Quote:
Originally Posted by sq86
Right, people disagree on the controversial styling or the lack of a MT with AWD or that it doesn't have a 48V hybrid system yet. There are always various reasons as you mentioned but isolating us "forum members" for never being happy, while true to an extent, does a disservice to the fact that M decides to put an automatic in a car that shouldn't have it. It's not a power problem as we see with the M5/M8 (that needs the ZF since it would probably fry the clutches much sooner than with a DCT), it's more of a budgeting issue. They can use the same transmission across the board that doesn't require significant investment, i.e. only minor software updating which is a much lower barrier to entry than the standalone ZF. The other aspect is that it probably saves 1-2% on emissions/gas mileage vs the DCT, which continues the bastardization of the driving experience.
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This isn't the first time that BMW has offered an auto in an M Car. The E36 M3 was offered with an automatic and there are a fair share of them floating around. I think there is merit to the cost cutting/streamlining comments, but I don't feel that there is much lost going from a paddle shifted DCT to a paddle shifted automatic in my experience with both transmissions. At the end of the day, I'm a die hard manual guy, so I have no real vested interest in the DCT vs AT argument. I'm merely taking a step back and looking at the entirety of the situation without the emotional component (...
which is the same thing somebody who wasn't vested in manual transmissions would do if the debate were about manuals).