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Friday, June 30, 2017
Thursday, June 29, 2017
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BMW 2 Series Manual is Lost Only in Translation
What made the news item so hard to believe was that BMW could not give us a manual gearbox-equipped Four Seasons M2 to test because of supply. Too many paying customers were demanding them, the company’s North American division told us.
On Thursday morning wire services reported that BMW’s finance chief, Nicolas Peter, said the company would cut the number of engine and equipment options in order to save money on the manufacturing process, so it could free up capital to pay for development of electric, autonomous and connected cars. The stories said Peter singled out BMW 2 Series manuals sold in the U.S., and that “We have over 100 steering wheels on offer. Do we need that many variants?”
Well, no, to the steering wheels. But the 2 Series is BMW’s most engaging drivers’ car extant. It is the last Bimmer that should go without a manual option.
The Peter interview in Munich came from the German business newspaper Handlesblatt, and was poorly translated, according to a BMW North America public relations exec. Those 100 steering wheels and the 2 Series stick shifts were no more than examples Peter used to make his point. As Automotive News notes, the issue with the manual transmission is “the cost of certifying components in each market.”
Foreign and domestic automakers must meet federal emissions and safety standards before they can sell cars and trucks in the U.S. The process for certification requires that every drivetrain variant must be tested. An all-wheel-drive 3.0-liter stick must get a separate certificate from a rear-wheel-drive 3.0-liter stick, which must get a separate certificate from a rear-wheel-drive 3.0-liter automatic, for instance. If you’ve wondered why your favorite European brand won’t see you a diesel stick-shift station wagon, the reason is that profits from a few hundred sold would never pay for the million or so dollars of certification costs.
The good news is that once you get a certificate for each of the manual variants, they’re good for the lifecycle of the car and its powertrain. There’s no financial savings from certification in dropping manuals from any of the current versions of BMW 2-, 3- or 4 Series, including the M2, M3, and M4 coupe and convertible. We can’t vouch for the next generations of those models, however — we’ll never see a brand-new BMW M5 manual again.
Manuals lost their price, performance, and fuel efficiency advantages years ago, of course, and autonomy will kill them off for good. Our Four Seasons BMW M2’s 20/26 EPA fuel mileage equals the six-speed manual version’s highway number, and is 2-mpg better in the city. A few of us aren’t swayed by such pragmatic reasons to kill off the manuals. We’d rather select our own shift points rather than program in a dynamic drive mode to do it for us.
It’s not an “age thing.” My 17-year-old nephew now drives my wife’s old Mazda2 five-speed, wouldn’t trade it for an automatic, and would like to own a BMW some day. And though BMW North America assures me there will be 2 Series manuals for the foreseeable future, the next generation is not guaranteed.
BMW models run on a seven-year cycle. The 2 Series just got a refresh for 2017, and it has three model years, including 2018, before an all-new model comes in. Those 2021 BMW 2 Series will need to be certified, again, and stick-shift variants will need to justify their certification cost with enough sales to eek out a profit margin. BMW says it has a healthy manual take-rate on the 2 Series, though it doesn’t release percentages.
Meanwhile, the BMW 3- and 4-Series have about a year before their replacements start to arrive. Their manual take-rates, ravaged by non-enthusiast premium car buyers over the years, are undoubtedly much lower. If the next-generation 3 and 4 aren’t offered with three-pedal manuals, that will make it tough for our friend, BMW Chief Financial Officer Nicholas Peter, to justify engineering a manual for just one line, the 2 Series plus maybe the very low-volume Z4 replacement. Think about that when your local BMW dealer tells you there are no 330i manuals in stock in the entire tri-state area, and you’ll have to wait eight weeks or more if you order one from the factory.
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BMW Introduces Black Fire Edition X5 and X6 M
Launching this August, BMW will offer both the X5 M and X6 M SUVs in the company’s latest special edition dubbed, the Black Fire Edition, and will continue the company’s “success story in the Sports Activity Vehicle (SAV) and Sports Activity Coupe (SAC) sectors.”
While nothing has been done to either car’s engine, and why would you when both make 575 horsepower from their 4.4-liter twin-turbocharged V-8s, both the exterior and interior of both the X6 M and X5 M have been murdered out and given a racier appearance.
Both the X5 M and X6 M receive a special shade of black paint, called Sapphire Black Metallic, which also includes both car’s normal brightware, such as the double-kidney grille, and carbon-fiber mirror caps. Each car also receives a set of forged staggered 21-inch M alloy wheels, finished in the special Sapphire Black Metallic paint and completes the car’s menacing looks.
Inside, BMW lathered both the X5 M and X6 M with a host of motorsport goodies, including M multi-functional seats, Alcantara upholstery, aluminum shift paddles, and M’s multi-functional Alcantara steering wheel with a light-blue leather accent signifying BMW’s history with motorsport. The car’s interior is finished in contrasting Black and Mugello Red Merino leather, which also includes the center console.
Additionally, customers will also get special Black Fire Edition logos on each car’s dash, indicating each car’s uniqueness.
As mentioned earlier, BMW will begin to make the Black Fire Editions available this coming August, although the company has yet to disclose pricing on the upcoming special editions.
The standard BMW X5 M costs $100,700, while the X6 M costs $104,400, and we expect the Black Fire Edition to tack on at least another couple thousand dollars on top of that given the nature of the M Performance parts additions.
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