BMW M CEO Frank van Meel says RWD won’t be ditched yet

With the recent launch of the brand-new F90-generation BMW M5, the first non SUV BMW car with AWD as standard with the ability to switch to RWD, there were suspicions that BMW may ditch rear-wheel drive for the M5’s new xDrive system. However, BMW M CEO Frank van Meel revealed in an interview with Road & Track at the 2017 Frankfurt Motor Show thnat BMW M is not ditching rear-wheel drive just yet.

“Because we have this unique system, M xDrive, we have another option for future cars, but it doesn’t necessarily mean we need to do that with every car,” Van Meel told R&T. “Each and every car is completely different. It depends on the overall concept, weight distribution, and total performance.”

Van Meel highlighted that the new M xDrive system is very useful and can help the M Division’s powerful cars put their power down. However, for certain cars, it may not be applicable: “[M xDrive] is good to have but it doesn’t mean we’re going to do that on every M.” said van Meel.

Usability is actually a main driver of this decision. “If you’re getting lighter and [adding] more performance, you reach a tipping point somewhere where drivability under all-weather conditions is more of a hassle,”. So van Meel will use M’s xDrive on cars where it makes sense, such as on the new M5 and likely the upcoming M8.

Manual transmission will also be around for as long as it’s still wanted, despite it being a dying technology. “From a rational standpoint, a manual transmission makes no sense—it’s slower, and fuel economy is worse than with an automated transmission,” Van Meel said. “Put that aside, it has an emotional component, which means there are a lot of people who love manual transmissions.” To which he continued, “We see this emotional request for manual transmissions, and as long as the market is there, we will continue to offer them,”.

Source: Road & Track