BMW M Will Go With Only Automatic Transmissions

Soon, you won’t be able to get a BMW M model with a manual or dual-clutch automatic transmission. Why? Because progress, or at least that’s the claim being thrown around by Peter Quintus, vice president of sales and marketing for BMW M.

During an interview with Aussie publication The Drive, Quintus let it be known that the days of DCTs on M models are numbered. In fact, he went on to elaborate, saying in six or seven years they should be history. In their place are automatics with tons of gears, which shift just as quickly.

Even more importantly, Quintus explained that straight-up automatics are more durable than DCTs and manuals. As people demand more horsepower, autos will be the only thing that can handle all that. That’s right, your three-pedal setup just can’t take what future BMW M models will dish out.

Manuals have a much shorter future within the BMW M line, because Quintus said the next-gen M3 and M4 might not have them at all.

Does this news make you sad? Even if it does, the wheels of progress don’t care, and it appears neither does Quintus or other powers-that-be at BMW M.