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      06-21-2012, 02:27 AM   #45
Remonster
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Drives: E90 M3
Join Date: Dec 2007
Location: San Diego

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BMW, I'll tell you why no one buys the M5/M6 with a manual transmissions: the manual transmission was an afterthought on the E60 generation and it was blatantly obvious from the driver's seat. I've had the pleasure of driving every generation of M3 and M5 except for the E30 M3 and E28 M5 and I remember the first time I got behind the wheel of an E60 M5 with the manual transmission and being shocked at how awful the shifter felt. The last 3 cars I've owned have been manual BMWs (non M) so I was expecting the smooth shifts of my cars but the M cars always seemed to have this terrible, notchy, rough shifting feel that slowed down my shifts when I wanted to drive quickly and was even more annoying when I was just cruising around. My brother had an E90 M3 that I spent a lot of time driving and that also had one of the worst manual transmissions I have ever experienced. I just don't get what the problem is, the standard 335i comes with a perfectly fine manual transmission and there are guys running around with 450lb/ft of torque or even more and it doesn't seem to be a weak point so how come you guys can't get it right on the M cars?

The E46 M3 was the last M car I've driven that felt like it was designed with the manual in mind and that is also the last M car I would personally buy with the 6MT. I usually hate any type of automatic transmission but the manuals in the new M cars are so terrible that I would rather have a DCT.
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