Friends, BMW has introduced a seven-speed manual. After this sentence, everyone perks up and most of us Europeans weaned on manuals with a hook will surely cheer. The ZF eight-speed automatic is famous and will probably soon be overwhelmingly dominant, but it answers the classics: a manual is a manual. And we can still wait for eight and then nine degrees… As a staunch supporter of manual transmissions, I cannot forgive myself a few comments.
The problem is that as soon as one finds out how complex the mechanism is hidden behind the gear shift, which does not allow shifting by three or four steps, one becomes insecure. Technology is moving forward, and in the future we probably have to count on BMW that our "pulls" with the shift lever will be monitored by several sensors and a magnetorheological and electrorheological fluid in the gear shift lever, which will "manage" the shift paths by means of a change in viscosity so that we don't shift gears incorrectly. In addition, the number seven is arranged a bit unconventionally on the side. And there will also be the option to choose this transmission in a version without a clutch pedal with electromechanical shifting, and in this case I think I can now choose ZF, because the clutch pedal is, in my opinion, a relatively important element in a manual transmission…
So can I sort myself or can't I? So why didn't they keep the ideal six speeds without any worries about the driver misshifting or revving the engine? Isn't it my choice how and what to gear up if I've already bought a car with a manual transmission? Or is the torque of the BMW engines so weak that it does not take "only" six degrees? Sure, now I'm exaggerating a lot and on purpose, but sometimes it's amazing how complex an electronic system can be, originally a perfectly working "simple" mechanic. As for the clutch, everything remains the same, so do the BMW people really think we can't shift gears? And is it actually a manual?
There are many questions and only practical experience will solve them. On the other hand, we can look forward to the fact that BMW will (hopefully) offer a high-quality manual in which we will not get lost in the plethora of speeds and if we choose really wrongly, the Bavarian will take care of us. Take my criticism as an exaggeration, I may be an old-fashioned and unnecessary skeptic afraid of innovation, but I adore the free choice of speed and the mechanical precision of the older BMWs, which have always prided themselves on their manuals. Time moves forward and there will be more and more similar innovations, especially when it is so fashionable to patent even a purple rubber band from shorts.
