BMW M2 will be the last manual M car report

BMW’s performance-car division has confirmed the manual transmission is on its last legs, and future models will have automatics before switching to electric-only power.

German car-maker BMW will drop manual transmissions from its model line-up after production of the current M2 sports coupe ends in the coming years, according to the ‘M’ performance division’s head engineer.

As recently reported by Drive, less than five per cent of new passenger cars, SUVs, utes and vans sold in Australia last year were equipped with a manual transmission – down approximately 90 per cent compared to 10 years ago.

Speaking to UK publication Top Gear, Dirk Hacker – BMW M’s head of development – said the car-maker has no plans to offer its future electrified (hybrid) models with manual transmissions, meaning its future performance cars will be automatic or electric only.

“I think it could be done, but we will not do that,” Mr Hacker said when asked whether BMW M would offer an electrified car with a manual gearbox by Top Gear journalist Ollie Marriage.

Mr Hacker’s comments echo those made by BMW M CEO Franciscus van Meel in October 2022, when the performance-car brand’s boss said manual gearboxes will remain as an option for the M2, M3 and M4 until production of their respective current generations ends.

Based on BMW’s seven-year model life cycles, the current M2 – the most recent manual ‘M’ car to be launched – will go out of production by 2030, when it is expected to be succeeded by an electric car.

All three mass-production BMW models with manual transmissions available – the M2, M3 and M4 – are sold in Australia, while the rest of the brand’s range consists of either exclusively automatic or battery-powered electric cars.

The BMW M3 is just one of three cars sold by the brand in Australia with a manual transmission

Mr Hacker also declared BMW M won’t return to dual-clutch automatic transmissions, which were last available in the previous-generation BMW M3 and M4.

While dual-clutch automatics are not as prone to hesitate when accelerating as they once were, Mr Hacker believes modern torque-converter transmissions are just as efficient while offering better comfort for drivers.

“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,” Mr Hacker said, speaking with Top Gear.

All BMW M cars are either exclusively sold or offered with a torque-converter automatic transmission

“Around the (upcoming) M5 there was a big discussion, not only for the automatic transmission, but also for other things.

“And the decision was not only because of cost, but also because of comfort (to go with automatic), because we got a lot of reactions about manoeuvring, parking, no rolling if you leave the pedal and so on.”

The only BMWs currently available with dual-clutch transmissions in Australia are the non-M variants of the car-maker’s four cheapest models – the 1 Series (118i), 2 Series Gran Coupe (218i, 220i), X1 (sDrive 18i and 20i) and the X2 (sDrive 18i and 20i).

The post BMW M2 will be the last manual ‘M’ car – report appeared first on Drive.