No more MT BMWs in 2019 - and why I'll never buy anything past an EXX series

[nando]

https://www.autoblog.com/amp/2018/10...-transmission/

BMW as a company has sucked for years now - but this is the final nail in the coffin.

There's nothing left to differentiate BMW from the hoardes of crossovers and SUVs. "Traffic sucks". Whatever - MT is not hard at all in traffic, people just want to play on their damn phones instead of drive their cars.

Turbo engines are a dead end, automatics are fucking boring (and annoying) unless you just dont care anymore. BMW is way behind on electric, and all they can come up with are fake engine sounds, probably recorded from their glorious past.

I wish them luck only as far as i want to be able to buy new parts for my E30, but even that seems like a distant memory..

[e30davie]

Do they still market themselves as the "drivers car"? What did their slogan used to be again? for the driver? or something. real drivers car?

I was watching a chris harris on cars video the other day, cant recall what one, but he was reviewing something with a flappy paddle gearbox. he basically said the car was so fast, and had that many gears (10 i think?) that if he had a manual transmission he would not be able to keep up changing gears so often.

I assume they include so many gears to help with emissions and acceleration, and perhaps emissions and raw acceleration numbers is enough to trump the idea of it being a drivers car.

[nando]

Maybe - until cars are self driving (which apparently, the new car has some advanced abilities). So what's the point of a BMW that drives for you? You can go on a roller coaster ride for like $10. :p

[e30davie]

I wonder how much a second hand roller coaster costs. Prolly grab one of them for your backyard instead of buying the top model 3 series.

[nando]

my E90 330i will last me until I'm probably done with gas-engine cars. It has 140k on it now, there's several people with well over 300k on them already - and I drive like 9k a year. In 20 years when it's finally worn out, I'll just take the self driving UFO to work and drive my E30 on the weekends for fun.

[Dj Buttchug]

The release of the new G30 and no hope for a manual (at least in the US cuts real deep) From a former employee of 3 years I knew it was coming. We all saw it even in 2015. I remember looking at available build slots and dealer services reporting when placing orders or simply checking inventory across the west coast. The chances of locating a true manual car were very slim. DCT simply dominates now. Its faster, more manageable (less experienced drivers yielding 400+ hp cars on public roads) and it works freakin badass. Not to mention its also pretty damn reliable.

The ultimate driving machine truly is just that. It is also, unfortunately, no longer the ultimate purist machine.
There will come a time relatively soon where 6 speed F chassis cars will be worth significantly more than regular book value...
Welcome to the world of automated everything. :(

[nando]

having 3 pedals is at least like having free anti-theft. kids won't know how to drive it anyway. :p

[lukeADE335i]

The 320d will still come with a 6 speed manual in Europe.

Makes sense when 320ds make up over 50% of 3 series sales, and more than half of those are bought with a manual transmission.

I presume you could order in Europe and do the factory pick up and drive?

If you're used to e30 performance, they are just as quick - see the drag on Youtube between an F30 320d and an e30 M3 - the M3 only wins by half the hood, and the 320d is reeling it in at the line.

[djjerme]

My buddy who owns a BMW shop is having a real hard time staying positive about BMW's future car offerings. There was a little blurb in the German Car blog talking about an E46 Touring and how it wasn't long after the E46 that BMW became obsessed with electronic aides and infotainment systems in the car. That is when they stopped being a "Driver's Car".

But you are right in that people just don't want to pay attention when they are behind the wheel..

This year for Hood to Coast we rented these GIANT Nissan/Infiniti SUV's that were stupidly huge for no reason (and yet had zero storage space in the rear). They had every drivers aide/nanny device known to man and they constantly got in the way of me just driving.

Just doing what I do every day in all my cars - backing out of my driveway - triggered off so many of the warnings and locked up the brakes. It thought I was too close to the retaining walls/side of the house, or got freaked out because of the incline of the driveway and the sidewalk at the bottom it thought was a wall I was backing in to. And of course it's response was full braking. Not to mention the lane assist would freak out when I tried to apex a corner on the freeway. LOL.

Even when we tried to use the drivers aides to our advantage (setting the distance minder/cruise control when stuck in traffic while on the course) it failed miserably.

But everyone's response is "this won't be a problem when we go to self driving cars." If you don't want to drive or stuck dealing with traffic there is already a solution - ride the damn bus/train/taxi/public transit...

[varg]

Like it wasn't bad enough that the new M3/4 sounds like beelzebub's ass trumpet.

[MrBurgundy]

wack

[TobyB]

the new M3/4 sounds like beelzebub's ass trumpet.

Ahhh, now, THERE is a smell to dream of!

I wonder if they'll stick to it. Pun intended.
Pop Auto trends tend to be cyclical- I wonder if the 3rd pedal will ever cycle back...

Guess it's time to start hoarding E46's and putting LSDs in them.

Or maybe a Cummins conversion on a Tesla. THAT would be... something.

t

[Vincent Brick]

I might care more if I really thought I was ever going to own a car this new, but there are just so many things about modern cars that I dislike I will try to avoid owning one for as long as possible from any make. No current plans to stop dailying my E30.

[Mr. Wolfe]

I have no plans of ever owning a future BMW. We ended at our relationship at the e46.

I have no plans of selling my mint 2006 Interlagos M3 (25k miles) and my M62 swapped e30. If I was buying a new, non MT car, it would probably be an Audi anyways.

Mr. Wolfe

[E30 Wagen]

Sad. I actually really like the design of the F30, and the fact that it offered a manual makes me sad to see it go.