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BMW M Cars Might Drop Manual Gearboxes in the Future and Be Limited to 600 HP

In a recent interview with Autocar, BMW M boss, Franciscus van Meel provided some insight into what plans the company he represents has for the upcoming M5 and things don’t look pretty at all.
BMW F10 M5 manual gearbox 1 photo
Photo: bimmerpost
First of all, he did mention a sort of horsepower superior limit claiming that going over 600 HP might be a bit too much. That means that the new model will probably be limited to this figure which will represent a stagnation in terms of performance delivered from its 4.4-liter twin-turbo V8 under the bonnet.

That’s because the facelifted M6 models for example, are already offered with this kind of power right now via the Competition Package. That will surely be a disappointment for BMW fans.

However, we’re also pretty sure that we’ll be seeing a drop in weight which would make the new M5 quite interesting in terms of handling. Chip in the new xDrive system which is all but confirmed right now and we get quite an interesting ride on our hands.

Manual may die off

It has been news waiting to be confirmed and we basically got that this weekend. The BMW M Boss also said that “from a technical standpoint, the future doesn’t look bright for manual gearboxes. The DCT and auto ’boxes are faster and they have better fuel consumption. It’s difficult to say we’ll stick to the manual, but we still have a big fan community for manuals and we are not going to take away something the customer wants to have.”

That being said, the man was trying to prepare us for an exit of the slushbox in the future for the M models. Not only are they overwhelmed by the developments in the field but the slow demand makes justifying the funds needed for further research and development really hard to accomplish.
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