Why BMW Chose DCT for the Z4 35is

The other alternative – normal cars will get the N55 with a stick and the N54 will be relegated to higher output and DCT (e.g. premium) applications.

Truly lame. With the latest M SUVs and this kind of decision making about its performance variants, BMW is becoming less of a driver’s car company with each passing day. Given this logic, will the upcoming 1M also be relegating to boring, uninvolving DCT only?

“s” for “sport” perhaps? The rear wheel drive models are more sport-oriented, after all.

I assume the new mystery model is either a 335is or 135is.

BMW is really hypocrite in the last few years and all of their decisions point out that it is all about the money, they really don’t give a f*** on the reasons that so many bmw enthusiasts bought their cars generation after generation. All these SMG and DCT aren’t even pure sequential gearboxes, as used in motorsport, they are automatized. In its all racing involvement BMW is using as default the mt box and where they use a sequential box, well, it is a real sequential one. It is well known the problems the DCT had when it was launched on the M3, it was proven so many times that despite the faster gear changes, the mt is still the choice for performance. A mt can’t handle the uprated torque?! hahaha, yeah, that’s why they offered a 6mt for the M5 and M6 for the US and for the new 550i, while in Europe we can’t get them, not even in the new 550i!! When the new 5er came out they were bulls****** how the 5er has to be perfect as it represent all that a connoisseur would expect for a BMW.. well, BMW, a true connoisseur knows and expects for BMW to offer all its engines with a mt, as it has always had done, and not like the new 550i with only an automatic!!! the M3 CSL only with SMG, M5 & M6 only with SMG, M3 GTS only DCT, Z4 3.5is only DCT, the $M(arketing) x5 and x6 which are totally against the sports concept that would define such a car are all a proof of how bmw doesn’t care anymore. But no worries, i and all other enthusiasts don’t care to buy their rubbish anymore because what are they doing today is using their past image when they were building pure driving machines to sell today not cars but products about which they tell you a crap of lies. Lads, remember how BMW was selling all their new “engineering” stuff by pointing out their use oin f1 and after they got out from the f1 they started to say “ooh, it doesn’t matter, cause what we are putting in this cars hasn’t got much to do with what were we doing there” and so on. This DCT is just another marketing bs and mind you, in the next few years bmw will sell exactly like benz, products with mt just for engines up to 2.0l. F*** them, i won’t give them a cent for today’s products (as they aren’t cars)

if i were Chris Bangle… i would leave too. i agree, BMW is becoming less of a driver’s car with each passing day.

This is the biggest crock I’ve ever heard. I’m sure the only reason why BMW chose a DCT over the manual is simply because its faster especially with the turbos not losing boost between shifts. I’ve had a 335i manual tuned making 415rwhp and /431rwtq with the stock clutch and put over 50,000miles on it without a single problem and all of a sudden the stock clutch is too weak? ROFLMAO. And even if this was an actual problem then I’m sure BMW can just source a new clutch if need be.

Heavy compared to what? last I checked the BMW’s are lighter then all other cars in their class… the only things lighter are cars that are made out of mattel plastic and aren’t considered to be sport luxury. Either way BMW still can do all that and out handle most of those “lighter” cars anyway.

I had a boosted audi destroy a transmission and a pair of turbos around 70,000 miles. $10,000 worth of repairs. Good luck to you guys with chipped cars.

As for weight, I checked a 328 vs a GTI. about 150lbs difference. The BMW feels heavy because of the sound insulation and the tepid throttle response. Of course the guys who load the cars up with AWD, turbos, and/or diesel can easily get an e90 up near 4,000 lbs. However, 3200lbs is there for the e90. 3200lbs, $30K e90 – that is the car I spec’ed out.

@chaz58 well most people I know with Audi’s complain about expensive maintenance and I’m not saying its cheap with BMW but its not something you usually have to worry about. And at 70-80k plus I would expect do some kind of maintenance on any car. As far as the weight a GTI isn’t in the class of a 328i at best a 1 series. Also I’ve never seen a E90 go near 4,000 lbs unless a 5 series doesn’t even weight that much except maybe an M5. But I currently have an E90 M3 my car is supposed to weigh 3726 according to the BMW NA website however at the track I weighed in a 3550 and my car is fully loaded.

Btw a DCT into the current Z4 does work as I think its pretty clear its not a sports car as much as a more laid back cruiser.

Please note I pointed out Lotus and Atom not as direct competition but rather as extreme edge of the lightweight principles. Both manufacturers are able to use low end motors to make cars that rockets well ahead of much higher horsepower cars due to the lighter weight. They do this with good to really good fuel economy (a very important consideration for any manufacturer that plans in being in business over the next decade)compared to cars they surpass that have monster motor with much worse economy.

