2020 M3 to feature a manual gearbox, confirms BMW

The 2020 BMW M3 has been making waves in the automobile waters for some time now. Following the spy shots that have been doing rounds over the internet, we all have been looking forward to obtaining some sort of substantial information about the upcoming BMW sedan. And guess what? The automobile manufacturer from Germany itself has spilt some beans about the much-awaited 2020 BMW M3.

While it might come to some as a surprise, the 2020 BMW M3 will indeed sport all of the clutch, brake, and accelerator pedals in the footwell. And to be honest, we certainly are pretty excited by BMW revealing the detail. With more and more automakers doing away with the manual gearboxes, days aren’t too far away when automatic transmissions will be all that we will be left with. Set to make their debut in early 2020, both the M3 and M4 will also sport a modified eight-speed torque converter that we have already seen on the BMW M5. The exact models that are supposed to carry a manual gearbox are yet to be known, though.

An “S58” or a turbocharged inline-six will be delivering the required juices to the 2020 BMW M3. It is essentially a highly revamped variant of the “S55” engine that powers the current-gen M3. BMW has said that the mill will sport an agile throttle response along with a free-revving nature.

"It’s a bit early to disclose all the details but something I want to highlight is that we will have a manual stick shift. Manual is very important. The manual stick shift is not a performance-bringer, because an automatic transmission is just faster, you can ask any race driver. But it gives the vehicle character and I kind of compare it to people who love mechanical watches; it isn’t more precise and it doesn’t have any advantage at all but it’s a character feature. So is a stick shift”, said Markus Flasch, the BMW M head during a series of conversations.