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      04-23-2017, 01:18 PM   #109
mercedesc63
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Drives: 02 BMW Z3M Coupe S54 Slicktop
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Quote:
Originally Posted by BM Creeper View Post
Stop fighting over which is the best between manual and dual-clutch transmissions; both of them might soon be gone.

Quote:
http://www.drive.com.au/motor-news/b...rticleResults8

BMW M-Division: Dual-clutch gearbox dead on water

And the days looked numbered for manual transmission too.


The passenger-car transmission war will ultimately be won by the conventional, torque-converter automatic, according to BMW's M division.

And M's vice-president of sales and marketing, Peter Quintus, has given both the conventional manual and the double-clutch transmission just a handful of years to live.

When questioned by Drive on the subject of transmission technology and how it relates to the BMW version of the double-clutch, the DCT, Quintus' response was a surprising one.

"It's more a question of how long has the DCT got to go," he said. "How long will it last?"

Having already predicted the end of manual transmissions in the next six or seven years, Quintus confirmed that he believed we would all soon be making a return to the torque converter automatic.

"We are now seeing automatic transmissions with nine and even 10 speeds, so there's a lot of technology in modern automatics," he said.
"The DCT once had two advantages: it was light and its shift speeds were higher.

"Now, a lot of that shift-time advantage has disappeared as automatics get better and smarter."

Interestingly, Quintus' view that the conventional manual is also doomed is not based solely on emissions. Instead, it's a case of being able to make a manual gearbox strong enough for the super-torquey new generation of engines. He said about 450 horsepower (335kW) and 600Nm was more or less the limit of manual-gearbox durability. Beyond that, he said, durability couldn't be guaranteed.

So why not just shop somewhere like the USA for a manual transmission that can cope with the output of big, burly V8 engines?
"We looked at US gearboxes. We found they were heavy and the shift quality was awful," he said.

"I'm not even sure the next generation of M3 and M4 models from BMW will have the option of a manual gearbox.
1st BMW doesn't allow transfer of maintained plan to 2nd owner
2nd BMW shortens makntance plan and doesn't cover brakes or windshield wipers
3rd MSD has been mysteriously discontinued

Now they want to make M cars fully automatic? This is like Porsche switching from PDK back to a automatic. Ridiculous. But on the M5 fair it's not a really a race car like the M2/3/4.
__________________
Gone but not forgotten:
2007 E63 M6 SMG, 1999 996 Carrera Cab AT, 2007 & 2008 E90 335xi AT, 2011 E93 M3 DCT, 2X 2002 E46 M3 SMG & 6MT, 2016 F80 M3 DCT
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