[deneed4spd]

I have driven a manual car here and there as needed (when friend was too drunk or friend was too tired from not sleeping for 3 days). I wouldnt say I am very smooth and will probably stall the car numerous times.

I have owned numerous bmws but all auto or DCT. Current M2 OC is DCT. I always wanted to get a manual bmw. Pondering if it is crazy for me to get a M2 CS as my first manual car? Maybe ill burn out clutch faster than the average joe due to mis shifts but do you think i have a chance of blowing the motor due to normal driving around time. I doubt accidently shifting from 6 to 3 or 4 to 1 would wreck the motor during normal driving?

Am i crazy?

[Acetech]

Mis shifting like that is exactly how you damage the engine, so don't do it!
If your puttering around at low speeds low revs you'll probably be ok when you winding it out and fubar the shift your done.

[detroitm2]

The M2 is probably one of the easiest/beginner friendly manual cars I've ever driven.

I've been driving manuals for the last 25 years or so. With all the fancy assists on this car, its really hard to stall it.

That being said, avoid mis-shifts, and don't do money shifts. You'll be fine. Just take it slow.

[sdhotwn]

It's a very easy manual to drive. Not sure why you would have those kind of misshifts to begin with. You'll take a motor out on ANY car you learn in with those mistakes. The good news is with the rev matching on the M2's the throttle blip will give you a warning you are headed in the wrong direction audibly before you slot the gear hopefully. So you might be fractionally less likely to make the mistake.

The best advice is don't shift fast. Slow and smooth is almost always faster anyway. Jerky fast shifts upset the cars balance. This is also not a drag car... so don't do it.

[CarJunkie]

I'll bet it will take you a few hundred miles to become smooth.
Practice the shifts in the garage to get the muscle memory down.

Most money-shifts happen when shifting in a corner during spirited driving. The lateral G's can move your hand/shifter to where you don't want to be. Your arm is already going to vector toward your body naturally, so attempting a 5-4 downshift quickly while turning right can result in a 5-2 downshift . . . if you clutch out and rev the engine to 9000rpm, engine done. That is the most common one.

By the same token, a 2-3 upshift while turning left can become a 2-5 upshift. Not dangerous, just going to lug the ending and have less power.

This has only happened to me once on the track, in a location where a downshift while turning is unavoidable. My 5-4 became a 5-6, and I spent the next corner wondering what happened to the motor until I had a chance to look at the guages . . . Oh, wrong gear.

Just don't start shifting quickly until you have a better feel for it.

[ScullyD]

First rule of driving manual is to understand what you are making the car do. Your comment that you "doubt a shift from 6th to 3rd or 4th to 1st would damage that car" shows me that you don't really understand what you are making the car do when shifting.

As far as a first manual car, its a super super easy car to drive (light clutch, well defined shift gate that is hard to grab a wrong gear in, rev matching on the downshift). That doesn't make it an easy car to learn on, cause the clutch engagement point is sort of undefined and you're naturally not going to learn to heal toe in this car unless you turn all the safety off. Learning on a good car you own is not easy to do though cause you hate to stall your engine during break-in (i learned on an s2000 and stalled it alot while i was learning and eventually traded the car in).

So what are you trying to accomplish. If you want to be a great manual driver, probably good to get a used car without rev matching. The manual gearbox on the CS isn't so amazing that you should want to experience it as something to never miss out on.

If you want a CS, you can get a DCT CS at probably a discount. Why not just do that?

[eric giles]

As others have mentioned, the M2 CS has the easiest to drive manual transmission setup of any car I've driven. I've owned no telling how many manual transmission BMW's, and this one in comparison is so easy that I think almost anyone could do it.

[ptgltw]

Send it! If it breaks it’s under warranty and have it repaired

[deneed4spd]

Originally Posted by ScullyD

First rule of driving manual is to understand what you are making the car do. Your comment that you "doubt a shift from 6th to 3rd or 4th to 1st would damage that car" shows me that you don't really understand what you are making the car do when shifting.

As far as a first manual car, its a super super easy car to drive (light clutch, well defined shift gate that is hard to grab a wrong gear in, rev matching on the downshift). Learning on a good car is not easy to do though cause you hate to stall your engine during break-in (i learned on an s2000 and stalled it alot while i was learning and eventually traded the car in).

So what are you trying to accomplish. If you want to be a great manual driver, probably good to get a used car without rev matching. The manual gearbox on the CS isn't so amazing that you should want to experience it as something to never miss out on.

If you want a CS, you can get a DCT CS at probably a discount. Why not just do that?

