[Rons335i]

Just curious. And the ones I've found seem to be more expensive

[mike3000fl]

supply and demand brother.

harder to find = more expensive

[Delusive]

Alot of people just don't want to learn how to drive a manual, that's one reason and also most BMW's are owned by middle aged people which means not much want to buy a manual?

[iBoost]

Dealerships in the states barely stocks any. Most are actually ordered if I'm not mistaken. Took me forever to find mine but we'll worth the wait. Patience!

[Jeremy]

The dealer I bought mine from told me less then 12% brought into the US are manuals.

[BEAR-AvHistory]

Low demand = short supply.

[John 070]

Because everybody is a F1 racer nowadays.

Our household didn't even have an auto until 2011. Now we have two sticks and one auto. Auto is so ***.

I always love the comment, "Your wife drives a stick?" As if sex has anything to do with it.

[Efthreeoh]

I basically made a comment about this when I told the story about my recent visit to a Cadillac dealer. The thread went 5 pages and I got called a Douchebag about 20 times...

[John 070]

Originally Posted by Efthreeoh

I basically made a comment about this when I told the story about my recent visit to a Cadillac dealer. The thread went 5 pages and I got called a Douchebag about 20 times...

Usually, it takes the word girl, girlfriend, sex, porn, new girl needs help with turning on my bmw, or grandpa and kids first bmw, to take a thread to 5 pages.....I'm surprised your caddy thread did that....

[Efthreeoh]

Originally Posted by John 070

Usually, it takes the word girl, girlfriend, sex, porn, new girl needs help with turning on my bmw, or grandpa and kids first bmw, to take a thread to 5 pages.....I'm surprised your caddy thread did that....

Apparently our fellow E90 Posters thought I was mean to the salesman and made him cry (he actually didn't cry; just got rude). In our lovely little society today with 20-somethings having fragile self esteem (because we don't challenge our young people - i.e. tell them they are wrong in school) one can't have a frank discussion if a question is asked that has a difficult answer...

[John 070]

Originally Posted by Efthreeoh

Apparently our fellow E90 Posters thought I was mean to the salesman and made him cry (he actually didn't cry; just got rude). In our lovely little society today with 20-somethings having fragile self esteem (because we don't challenge our young people - i.e. tell them they are wrong in school) one can't have a frank discussion if a question is asked that has a difficult answer...

LOL I just went to look at the thread, and to tell you the truth, I too would be interested in driving the 2.0 with a stick, and not a 3.6 with an auto. The 3.6 is the GM bread and butter motor, direct injected with no carbon on the valves, but basically no more than 270-280 ft. lbs. no matter how many horses they tune it for.

Personally, I don't think you were rude, basically stating fact. Nowadays, the customer is not always right, and the customer must walk on eggshells and be politically correct at all times. Can't know anything, can't ask any questions.

I think you basically mentioned something that makes no sense--if you want a ATS with a stick, you won't be able to drive it first. Instead of agreeing that it makes no sense, the salesperson tried to justify the situation.

Earlier in the summer I drove the Passat TDI with a stick, and yes, the dealer always has 1. The car had I believe 10 miles on it, and over 40 when we got back. I was thinking that if I were to buy this car, I would never buy one with 40+ miles because I know someone drove it, it is not technically new off the car carrier. But the dealership does not look at it that way. If they want to sell a Passat TDI with the 6 manual, they have to let customers drive them to see if that's what they want.

Oh, and I got my $25 gift card in a matter of 8 days from VW. That was a very low price, I mean Audi gives $100, GM $50, (BMW used to give $100) but what the hey....

p.s. the Passat's steering is looser feeling than my 1998 Nissan, which really stinks. It used to be that with a German car, you really got that je ne sais quoi at least with road feel....no more, not even on a F30 or Audi A4 or A6. A real shame imho.

[Efthreeoh]

Originally Posted by John 070

LOL I just went to look at the thread, and to tell you the truth, I too would be interested in driving the 2.0 with a stick, and not a 3.6 with an auto. The 3.6 is the GM bread and butter motor, direct injected with no carbon on the valves, but basically no more than 270-280 ft. lbs. no matter how many horses they tune it for.

Personally, I don't think you were rude, basically stating fact. Nowadays, the customer is not always right, and the customer must walk on eggshells and be politically correct at all times. Can't know anything, can't ask any questions.

I think you basically mentioned something that makes no sense--if you want a ATS with a stick, you won't be able to drive it first. Instead of agreeing that it makes no sense, the salesperson tried to justify the situation.

Earlier in the summer I drove the Passat TDI with a stick, and yes, the dealer always has 1. The car had I believe 10 miles on it, and over 40 when we got back. I was thinking that if I were to buy this car, I would never buy one with 40+ miles because I know someone drove it, it is not technically new off the car carrier. But the dealership does not look at it that way. If they want to sell a Passat TDI with the 6 manual, they have to let customers drive them to see if that's what they want.

