Quote:
Originally Posted by Jblack4083
One thing that the sort of mention in the article is the lack of availability of manuals at the dealership. The dealerships have limited space and are about making money. Most of them don't even stock manual cars for this reason. It makes sense. I recently had a friend who wanted a 435i manual but when he got to the dealership and they had none and told him how long he would have to wait to either order one or for them to swap with another dealership for one, he just got the automatic.
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This is so true and skews the statistics drastically. A better sample would be to compare how many customer special order cars were manual vs. auto. The dealers order what they think will move the quickest and manuals may not fit that bill in most markets. It is that way with a lot of auto makers, not just BMW. I remember back in the late 80's looking for a Toyota pickup (pre-Tundra) with a manual transmission and no one in a 5 state area had one, even though it was available that way from the factory. I stumbled across a Nissan with a 5 speed and bought it instead.
When I went to trade in my E39 M5 for an Infiniti FX45, I had to work to find a dealer that would even take it on trade because it had a manual transmission and was a sedan, even if it was the only transmission offered. At the time, Infiniti even offered manuals in their G35 sport sedans but rarely did they even get one on the lot.
Likewise, when I bought my 6 speed 6 series coupe, I got it a big discount because the dealer had it in inventory for over 9 months. Of course it brought less at trade in too, but not nearly as much as the initial discount (let alone interest saved).
When BMW brought out the DCT in the 46 M3, and the V10 M5/6's, as options, they began the dwindling of the purist M car. Before that, a manual transmission belonged in a sports sedan, coupe or convertible, not so much in a luxury sedan or even SUV (that is of course debatable but a losing argument nonetheless). But now, with DCT, they proposed, and successfully I might add, that autos belong in them just as much as manuals. The manual in those M's weren't really that great either. Now it has evolved into the current state of affairs where a manual is rare find if even offered (911 GT3 and turbo variants, Ferraris, F-Types, etc.). In fact Porsche states that 80% of 911 sales are PDKs. Again, it goes back to what dealers are ordering and that is additional profit as well as more potential buyers for their very expensive offerings.
Going back to the original quote, it is also true about colors. When my wife and I ordered our F30 335 sedan, we had no choice because we wanted Imperial Blue with specific options. We could have had our choice of cars from our choice of dealers equipped exactly like we wanted in either 328 or 335 versions, as long as it was black. I asked the general sales manager when he was trying to locate a car for us why there were so many black cars available and he said it was because they sold quicker than any other color. So I asked him if it was because that's the color people wanted or if it was because it was what was available. He didn't know.
We ended up with the sport auto tranny because it is my wife's dd, and while she is very facile with a stick, she decided she liked the 8 speed well enough and it got better fuel economy. It's a fine transmission and she doesn't drive with the same "enthusiasm" that I do anyway.
Until my knee doesn't bend anymore, or I get a 991 GT3
, I'll always prefer a manual. In fact, I'll be up for a new car in a couple of years and the cars I'm considering are M2, M4, Boxster S and C-7 Z-06 manual variants. The new F-Type R could be option but I'd have to consider it like the GT3 because if it's such a great car it is worth not having a manual.