I like the driving element of my OG M2. Im sure it will feel that much better in a CS. But i keep wondering and missing what it feels like to have the whole experience of a manual bmw with amazing handling and power. That gut feel that you are always missing something with a DCT. My other thought was to buy a 128i manual and change the (blanking for a moment) the air thingy with the 330 to have a bit more power and get some speed with handing. But thought, why not just get a CS with manual and have it all.

Am i crazy?

[Wah]

My M4 was my first manual car. Like you I've driven many MT cars but never actually owned one. If you pretty much know how to drive manual then you'll have no problems picking it up. The 6mt of these cars are sooo easy with the rev matching and light clutch that make it an ideal car to learn on. Don't worry about money shifting... if it's your car you'll probably be as gentle as possible, and the blip from the rev match will actually give you just enough warning that you're about to fk up. Just don't drive it home from the dealership in stop and go traffic in a rain storm like it did and you'll be fine.

My first M4 was dct and was one of the reasons I bought a second one in 6mt. I will never go back.

[deneed4spd]

My wife has never driven manual. Anyone here ever get their significant other to learn how to drive a manual? One reason why i have a DCT. Although she does have her own SUV but sometimes i need the space to haul stuff.

[ScullyD]

Originally Posted by deneed4spd

I like the driving element of my OG M2. Im sure it will feel that much better in a CS. But i keep wondering and missing what it feels like to have the whole experience of a manual bmw with amazing handling and power. That gut feel that you are always missing something with a DCT. My other thought was to buy a 128i manual and change the (blanking for a moment) the air thingy with the 330 to have a bit more power and get some speed with handing. But thought, why not just get a CS with manual and have it all.

Am i crazy?

I had an DCT OG M2 that my wife/I used as a daily, and i bought a 6 spd CS. I feel like the 6 spd gives the CS an old school driving experience (it almost feels like a homage to an old car). Part of that homage feeling is cause i have other manual cars i've driven to compare it to (its strengths, its weaknesses) that give it a sense of character in my brain.

But, unless you plan to learn manual cause you want experience a plethora of manual cars in your lifetime, i wouldn't buy a CS in 6 spd just for the CS. I always reference my S2000, cause that car had terrible steering feel, but it did 2 things better than any car possibly (best manual transmission ever, best 4 cylinder NA engine ever). I bought that car and learned on it cause i specifically wanted to experience that manual gearbox and how it felt.

The thing the CS does best, i feel, is its the best electrically assisted steering i've ever felt. They've somehow dialed in magic with the front suspension tuning and the adaptive dampers to give a real sense of what the front of the car is doing. My advice to you, give yourself a chance to savor that and then really get chances to play with letting the tail out etc, so get a DCT that you are comfortable driving. Because thats really the reason to buy this car, not the gearbox.

Thats my two cents. You as a buyer, are the reason BMW made the car in DCT also.

Also here's a great video on why manual is important from Catchpole on carfection i always like to refer to:

[Moflow]

As others have said, the transmission that goes into the M2 is incredibly easy to use, though it wont teach you good habits thanks to doing a lot of stuff for you.

You won't stall it, it has an anti-stall feature.
It has a hill hold feature for hill starts.
It automatically matches revs on both upshifts and downshifts.

I've tested this on the ramp in my old parking garage: Facing uphill, stopped. Foot off gas, foot off brake, slowly let out the clutch, car pulls away smoothly.

That said, if the only time you're having fun in your car is when you're pushing the limits and concentrating on going fast, you'll probably be happier with the DCT. With a manual, you'll always be splitting your attention a little bit, so even beyond its mechanical disadvantages it will slow you down.

But of course, the trade off is interacting with the vehicle. You are literally using a rod of metal to scramble around the guts of the vehicle's drivetrain in a controlled manner. That interaction makes me enjoy even slow trips to the grocery store. And when you do start going fast, you're much more aware of the car and what it's doing. Personally, i wouldn't give up this interaction for the world, but that doesn't mean that you or anyone else has to enjoy the same things as me.

I don't know if a manual is the right choice for you, but I don't think you should be intimidated by the prospect of getting the car with a manual as its very very easy to use.

As others have said, you likely won't destroy your engine from mis-shifting if you're not pretending to be a race car driver. People have been driving manuals for about a hundred years now and that kind of thing is rare. It's not super easy to get the car into the wrong gear and even then, you have to let off the clutch AND be shifting at a super high RPM. Accidentally shifting from 3rd to 2nd when you were trying to shift from 3rd to 4th won't have any harmful effects if you're leaving 3rd at 4000 RPM.

[Yvette]

Drive 30min, you will be okay

[BigKutta]

As others have said the M2 MT is an easy one, with many nannies. With regards to avoiding money shift, dont shift aggressively until you are good at it, and even then let the lever come to its resting (middle) position before you shift to the next gear. It may be a bit slow to shift that way initially, but at least you will be able to process where to send the shifter next without worry. Get what you wont regret.

