(Motorsport-Total.com/Motor1) – The current M3 is slowly entering its final lap – because the G80 will not be around for much longer. This is not entirely surprising, after BMW itself announced that the M3 CS with manual transmission for North America is intended as a farewell presentation of this generation.
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The sixth-generation sports sedan has already arrived in the USA for the 2027 model year – and now we learn that it will also be the last. That’s right: The M3 will not return for the 2028 model year.
In an interview with BimmerLife, BMW product planning specialist Scott Stirling confirmed that 2027 will be the last model year of the sixth-generation M3. He was also the person who convinced BMW management in Munich to bring the M3 CS manual as the final highlight into production. The lightest G80 thus joins a short list of exclusive special editions for North America – including the E92 Lime Rock and E36 Lightweight.
When production will exactly end, Stirling left open. However, an insider in the Bimmer Post forums claims that BMW will build the last M3 in February 2027. The direct successor with an internal combustion engine is therefore expected only sometime in 2028 – then it is supposed to be produced in a different plant. Under the codename G84, the seventh-generation M3 will be the first gasoline-powered M3 built outside Munich: production moves to Dingolfing.
BMW brings M3 as combustion engine and as electric car
We deliberately speak of the “gasoline-powered” M3, because an electric M3 is supposed to go into production in Munich as early as next year. The ZA0 has been teased several times – as a brutal quad-motor EV including artificial V10 sounds and simulated gear shifts. It is supposed to get an M-specific battery pack with a net capacity of more than 100 kWh and offer significantly more power than the 470 hp available in the i3 50 xDrive.
Looking ahead, the combustion M3 will still keep a 3.0-liter inline six-cylinder with biturbo, but according to Neue-Klasse chief Dr. Mike Reichelt, it will rely on a “new type of six-cylinder.” Reports indicate that mild hybrid technology will be used to meet stricter European emission standards. If the rumors are true, the next M3 will be offered exclusively with automatic transmission and all-wheel drive. This would make the M3 CS manual the end of the era of three pedals and rear-wheel drive.
The manual transmission is on its deathbed
However, BMW is not completely saying goodbye to the classic formula yet. The current M2 and M4 are rumored to continue production until closer to the end of the decade. That means: about three years remain to buy one of the two coupes with manual transmission and rear-wheel drive. Nevertheless, the direction is clear: BMW M chief Frank van Meel recently hinted that the six-speed manual transmission is unlikely to survive well into the next decade:
Photo series: BMW M3 (G80) faces the end: 2027 is the last model year
‘In the future, it will be very difficult to develop completely new transmissions because the market segment is quite small and suppliers have little interest in doing something like that.
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So we are still satisfied with the manual transmissions we have, and we plan to keep them for the next few years. But in the future, it will probably be more difficult to keep manual transmissions alive – especially in the next decade.’
There is still time for an M3 with manual transmission
Until then, there is still a chance to buy an M3 with a classic manual gearbox. If production actually ends next February, order books are likely not to close before the end of this year. The CS manual goes into production in July – but in “very limited numbers” for the USA and with only 40 vehicles for Canada.
In the USA, the M3 CS with manual transmission costs $108,450 before options. However, you don’t have to spend that much if a regular M3 is sufficient: it starts there at $80,650.
It is becoming increasingly likely that the M3 CS manual marks the beginning of the end for manual transmissions at M. When the current M3 is discontinued, BMW will only have two models with manual transmission left in the lineup – and even the M2 and M4 with six-speed gearboxes are unlikely to survive beyond the end of the decade.
As BMW explains, manual transmissions reach torque limits, and demand is too low to justify the development of a new transmission. Modern automatic transmissions also deliver better fuel consumption and lower emissions. Enthusiasts may not necessarily care about these advantages – but every extra gram counts for manufacturers selling vehicles in the EU and other regions with increasingly strict regulations.
There is still hope for rear-wheel drive: BMW’s xDrive system already offers a pure RWD mode as soon as traction control is deactivated. It is plausible that this feature will also remain in the next M3 – only the chances are good that you will no longer shift the gears yourself then.
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The good old M era:
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