Oh, and I got my $25 gift card in a matter of 8 days from VW. That was a very low price, I mean Audi gives $100, GM $50, (BMW used to give $100) but what the hey....

p.s. the Passat's steering is looser feeling than my 1998 Nissan, which really stinks. It used to be that with a German car, you really got that je ne sais quoi at least with road feel....no more, not even on a F30 or Audi A4 or A6. A real shame imho.

The past three weeks has been a great experience. I've got to extensively drive the F30 and the ATS on my daily commute, which is a mix of roads and traffic that challenge any car, but ideal for a small sports sedan, so the cars are in the their element. The 335i F30 was atrocious, the 320i F30 was better but really slow and the electric steering BMW just didn't get right. The ATS is the BMW out of all three. While the steering is electric and can't match the feedback you get with hydraulic, it does provide decent feedback far better than what the F30 has (which is none). The Caddy's CUE system is not designed for use when actually driving the car (I'd probably not get it anyway) and the gauge lights and the lights on the steering wheel just don't dim down enough for dark country road driving. And I guess the Feds changed a law because the passenger side airbag light is now a status light and constantly stays illuminated (both the F30 and ATS have it lit when no one is in the passenger seat). I like my interior to have a few lights on (and very dim at that) at night as possible; it's better to see deer with no near-light pollution in your eyes.

[mansito]

Originally Posted by Rons335i

Just curious. And the ones I've found seem to be more expensive

They are harder to find, but not impossible. I would say that manuals sell for less because nobody wants to drive manuals. I bought a MT in August that had been sitting at the dealer since May. If it had been auto it would have been sold immediately.

[pgaplayerless]

Americans are lazy and 95% of them have no idea how to drive a stick. They much rather be eating, reading, doing their makeup that work their own gears while driving.

[kfriceman]

Drove a stick for a large portion of my adult life, the new autos w/sport shifting options have become so good giving up the stick was no loss...for me.

I understand the purists and respect their positions and glad that manuals can still be had albeit getting harder to find.

Why are they harder find because most people don't want the added effort to driving, especially in a commuting environment so the auto transmission gets the nod.

As for price, as stated above it is a supply vs. demand situation.

-Kevin

[nanceman]

Stay patient, it will be worth it. I was getting a 335is but wanted a manual... Yeah, that was like finding a unicorn (I couldn't justify the new as stickered price at this point for a second, fun only car, so had to look for a 24 mo max lease turn in or early sale). I FINALLY did, and yes it is sooo worth it.

For the record, my daily is also a manual. That said, having driven in the types of traffic found in certain cities I can understand the annoyance, here in the Detroit area we've got so many freeways our "traffic jam" is having to the speed limit... Okay, 50 on a bad day.

On the note of manual sales, this has ALWAYS been the status quo for performance machines with a high dollar price. Everyone seems to forget that the vast majority of the most desirable muscle cars (Hemi's, etc) are almost always found in auto and that's why the manuals that do exist add such a premium to the price. It has been this way and will continue to be this way, the majority of those who can afford these second cars new are older and don't want to deal with a manual. Also, shockingly, the auto was "faster" then too for what those cars were designed for, so it really is an apples to apples comparison that in the end "fastest" isn't what ends up being desired. There will always be something faster, what changes is looking back at cars you want nostalgia/involvement/a feeling. Time has proven that in the end the supply and demand gets turned on its head and the rare, involving manual ends up being what everyone seeks out. $100 says that 550 and 575M's with gated 6-speeds will be very valuable as the last "pure" GT Ferrari's. While BMW's will not have that kind of collector value, just like today people want manual E30's and that will continue.

[code600]

Just got a E90 LCI 335i on stick. Now that was even harder to find.

[iknowitsfast]

I cant believe they are so hard to find, when I was researching and looking to purchase mine last month I found three within 30 miles. I was looking for an automatic and the manuals that I found were in great condition, I was upset i had to pass them up!

[Desert_Fox]

Go for an M3. I used to be in the market for one and I couldn't find a single one with the color combo/options I wanted with the DCT. I don't mind manuals dying out, makes Porsche and BMW shopping easier.

[DC_Oldboy]

Probably because most people prefer auto. And for the small percentage of MT, we (E90Post) picked it up LOL.

[Yvette]

all demos, test drive purpose cars = A/T
hence, more at > less mt

[John 070]

Originally Posted by pgaplayerless

Americans are lazy and 95% of them have no idea how to drive a stick. They much rather be eating, reading, doing their makeup that work their own gears while driving.

It's sad, isn't it? Then you hear, well, I would drive a manual, but, there's so much traffic where I live, and it's hard with all the traffic to eat, read, and do my makeup.

Nowadays, everybody plays F1 racer and loves it, until it becomes a 7,000 dollar repair job. Oh, but wait, repairing the tranny is not the responsibility of the person renting the car. So they lease another and play F1 racer while eating, reading, and doing makeup.