Also lets look to racing when you speak about lighter weight cars being less safe. I think both of us would rather be strapped into a F1 than a M3 going into a wall at a high rate of speed. Btw yes I know this is also a fairly extreme edge but just illustrating a point. We can also see a good part of the reason a 2k lbs car is less “safe” is that BMW along with a multitude of manufactures are constantly pumping out massive lead sleds (see the X6 M as a example of this). Larger and heavier also does not make one safer generally speaking because they also hold more kinetic energy than a lighter weight vehicle so actually much worse if you run into something bigger than yourself. Add to this the fact that even with the best technical wizardry heavier vehicles are less stable around corners and thus take adding layers of technology between the driver and the act of driving.

Lets also look at something like else, the face that both the Viper ACR and Vette ZR-1 spanked all three cars your mentioned around Nurburgring with manual transmissions. Also if you happen to watch Top Gear and remember Jeremy’s time in the ZR-1 one of the comments that I agree with was him saying Ferrari should take note of the manual that is missing flappy paddles

I hear what your saying but you have to see a few points.

1.BMW has steadily increased size and weight over the years, thus has needed to increase HP and torque to compensate and improve the performance slightly

2.Safety has little to do with increased weight, rather the opposite the increasing weight of vehicles has meant that each generation needs to layer more protection partially to offset the increase in vehicle weight.

1. Dealing with the economy standard that is slowly being increased while retaining sportiness of the brand cannot rely on keeping stacking more and more hp, torque to offset the weight of the vehicles.

4 My point about the ZR-1 and ACR was not about huge motors rather manual transmissions kicking DCT cars to the curb.

At the end of the day I have respect for DCT but would choose a solid manual every time. When I drive a car its about the experience not the wizardry of technology hiding some of the driving experience from me. I am hoping to see this trending away from manual transmissions is not a long term course direction by BMW. I will be watching Bimmerfile closely over the next couple of weeks in hope that automatics and dct doesn’t take over the future and a lot of driving enjoyment.

I, for one, find the spirit of the BMW apologists’ comments here and elsewhere wholly disheartening… ballooning size is “not so bad”? (Ever wonder what makes a small sports car so capable over a larger car on a real-world twisty backroad – the small size!) Incremental weight gain with each model is “unavoidable”? (How can a heavy street car be enjoyable to someone who actually drives hard? inertia is something you don’t want to fight with every braking, every acceleration, every turn of the steering wheel!)

The tepid counter-argument I am reading here of “oh yeah well everyone else is getting heavy and big too!” is beyond inadequate. Can we get back to some ABSOLUTE design and engineering targets rather than targets that are set to just barely exceed the competition’s? Is this what BMW’s motorsports heritage has come to? It seems that is the case. The 3200+ lb 1-series continues to be one of their biggest missed opportunities (and I squarely blame the puffy and porcine e90 on which it is based). BMW themselves acknowledged as much since their target for the next-gen 1 is to reduce the curb weight.

Ditto for the DCT, it is a disappointment to a driving enthusiast to see sport models increasingly equipped with these transmissions rather than a manual box… the joy of driving is not a spec sheet boasting great 0-96kph and lateral G, it is first and foremost physical engagement with the machine. That’s the message we should be sending to BMW, not “please put DCT in all your cars because most North Americans cannot drive a stick anyway and purchase your cars for bragging rights and the propellor badge”.

Increasingly BMW’s are becoming pseudo-performance cars rather than the more sensible and affordable alternative to a Porsche. I thought we were DRIVING enthusiasts guys! Let’s set the bar a little higher shall we?

@Goat is that why the M3 for example owns its competition matter of fact most of the BMW’s in existence take care of the cars they compete with. Must be the weight…. Then if BMW started making hardcore cars with lightweight using the required exotic materials or striping them down people will complain about the price next its hilarious..

@Jonmartin – I disagree because the cars are not as satisfying to drive as they COULD be, and in some cases (i.e., compared to P-cars) they are simply less fun to drive – the drive doesn’t quite match the hype, largely, I think, because the cars are getting too large for the twisties. It was not even that long ago that BMW had a better sport/size-weight balance – the e46 has it much more correct, to my seat of pants, than the e90; similarly, the last-gen z4 was more “right-sized” compared to the current “CEO sled” (heretofore sold only by Mercedes-Benz as the SL).

Not to intentionally flatter Gabe, but the e46 ZHP in particular has the aggressive involved feel that I and other enthusiasts want to see more of from BMW. The solution to driving joy isn’t always stuffing a huge motor in front (which as we have seen brings with it loss of a manual gearbox more often than not)… make the cars a bit lighter, make the size a bit tidier, give it a bit more exhaust and intake sound, and you’ve got a car to enjoy year after year and road after road rather than brag about in the online forum echo chamber.

Don’t get me wrong, when I move from my R53 JCW CompEd, it is most likely to be to a 135i (until I can nab a Cayman S or 911 at a reasonable price!)… but getting it “sorted” to the right level of sporting feel will take a bit of work from the BMW performance catalogue it seems… good thing the prices were reduced!