[ronniecs7]

Hi everyone!

I just joined bimmerpost today as I eagerly await my g87 M2 delivery. This will be my first manual transmission car and I was hoping to hear some general words of advice. My brother in law has been teaching me to drive manual in his Hyundai Veloster, so that is the only practical context that I have. I would love to hear how the M2 differs/compares.

[drp087]

My F87 was my first manual a couple years ago, and the only experience I had was a 1hr crash course from a driving school's Scion beater. The Scion's clutch was super easy, and after 1 hr I was confident I can handle the M2.

Delivery day comes and holy shit I was stalling at every start. The inch or so of clutch play before engagement was throwing me off, so immediately got the BMS clutch stop, and it got much better. I think it took me awhile to develop some muscle memory to RELEASE the pedal smoothly (vs PRESSING the brake pedal smoothly)

I drove a manual G87 before, and I think its the same, you might want to have the clutch stop handy. G87 also had a auto restart after stalling, and auto blip helps for smoother downshifts. Hill start assist only activates if you go into 1st before you start releasing the clutch. I think with all these manual-aids, theres no better time to learn a MT!

[chris719]

The M2 is one of the easiest manuals you'll find. The clutch is easy and the car is hard to stall. It's 10x easier than an old small 4 cyl 6MT. It's harder to drive smoothly perhaps but it's not hard at all.

[clutchdj]

Originally Posted by ronniecs7

Hi everyone!

I just joined bimmerpost today as I eagerly await my g87 M2 delivery. This will be my first manual transmission car and I was hoping to hear some general words of advice. My brother in law has been teaching me to drive manual in his Hyundai Veloster, so that is the only practical context that I have. I would love to hear how the M2 differs/compares.

nice first manual for sure. congrats.

1. don't lean on the shifter.
2. learn how to properly heel-toe downshift.
3. don't rest your foot on the clutch.
4. if you ever spin, ALWAYS press in the clutch and brake until come to a complete stop in order to avoid blowing the motor.

[Geighty7]

Originally Posted by clutchdj

nice first manual for sure. congrats.

1. don't lean on the shifter.
2. learn how to properly heel-toe downshift.
3. don't rest your foot on the clutch.
4. if you ever spin, ALWAYS press in the clutch and brake until come to a complete stop in order to avoid blowing the motor.

Doesn’t need to learn to heel-toe with this car lmfao.

Good to know, not necessary at all to drive this car and still enjoy.

[apez]

Pretty much impossible to stall - on flat ground you can let the clutch out without any gas no problem.

If you do stall I think it will automatically restart when you put the clutch back in (have not verified).

There is a hill/brake hold. For a few seconds after you release the brake while the clutch is in the brakes stay engaged. The will release when you let out the clutch, so no rolling back. If you take too long to release the clutch it will eventually disengage and you will start rolling.

1st to 2nd can be hard to make smooth. In my car either the clutch got better or the driver got better and it is less annoying now. I think rev hang drives some of this, but I have seen some reports of freer flowing intakes/exhaust/cats helping as well.

[Laguna Seca Blue]

First of all, congratulations! Like you, I learnt to drive a manual on a brand new car. Granted, it was 21 years ago on a 2003 Mazda 6s. Anyway, my life (and the car’s clutch) would have been a lot happier had I been given the advice of a driving instructor I heard several year later:

1. Forget your car has an accelerator pedal. Find a flat open space and put the car in first gear. Slowly let off the clutch until you start to creep forward. Push the clutch back in and brake to a standstill. Repeat until you can get to the engagement point quickly and instinctively.

2. Still no accelerator pedal. Now that you’re able to get to the engagement point instinctively, start to slowly release the clutch all the way. The first few times, you’ll bog and lurch a little — but the more you practice you’ll discover how to release the clutch smoothly.

3. Now that you’ve figured out how to get the car moving in first gear, it’s time to shift to second and introduce the accelerator. Clutch all the way in, shift to second and right as you’re getting to the engagement point, gently accelerate and let off the clutch. When you can do the first second shift pretty smoothly, introduce the accelerator when taking off in first. Your M2 will thank you

[robopp]

Originally Posted by clutchdj

nice first manual for sure. congrats.

1. don't lean on the shifter.
2. learn how to properly heel-toe downshift.
3. don't rest your foot on the clutch.
4. if you ever spin, ALWAYS press in the clutch and brake until come to a complete stop in order to avoid blowing the motor.

Blowing the motor from a spin?

[RockCrusher]

Have owned a number of cars equipped with a manual. From a 90hp VW Golf TDi to a 485hp Dodge Challenger.

The clutch and shifter all work about the same. Biggest difference is where the clutch starts to engage. I found with some cars -- with the engagement point being closer to the floorboard -- being a bit further back which resulted in a straighter leg worked better. But I found with other cars -- with the engagement higher off the floorboard -- moving a bit closer with my leg bent worked better.

But you might prefer it the other way. You'll have to find a position that works best for you.

Had been driving automatics for months before I bought the M2. But in no time after leaving the dealer I was an "old hand" at driving a manual.

My M2's clutch and shifter are superb.

The M2 engine has good torque down low, is tractable at low (reasonably low) RPMs. No need to fry the clutch to get the car moving.

