Ive just recently surprised my brother and friends with the purchase of a 2011 550i. I came from a Evo IX, a very bare bones but fun car, to give a comparison so you can imagine how shocked everyone was that this was'nt an M3 or used 997 or GTR. This twin turbo V-8 is absolutely insane, very smooth, freight train torque but very quiet which is slightly disappointing and may have to be changed soon
I have truly enjoyed the 600miles to date and find that the sport package and DRC enhance the sporty experience but it initially does feel like a car that doesn't necessarily care for getting "hustled" around quickly. Later I felt this was less true, those handling gimzo's kick in a the car becomes brilliant, Ive taken some turns and feel this big car would have given the EVO a run for the money in a couple of situations, probably not literally true but it feels very capable. Im definitely going to enjoy this car at least until the M5 comes out.