It will soon be the end of an era for BMW's manual
transmission—at least in the company's sporty M5 and M6 models.
BMW says that limited interest from consumers is forcing it
to drop the manual transmission option in its next generation M5 and M6 to focus
instead on dual-clutch gearboxes.
Speaking with Car and Driver, the
head of BMW's M division, Frank van Meel, said that "demand has dropped to
zero" for M5s and M6s with stick shifts. BMW has previously said that it
developed the current manual transmission M5 and M6 specifically for the United
States, but even here there has been less demand from consumers than the
automaker expected.
Van Meel's statement serves as the best confirmation yet
about what some of BMW's engineers have said over
the last few years.
BMW has been slowly phasing out manual transmissions in its
American market models. A few years ago, the automaker made the transmissions a
"no cost" option over an automatic, rather than making buyers pay
extra for a transmission that shifts itself.
Today, the M5 and M6 are the only 5- and 6-Series models
available with a manual transmission in the U.S.
Don't fret, performance fans: van Meel says that the smaller
M2, M3, and M4 will all retain their clutch pedals, however.
source: http://www.motorauthority.com/news/1103280_manual-no-more-bmw-to-drop-stick-from-next-m5-m6
by Andrew Ganz
http://www.boscheuropean.com
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