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10-09-2012, 10:37 AM
Filed under: Sedan (http://www.autoblog.com/category/sedans/), Performance (http://www.autoblog.com/category/sports/), BMW (http://www.autoblog.com/category/bmw/), First Drives (http://www.autoblog.com/category/driving/), Luxury (http://www.autoblog.com/category/luxury/)
When Truth Crushes Our Enthusiast Souls
http://www.blogcdn.com/www.autoblog.com/media/2012/10/2013-bmw-m5-6mt-fd.jpg (http://www.autoblog.com/photos/2013-bmw-m5-6mt-first-drive/)
American automotive enthusiasts are a crazy bunch. While the rest of the world embraces quick, innovative and efficient dual-clutch automated gearboxes, a good portion of Yankee gearheads still scream for old-school manual transmissions. Despite all of the inadequacies with driver-directed gear changes, car nuts still enjoy rowing their own gears.
BMW (http://www.autoblog.com/bmw/) tried to force enthusiasts into a single-clutch semi-automatic transmission when it launched the E60 M5 (http://www.autoblog.com/2010/07/07/bmw-m5-production-comes-to-an-end/) in 2005, but enthusiasts (and the automotive press) wailed so loudly that the Germans reversed course and delivered a six-speed option to the North American market. While performance actually dropped with the manual gearbox, its arrival quelled a rebellion.
The all-new fifth-generation 2013 F10 M5 (http://www.autoblog.com/bmw/m5/) debuted last fall with a standard - and much improved - lightning-quick dual-clutch transmission. But rather than send North American enthusiasts into yet another frenzy, BMW is adopting a conciliatory tone, offering buyers in the States the chance to opt for a manual gearbox at no additional cost.
We recently found ourselves on the starting grid at California's Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca sitting in a bright Sakhir Orange Metallic BMW M5. Nestled comfortably in the palm of our right hand, wrapped in soft leather with a bright aluminum collar, was a traditional manual gearshift knob.Continue reading 2013 BMW M5 6MT [w/video] (http://www.autoblog.com/2012/10/09/2013-bmw-m5-6mt-first-drive-review-video/)
2013 BMW M5 6MT [w/video] (http://www.autoblog.com/2012/10/09/2013-bmw-m5-6mt-first-drive-review-video/) originally appeared on Autoblog (http://www.autoblog.com) on Tue, 09 Oct 2012 11:57:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds (http://www.weblogsinc.com/feed-terms/).
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When Truth Crushes Our Enthusiast Souls
http://www.blogcdn.com/www.autoblog.com/media/2012/10/2013-bmw-m5-6mt-fd.jpg (http://www.autoblog.com/photos/2013-bmw-m5-6mt-first-drive/)
American automotive enthusiasts are a crazy bunch. While the rest of the world embraces quick, innovative and efficient dual-clutch automated gearboxes, a good portion of Yankee gearheads still scream for old-school manual transmissions. Despite all of the inadequacies with driver-directed gear changes, car nuts still enjoy rowing their own gears.
BMW (http://www.autoblog.com/bmw/) tried to force enthusiasts into a single-clutch semi-automatic transmission when it launched the E60 M5 (http://www.autoblog.com/2010/07/07/bmw-m5-production-comes-to-an-end/) in 2005, but enthusiasts (and the automotive press) wailed so loudly that the Germans reversed course and delivered a six-speed option to the North American market. While performance actually dropped with the manual gearbox, its arrival quelled a rebellion.
The all-new fifth-generation 2013 F10 M5 (http://www.autoblog.com/bmw/m5/) debuted last fall with a standard - and much improved - lightning-quick dual-clutch transmission. But rather than send North American enthusiasts into yet another frenzy, BMW is adopting a conciliatory tone, offering buyers in the States the chance to opt for a manual gearbox at no additional cost.
We recently found ourselves on the starting grid at California's Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca sitting in a bright Sakhir Orange Metallic BMW M5. Nestled comfortably in the palm of our right hand, wrapped in soft leather with a bright aluminum collar, was a traditional manual gearshift knob.Continue reading 2013 BMW M5 6MT [w/video] (http://www.autoblog.com/2012/10/09/2013-bmw-m5-6mt-first-drive-review-video/)
2013 BMW M5 6MT [w/video] (http://www.autoblog.com/2012/10/09/2013-bmw-m5-6mt-first-drive-review-video/) originally appeared on Autoblog (http://www.autoblog.com) on Tue, 09 Oct 2012 11:57:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds (http://www.weblogsinc.com/feed-terms/).
Permalink (http://www.autoblog.com/2012/10/09/2013-bmw-m5-6mt-first-drive-review-video/) | Email this (http://www.autoblog.com/forward/20344548/) | Comments (http://www.autoblog.com/2012/10/09/2013-bmw-m5-6mt-first-drive-review-video/#comments)
More... (http://www.autoblog.com/2012/10/09/2013-bmw-m5-6mt-first-drive-review-video/)