Why BMW Ditched DCTs For Traditional Automatic Transmissions

There are no longer any new BMWs that come with a DCT transmission, all of them having made way for torque converter automatics. This is a decision that was first made around two years ago and is now bearing fruit. Speaking to Top Gear in 2023, Dirk Hacker, Head of Development at BMW M, said that "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."

The first proof of this was the arrival of the 2023 BMW M4 CSL and its eight-speed automatic transmission, which our review found to be brutally good. It continued with the latest version of the BMW M5, with the 727-hp plug-in hybrid sporting an eight-speed automatic transmission that BMW calls the M Steptronic sport transmission with Drivelogic.

BMW's decision had a lot to do with a desire to provide comfort over performance, according to Hacker. A DCT transmission can be thought of as an automated manual containing two separate clutches, thus not needing a torque converter. While this allows for faster shifts, there are there are some downsides due to the way the transmission works. These include jerky low-speed operation, clutch shudder, fluid contamination, and problems with the park or neutral switch.

In addition to DCT transmissions having already become extinct in the BMW lineup, its manual transmissions are also becoming an endangered species. Only four six-speed manual transmission vehicles remain in the entire BMW product line. A manual is available in base versions of the BMW M3 and BMW M4, in the high-performance BMW M2 we reviewed (and loved) in 2023, and the BMW Z4 roadster, which BMW is sending off with a recently announced Final Edition model before it goes out of production permanently in March 2026.

What the vast majority of the BMW line is left with is the ZF 8-speed manual transmission. This automatic gearbox will be available in nearly every internal-combustion BMW model produced. This includes the X1, X2, X3, X4, X5, X6, X7, and XM SUVs; the 2-Series, 3-Series, 4-Series, 5-Series, 7-Series, 8-Series, and Z4 cars; and the complete line of M performance vehicles. BMW should be getting an excellent quantity discount from ZF.