last One Ever<\/p>\n The Z4 has been the odd one out for a while now, the only non-M BMW you could still get with three pedals, and a fairly recent gift at that. BMW didn\u2019t add the manual to the Z4 M40i until 2024, packaged as the Edition Handschalter<\/a>, a $3,500 option on top of the $68,400 base price that brings the six-speed gearbox along with retuned suspension, a reinforced front anti-roll bar clamp, and unique steering software. The four-cylinder sDrive30i never got the option; it\u2019s automatic-only.<\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n