The Manual BMWs are about to be a thing of history soon. BMW’s M division’s head of development Dirk Hacker has told Top Gear that the M2 will likely be the last BMW ever with a manual gearbox.
Hacker said that BMW and suppliers are yet to decide whether the manual transmission will die with the current M2. Citing the global automotive industry outlook, Hacker stated that the number of manual gearbox vendors is shrinking. “So I’m not sure we will have the possibility in the future—but in the future means six, seven years in the forecast,” he added.
Other manufacturers use synthetic gear shifts and engine sounds to recreate the manual experience in electric cars. Toyota announced a manual-transmission performance EV this morning. When asked about possibly replicating this idea for BMW, Hacker said, “It could be done, but we won’t.”
Last year, BMW M Division’s Head Frank van Meel indicated that BMW will provide the stick shift until the end of the decade. BMW North America said that the manual gearboxes will remain an option in the M2, M3, and M4.
Hacker also stated BMW M cars no longer use dual-clutch transmissions. He added that ZF’s eight-speed torque converter automatic gearboxes perform better and are more reliable compared to the DCT gearboxes.
