No more manual for the M5
Best Sedan: Despite Mercedes' best efforts, the best four-door car for the upper echelons remains the BMW M5, the grandaddy of "super saloons." The newest M5 rides on the F10/11 platform, and has undergone a complete overhaul since its older brother, the E60 was extinguished. Gone is the naturally aspirated, screaming V10, ditched in favor of BMW's new twin-turbo V8. Though the car buffs at British magazine, Top Gear, criticized the new M5 for its newfound placidity, they also praised it as the best fast sedan available. The M5 is the least expensive "supercar" on this list at $91,000. Credit: AP
It's no secret that the manual transmission is disappearing from the automotive market. Sports cars have been one of the most resilient classes thus far, but one of their juggernauts will soon lose its third pedal. Inside Line is reporting that the next BMW M5 will not offer a manual gearbox.
The M6 will also lose the option.
BMW claims that sales of manual-equipped M5s make up less than 20 percent of its annual shipment, so it's no longer cost-effective to continue building them.
Of course, it is sad to see an icon lose part of its hard-core enthusiast appeal --- with a six-speed manual, the M5 was a track demon in disguise. The next generation will never have the same feel.
However, there is hope --- Albert Biermann, head of BMW's M division, insisted that the M3 "needs to have a stick shift. It will always have a stick shift."
So, it seems, at least one hard-core BMW will exist as long as Biermann is in charge.