What I like to do is ASAP after I get a new manual equipped car is find a spot on some flat pavement with the transmission in 1st gear and with my right foot on the floor just ease the clutch out slowly to get the car moving. A time or two and this -- at least in my case -- provides me with some feel of how to get the car moving from a stop with a minimum of throttle and clutch slippage and doing this smoothly (and with no engine stalling) and time after time. (As in about 955,000 miles of driving manuals with no fried clutches (or damaged transmissions either).)

Sure in your case (as it was in my case too when I got my first manual equipped car) practice makes perfect. Perfecting the proper coordination of working the clutch and selecting the desired gear. I jumped into the deep end of the pool and ended up purposely driving in traffic and repeatedly having to get the car moving and doing so smoothly with no drama and then going up some gears only to have to bring the car to a stop. And over and over again.

Consider yourself lucky. Can't think of a better car with which to learn to drive a manual than a new M2. I learned in a used 1972 Datsun 510...

[Laguna Seca Blue]

Originally Posted by robopp

Blowing the motor from a spin?

Yeah, the only piece of advice i would take from that post for a new manual driver is to not lean on the shifter. Switch gears and then take your hand off the shifter to avoid wearing out the synchros.

If you’re spinning out, your only focus should be on controlling the car. You’re not going to blow the motor by not pressing in the clutch. If you make a habit of wiping out Mario Kart style you’ll likely hit something before the minor wear to your transmission/motor causes any issues.

Edit: Oh and that thing about not resting your foot on the clutch, that’s good advise too.

[Montaver]

Enjoy the last manual M car 👍

[fangelov]

There are things that can wear out from constant pressure on the shift lever, but is not the synchros ;-)

[NewToM]

Originally Posted by fangelov

There are things that can wear out from constant pressure on the shift lever, but is not the synchros ;-)

It’s the brakes isn’t it…

[fangelov]

Originally Posted by NewToM

It’s the brakes isn’t it…

Might be the selector fork, but not 100% sure it applies to the M2 transmission. Not a bad idea to avoid resting your hand on the lever anyway.

[mynameisnick4]

Don't over think it. You are already ahead of the curve by having seat time in a manual prior to getting it. When I got my first manual (Focus RS) I bought it 2.5 hours away from home with only 10 minutes of seat time behind a manual. I got it across the street and practiced for 45 minutes before getting it home.

Luckily modern manuals are the easiest ones to drive. You'll have hill assist, anti-stall (automatically gives it a bit of throttle if you go real slow from a stop), and auto rev match. I'd say the biggest advice (from my perspective) when you are new is be very careful when you start doing wide open throttle red line shifts. When I was new I money shifted a few times but got lucky as shit not to grenade the motor. Keeping your palm out is a good way to avoid this.

[clutchdj]

Originally Posted by robopp

Blowing the motor from a spin?

yes. worst case scenario, if the engine doesn't stall itself fast enough, the timing can jump and all sorts of nasty things can go wrong with the motor. That's one of the reason's why they teach you to put two feet in at the track if you spin.

[Ravenseal]

Originally Posted by ronniecs7

My brother in law has been teaching me to drive manual in his Hyundai Veloster, so that is the only practical context that I have. I would love to hear how the M2 differs/compares.

Keep practicing. Muscle memory is muscle memory. Different cars have different manual transmissions, but they all take the same skills to operate for the most part. Spend as much time as possible learning in another car, since I'm assuming you don't want to risk harming your brand new BMW. Rent a Mustang or a Miata off Turo for a weekend. Drive it around town. Then take it on some back roads, get comfortable driving it spiritedly. If you've never owned a RWD, manual, 500hp car - you need to take this progressively.

[robopp]

Originally Posted by clutchdj

yes. worst case scenario, if the engine doesn't stall itself fast enough, the timing can jump and all sorts of nasty things can go wrong with the motor. That's one of the reason's why they teach you to put two feet in at the track if you spin.

From what? Spining won’t cause a mechanical overrev and the ecu won’t allow the driver to overrev so what exactly is causing the overrev?

[LAnderson23]

I told my wife I would teach her how to drive a stick shift, but now that the reality of teaching her on my brand new M2 is setting in I'm starting to regret making that promise, lol. Should I try and back out of this arrangement? How much damage can she do?

[drp087]

Originally Posted by LAnderson23

I told my wife I would teach her how to drive a stick shift, but now that the reality of teaching her on my brand new M2 is setting in I'm starting to regret making that promise, lol. Should I try and back out of this arrangement? How much damage can she do?

lol I would feel the same, make an excuse that after driving it you dont think its the easiest to learn on, rent a cheap manual on Turo and have her learn on it over the weekend. I actually would have preferred this myself if I was learning so I won't have to worry so much.

[eluded]

I am a fan of focusing on the enhancement point. The first thing to teach when getting started is to learn where it is with no gas pedal usage.

[DrewNewM2]

Originally Posted by eluded

I am a fan of focusing on the enhancement point. The first thing to teach when getting started is to learn where it is with no gas pedal usage.

I think you mean engagement point or clutch bite point and I agree. That’s how I learned over 30 years ago on an old Toyota Pickup which was very unforgiving compared to new manual cars. If you didn’t get it right, that thing would be bucking and lunging lol.

New manuals are easy to learn