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I have a 535i MSport with 6MT, in the UK. Not a mainstream choice where I live - diesel outsells petrol by a wide margin, and of the few who buy 535is, very few choose manual boxes. My dealer tells me they received multiple phone calls from the production team at the start of the build, assuming I had forgotten to tick the box for the 8AT.
Anyway... FWIW
1) I had an 8SAT loaner for a day before I ordered
2) Have been driving my 6MT for 6 months now
3) Agree that the 8SAT is an excellent piece of engineering, and really suits the car
4) Still glad I bought the manual. Personal preference. It works fine and keeps me awake. There is still satisfaction in a gear shift properly executed. And I like the entirely predicable relationship between revs and power to the road wheels that is denied the driver of a torque convertor box.
I am slightly sad to note that the 6MT will no longer be available on the 535i here in the UK, when the LCI models arrive.
So yes, I am a dinosaur, and clearly out of step with the wider public.
BTW I also prefer my old air-cooled 911 to the new one my dealer lent me for a day, and I think the only thing wrong with my M3 CSL was the SMG box. I am incurable, it seems.
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