BMW Prepares a System that Prevents Wrong Teeth to Maintain Manual Cars

JAKARTA - While manual transmissions are increasingly marginalized by the era of automatics and electrification, BMW has shown a different attitude. The German manufacturer is known to have filed a new patent for a more "intelligent" manual transmission, with the main goal of preventing fatal damage due to gear shifting errors.

Until now, BMW has been one of the manufacturers who have remained loyal to offering manual transmissions, even when its main rivals such as Audi and Mercedes-Benz have completely switched to automatic transmissions. Not stopping there, BMW is now trying to improve the manual system to be safer and resistant to driver errors.

The patent, which was first revealed by CarBuzz, outlines a manual transmission design with a special locking mechanism to prevent a gear shift error known as money shift. This term refers to a condition when the driver accidentally downshifts.

For example, shifting from fourth to second gear while the vehicle is speeding. The impact can be fatal, ranging from a surge in engine revs to serious damage to the engine or transmission, resulting in expensive repair costs.

In its patent document, BMW explains the use of a locking unit that covers all gear positions. The working principle is similar to the common reverse gear lock, but is extended to all gears.

This system is combined with a sensor that is able to read the selected gear and the speed of the engine crankshaft, as reported by Carscoops, Tuesday, December 30. Based on this data, the system will determine whether a gear downshift is safe to perform.

If it has the potential to endanger the drive system, the mechanism will physically block the gear lever so that the gear cannot be activated. In other words, the transmission will reject the driver's command which risks damaging the car.

This step shows BMW's attention to its users, including those who may still be learning or inexperienced with high-performance manual transmissions. The system is expected to maintain the sensation of manual driving without sacrificing mechanical reliability.

Currently, the BMW M2, M3, and M4 are the last models from BMW that are still offered with a manual transmission, as the production of the manual Z4 ends. The manual transmission on the M2 is expected to last for several years, and it is hoped that the technology from this patent can be applied to the new generation of M3 and M4 that are currently being developed.