Great to see a continued investment in manual shifting. I love the feel and the experience - truly missing in DCT, SMG, PDK etc. Happy to see BMW continue to invest in this because Porsche is just killing it right now with the 991 - according to my rep 50% of the new custom order 911 sales from North America are all MT; big numbers not to ignore. Also there has been a renewed interest in MT with the release of the 7 speeds - great to see BMW doing this. Hopefully they can come out with something that can keep purists and "practicalists" all happy.
I found that my motorcycle tranny quick shifter is the best - allowing you bang, bang, bang up through the gears without clutching but then also allowing you to clutch, blog, and feather the engine the as needed when you wanted to come down and play. There is a reason DCT has not taken off in the Moto world - the current trannies are just sooo good.
P.S. There has been an unusual uptake in manual cars (
http://www.autoguide.com/auto-news/2...lar-in-us.html) and I feel that with the innovation coming from Porsche and now BMW it will only be a matter of time before more manufacturers will change their minds on this. We MT drivers are very easily swayed by tranny selections and big shifts in customer purchases can be alerted by what you offer.