New BMW M3 CS Handschalter brings a manual gearbox to the hottest M3, if you’re in America

North America isn’t exactly known for a preference for ‘stick shifts’ – in fact, just 25 new cars in the USA come with manual transmissions. But one of those is the BMW M3, now including the hot CS variant. 

Here in the UK, the M3 CS with an automatic gearbox arrived in saloon form some years ago. And as of last year there was even a CS Touring - something the US or Canada didn’t receive because the standard M3 Touring is homologated there anyway.  

However, the North American market is getting its own back with the launch of the M3 CS Handschalter. If the latter part of that name sounds familiar, you might remember the Z4 M40i Handschalter from a few years ago with ‘Handschalter’ denoting the addition of a manual gearbox.

The M3 CS Handschalter comes with a six-speed manual transmission instead of the eight-speed automatic ‘box in the regular M3 CS. Along with the CS’s use of carbon fibre-reinforced plastic, forged alloy wheels, titanium exhaust and carbon-fibre bucket seats (which remove 34kg themselves), it makes the M3 CS Handschalter the lightest version of the current M3. 

Among the other bespoke tweaks for the Handschalter variant of the M3 CS are the tuning of the steering and electronic control settings for the chassis, engine and gearbox. The chassis features new springs and a new rear axle link to lower the M3 CS Handschalter by 6mm compared with the regular M3. Shock absorbers from M4 CSL and auxiliary springs are fitted to the M3 CS Handschalter, too. 

The CS’s visual cues, such as the extended splitter and single-frame grille, are retained on the Handschalter as well. Four metallic paint options that’ll be familiar to BMW M car enthusiasts are available: Isle of Man Green and Black Sapphire metallics plus the optional Imola Red and Techno Violet.

However, despite all the fancy new parts fitted to the Handschalter, it doesn’t get the M3 CS’s engine tune. In the regular M3 CS, BMW lifts the turbocharged straight-six petrol engine’s output from the Competition model’s 523bhp to 542bhp to provide a 3.4-second 0-62mph time (helped by the standard-fit all-wheel drive) and a top speed of 188mph.

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That’s not the case with the Handschalter, which has the 473bhp set-up from the standard M3, which is not sold in the UK. All of the power goes to the rear wheels only, and as a result the 0-62mph time rises to 4.2 seconds. 

Production of the M3 CS Handschalter starts in July and BMW says it will be “built for maximum driver involvement”, so despite the lower power output, this is still aimed at BMW M purists. The company hasn’t said how many Handschalters it’ll build, although numbers are “very limited”. In the US, prices will start at $108,450 (roughly £82,000) and in Canada the M3 CS Handschalter will cost from $132,500 CAD (around £72,000). 

In the UK, the M3 Competition currently starts at £91,315, but if that’s too steep, don’t forget to check out the Auto Express Buy A Car service where used M3s of the current G80 generation can be had for just over £50,000. 

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