Leave Dual-Clutch Transmission, BMW M: Automatic Transmission Is The Future

BMW M5 Competition. (Doc. BMW Group)

JAKARTA - BMW's top performance Division, BMW M, always presents superior car products that are not inferior to its competitors. For this reason, BMW M seeks to develop various aspects of assembling flagship cars on highways.

One aspect that needs to be developed is transmission. Currently, the automotive market has developed where several manufacturers choose to launch manual or automatic transmissions, so that dual-clutch transmissions are starting to be abandoned.

Dirk Hacker, Head of BMW M Development, stated that it is currently an era of automatic or manual transmission, even automated for electric vehicles. Meanwhile, dual-clutch transmission is starting to be abandoned.

"Dual cluster, from a BMW M perspective, has become something before. Now we focus on manual or automatic transmission, and automatic transmission of electricity for the future," said Hacker as reported by Top Gear on Wednesday, June 14.

Hacker also revealed that it is discussing the development of the next generation of BMW M5. The division decided to use traditional automatic transmissions that have good torques and are more comfortable to drive.

"Automatically transmitting gives better performance than double coupling. In the M4 CSL, the movement of its teeth is faster, and we are also using this automatic transmission on the new M4 GTR racing car," said Hacker.

However, the Hacker statement only applies to the BMW M division, not the rest of the company. BMW models that do not use M emblems will still be available with dual-clutch transmissions for the future.

However, this does not mean any other transmission will be abandoned soon. Hackers commented that in the next few years, manual transmission will decline in the market, perhaps in the next 6-7 years.

"If we look ahead, we will see a decline in manual transmission suppliers. So I doubt we will have that option in the future. However, when I say 'in the future,' I mean an estimate in six or seven years," said Hacker.

Speculation about the presence of the BMW M5 has been going on for a long time. In fact, there is news that the latest generation M5 will use hybrid technology.

For transmission, there is a possibility that automatic transmission will be used. The BMW M could also share a technical component with the latest XM model for the M5, which uses a twin-turbo hybrid V8 engine and a four-wheel drive system (4WD).