[AxM2CS]

May not have much to offer that hasn't been stated above, but I will reinforce everyone's point that the M2CS is an exceedingly easy and forgiving manual to drive. Not stiff and notchy or overly-exacting, but not sloppy either. You'll quickly (even as a novice) gain a tactile, intuitive feeling for where each shift needs to be placed. Granted it is an expensive and special car to learn on, but otherwise I would not be intimidated in going with the stick. Best advice I would offer is find an experienced driver (better yet, a pro - take a lesson) to help you get started and adopt best practices. There are preferred ways of shifting to/from the left, center, and right racks that help avoid a misfire (oriented to performance shifting, but will be helpful in practicing under daily conditions). Clutch engagement and release is just something you have to gain a feel for (on any new car), but the good news is this car is hard to stall and it would be extraordinary for you to damage or wear on something before getting familiar with it.

My wife's been hesitant to drive my new baby, but I'm encouraging her and have assured her it will be the easiest BMW she's ever operated (all of ours have been manuals). She drives my 540i6 with confidence and finesse, and the M2CS is just that bit better in a way that I believe makes it easier, not more challenging.

[MomoM3]

Originally Posted by deneed4spd

My wife has never driven manual. Anyone here ever get their significant other to learn how to drive a manual? One reason why i have a DCT. Although she does have her own SUV but sometimes i need the space to haul stuff.

I met a girl at a bar about 10 years ago and got too drunk to drive so she offered to drive my car home. Told her it was a manual (E92 M3) and she said "no problem, I know how".

I married that girl.

[MomoM3]

In college I bought a a brand new Yamaha R6 crotch rocket without ever riding a motorcycle. Had it delivered and my buddy taught me how to ride - while I was on the back of it lol.

In 2005, I bought a brand new E46 M3 6MT. I knew it was a special car and really wanted it but I didn't know how to drive stick. My brother drove it home from the dealer and taught me on his Civic Hybrid on a rainy Sunday. Monday morning I drive it to work stalling no less than 5 times in rush hour traffic.

Been driving a manual ever since!

BMW shifters and clutches, specifically on M cars are very forgiving and learning on one is easy peasy. I wouldn't worry too much about anything other than grinding and money shifts.

[cncmastr]

Originally Posted by deneed4spd

My wife has never driven manual. Anyone here ever get their significant other to learn how to drive a manual? One reason why i have a DCT. Although she does have her own SUV but sometimes i need the space to haul stuff.

Yup. When we were first dating, she learned on my ZHP, she picked it up very quickly. It's not as hard as she may think. The fun part is, as long as you let the clutch out super slow, the car will engage and go.

[Artemis]

Originally Posted by deneed4spd

I doubt accidently shifting from 6 to 3 or 4 to 1 would wreck the motor during normal driving?

It's simple mechanics: by miss-shifting you brutally push the revs out of scope and seriously strain engine components (risk of damage). Imagine your legs and bicycle mechanics when you abruptly shift from highest gear at high speed to lowest gear with your bicycle. Now imagine doing the same with a car.

But the manual M2, M2C and M2 CS feature rev-match/blipshift in all modes (except for DSC OFF mode), not only to assist the driver on downshifts, but also to help preventing a miss-shift: the sudden high-pitched 'wail' of high revs when entering the gear slot (gate) before you release the clutch, allows you an 'uh-oh' moment of realization preventing you to release the clutch pedal - however, if you release the clutch pedal, the wrong low gear is engaged and your transmission and engine face the risk of doom.

See this thread ("Money shift" on my 6MT M2 Competition - Car engine got replaced"):

'Miss-shift' / 'money shift':

Engine repairs on that M2C:

[JPMD]

Wonder why with modern technology/systems money shifts can't be overridden/prevented. Similar to hitting/bouncing off rev limiter in 1st gear.

Also does anyone know if the BMW ECU picks up over-revs similar to Porsche?

[deneed4spd]

I sat in the m2 cs, man it is a pretty car but I couldn’t pull the trigger. It costs 2x my OG and I just couldn’t stomach to pay that much even if it is the ultimate m2. Guess I view it as will I enjoy it 2x, probably not. Maybe 25 percent more. Guess if I didn’t have a OG, it would be easier to jump head first. Maybe down the road I’ll kick myself for not buying a potential classic.... maybe the G87 surprise us...hopefully not to much of a pig/ugly front... but I doubt it, since how heavy the z4 is already. Consolidation prize is a OG m2 for life which isn’t so bad.