I know some people are probably sick of all these mpg threads, but this particular point I'm emphasizing about the 335 MT vs. AT was a very big deal to me when I was buying my car. I really wanted the manual but the purported 3 mpg advantage of the auto was a major selling point that almost convinced me to change my mind.
Now, after owning a manual, and ALSO reading about other people's experiences, I think the mpg numbers that BMW reports are totally misleading. Maybe the average BMW owner doesn't care that much about 3 mpg, but I think there are a few other people besides myself for whom that is a fairly significant number. Knowing that there really isn't much of a difference between the two might help some future owners feel better about getting the MT (if that's what they like--the auto is great too
).