BMW done with dual clutches, almost done with manuals

The BMW M3 and M4 gave up their dual-clutch transmissions when the new generations debuted in 2020, the last M cars to utilize the instant-shift gearbox. Now, every M but the M2, M3, and M4 are fitted solely with ZF’s eight-speed torque converter automatic. Even the rare and expensive M4 CSL got the slushbox. The BMW 1 Series hatch and 2 Series Active Tourer are the only cars out of Munich to carry the dual-clutch torch. When BMW M’s head of development spoke to Top Gear, he made it clear that automatics will be the last shifter standing. Dirk Hacker told the outlet, “The double clutch, from BMW M’s point of view these days, it’s gone. It’s now manual or automatic, and automatic electrified for the future.”

A myriad of reasons explain Hacker’s guidance. First, customers like the easy and familiar low-speed traits of an automatic, like the off-throttle creep and predictable throttle tip-in. Automatics are also less expensive than DCTs. Considering the sales trend with manual gearboxes and the rise of electric vehicles, suppliers are focusing on automatics, which makes manuals harder and more expensive to source. On top of all of that, torque converter automatics have gotten so good that they are “better performing than the double clutch,” Hacker saying the automatic in the M4 CSL shifts faster than the dual clutch. Envisioning a sunset for the manual, the exec said, “I’m not sure we will have the possibility in the future” to get standard gearboxes that serve BMW’s purposes, and “in the future means six, seven years in forecast.”

That’s about two years after the current M3 and M4 will give way to new generations, and about the time the current M2 is expected to say goodbye. Manual fitment likely only applies to the entry-level version of the M2 as well. The hotter versions of the M2 like the CS rumored for 2025 can be expected to use the automatic.

As for finding a way to put a manual transmission in an electric M, forget about it. “I think it could be done,” Hacker said, “but we will not do that.”