BMW Is Planning Even More Fast, Exciting Cars... But The Manual M-Car Is Doomed

With the M2 consistently selling at almost one and a half times its targets, BMW has been heartened to build even more M cars, with even more speed and focus

Matt Kimberley

Updated: 10 Oct 2024

BMW Is Planning Even More Fast, Exciting Cars... But The Manual M-Car Is Doomed

BMW is reportedly planning more of its hardcore GTS and CSL models. The company has apparently spotted a growing market for more Car Throttle-appropriate cars. This is good news.

The company is on a bit of a roll right now. The M2 is one of our favourite cars on sale at any price, and with a CS version incoming next year, we don’t expect that to change. The carbonfibre-hosed M4 CS is a mighty thing, too.

Now, Autocar is reporting that BMW could be testing an M2 CSL off the back of M2 sales that are posting 40-50 per cent higher than expected. It would use the twin-turbo S55 straight-six from the M3 and M4, just like the expected M2 CS, but it would pack even more fight than the CS – and be lighter. A manual gearbox will still be standard (hallelujah!).

Speaking to the magazine, BMW M’s vice president Dirk Hacker said:

“The M2 is tracking at 40-50 per cent above our expectation in terms of sales, with almost half of buyers specifying a manual.
“Demand for cars like the M2, which is probably our purest M product today, has surprised us, and that opens opportunities for building more extreme cars, in the vein of GTS and CSL heritage models.
“Any car that has true heritage to motorsport is an opportunity for us. New markets are always opening for those cars and that will increase, so long as we keep building cars that are sufficiently special.”

While the rumoured CS is due to hit the shelves next year, when the (ever-so-slightly) facelifted 2-Series goes on sale, the CSL would be a run-out special. It wouldn’t be launched until the last year of the model’s life, and numbers would be limited.

To stoke the hype train even more, the M2 will also be the last M-car to have a manual gearbox, so a CSL halo model will be hugely, zealously sought-after. The speed advantages and marketing benefits that come with them mean that the manual M-car is officially facing its last hurrah. Damn.

Source: Autocar

Comments

Demand for cars like the M2, which is probably our purest M product today, has surprised us.

Wow, who would have guessed? People wanted a car that’s fun to drive every day and frankly don’t really care about the last tenth of a second on the Nürburgring, neither do they want a GTish car when they opt for the M-series. What a surprise. Almost as if they were looking for, you know, a sports car.

I wonder why the Toyobaru isn’t selling better, it’s a sports car (although a relatively slow one) with a manual, drive by wire, N/A and RWD. Can you call it the “poor mans M2”?

I legtimitely dont know what to say. Im just completely loss for words with the M2 being BMW’s last car.

*for manuals i mean.

😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭

I cri

No need for that much emoticons

The M2 is the only new BMW I’d ever want, and now they’re killing it boo hoo!

jamesmayfake

[DELETED]

“…mean that the manual M - car is officially facing its last hurrah”

mah wallet :(

And I still remember when BMW made the “ultimate driving machine”

More like “ultimate trophy machine” now that a monkey could drive one :’(

I really like the m2 especially manual

Holy… This manual=racing thing needs to die. Only wannabe racers that’ll crash the car the first time they try to push it, are whining about manual cars. Not one motorsport worth of being called that still uses manual transmissions, so get over it. DCT are better and faster.

It isn’t about being better or faster.

I don’t need a road car that does 0-jail in less than 3 seconds. I need a car that I can feel connected with and is fun to drive. A proper manual transmission delivers that much better than a DCT does.

I want a car that I can embarrass myself in if I screw up and choke it out at a stop. I want a car where I can leave it a 7200 rpm for no reason other than being an ass, without the car automatically shifting. I want a car that I feel connected to, not something that is going to put down world record lap times. I am not a racing driver, I am a guy who commutes 25 miles to work everyday and I want to do it in something that has a soul, not something that is a heartless track eating machine.