Shifting from conventional petrol engines to electric machines is a reality but BMW came with a surprising update – said goodbye to manual gearbox, shifts to automatics. Suffice to say, manual transmission in BMW vehicles would be a history soon
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In a recent development, Dirk Hacker, the head of development for BMW revealed that the M2 is likely to be the last BMW model to feature a manual gearbox. He informed that BMW and its suppliers are still deliberating on whether to discontinue manual transmissions altogether, noting that the number of vendors for such gearboxes is diminishing in the global automotive industry.
Hacker expressed uncertainty about the future availability of manual transmissions, estimating that it could take around six to seven years for a final decision to be made.
Furthermore, Hacker also discussed how some automakers are utilizing synthetic gear shifts and engine sounds to replicate the manual driving experience in electric cars. Toyota recently announced a performance electric vehicle with a manual transmission.
When asked if BMW would consider implementing a similar approach, Hacker responded by saying that while it is technically feasible, BMW has no plans to pursue that direction.
Contrary to the previous statement made by BMW’s M Division Head, Frank van Meel, in 2022, it appears that there has been a shift in plans regarding the continuation of manual gearboxes in BMW vehicles. Dirk Hacker, the current Head of Development for BMW’s M Division, has indicated that the manual gearbox may not be available in future BMW models beyond the M2.
In relation to the transmission choices for BMW M cars, Hacker mentioned that dual-clutch transmissions are no longer utilized.
According to him, BMW M cars now prefer the use of ZF’s eight-speed torque converter automatic gearboxes. Hacker believes that these automatic gearboxes offer better performance and greater reliability compared to dual-clutch transmissions.
