View Single Post
      08-05-2019, 05:24 PM   #24
HighlandPete
Lieutenant General
6659
Rep
15,858
Posts

Drives: BMW F11 535i Touring
Join Date: Mar 2007
Location: Scotland, Highland Region

iTrader: (0)

Quote:
Originally Posted by Run Silent View Post
Can you buy "the ultimate driving machine" over in the UK with a manual transmission?

Because you can't here in the USA if you want a 3 series, and that automatically revokes that title.
You can get MT in the smaller engine models, keeps the price down and historically fulfils a different part of the market. Plus many 4-cylinder diesels work better with AT, than MT, becomes the drivetrain of choice for more users, even at the lower end of the range.

Higher end models are all AT, we've been going this way for several generations of 3-series. Larger engine MT models were dying back in E90 days. Folks just didn't buy them in numbers which justified BMW UK supporting their sales and marketing. Some MT models were dropped part way through the E9x model's life cycle, as sales were just not there. Plus AT were holding their value better than MT, in many models.

Even the F10 M5 was never released in MT form in the UK, no real market for the MT.
Appreciate 1
heavyD^23684.00