[gatoman39]

Describing a BMW 5-series with around 400 hp from a V-8 and rear-wheel drive conjures a specific memory for most car enthusiasts: the legendary E39 M5. But since that model went out of production in 2003, BMW has armed itself to the teeth in the horsepower wars, and these specs now describe a run-of-the-mill 550i.



Highs and Lows

Highs: Power, performance, comfort.

Lows: A driving experience nowhere near as rich as the owner needs to be.

BMW 5-series
Top Competitors

* Audi A6 sedan
* Infiniti M
* Jaguar XF
* Lexus GS350 / GS460
* Mercedes-Benz E-class sedan

Specifications

VEHICLE TYPE: front-engine, rear-wheel-drive, 5-passenger, 4-door sedan

PRICE AS TESTED: automatic: $75,100; manual: $69,575 (base price: $60,575)

ENGINE TYPE: twin-turbocharged and intercooled DOHC 32-valve V-8, aluminum block and heads, direct fuel injection

Displacement: 268 cu in, 4395 cc
Power (SAE net): 400 bhp @ 5500 rpm
Torque (SAE net): 450 lb-ft @ 1750 rpm

TRANSMISSION: 8-speed automatic with manumatic shifting; 6-speed manual

DIMENSIONS:
Wheelbase: 116.9 in Length: 193.1 in
Width: 73.2 in Height: 57.6 in
Curb weight: 4417 lb (auto); 4358 lb (man)

C/D TEST RESULTS (auto):
Zero to 60 mph: 4.8 sec
Zero to 100 mph: 11.0 sec
Zero to 130 mph: 19.0 sec
Street start, 5–60 mph: 5.3 sec
Standing ¼-mile: 13.1 sec @ 109 mph
Top speed (governor limited): 155 mph
Braking, 70–0 mph: 170 ft
Roadholding, 300-ft-dia skidpad: 0.86g

C/D TEST RESULTS (man):
Zero to 60 mph: 5.1 sec
Zero to 100 mph: 11.3 sec
Zero to 130 mph: 19.4 sec
Street start, 5–60 mph: 5.3 sec
Standing ¼-mile: 13.1 sec @ 109 mph
Top speed (governor limited): 155 mph
Braking, 70–0 mph: 171 ft
Roadholding, 300-ft-dia skidpad: 0.88g

FUEL ECONOMY:
EPA city/highway driving: 17/25 mpg (auto); 15/22 (man)
C/D observed: 18 mpg (auto); 17 mpg (man)

When 5 = 7

The 550i starts at $60,575 (with options, our automatic test car topped $75,000 and the manual neared $70K, but more on that later), reaffirming its place as a car for the well-off. Even though it doesn’t offer the cavernous accommodations of the 7-series with which it shares some architecture, the 550i is in most other ways a smaller 7-series. And that’s no bad thing, especially if luxury is atop your priorities list.

Power comes from BMW’s twin-turbocharged, direct-injected 4.4-liter V-8, and delivery of the 400 hp and 450 lb-ft of torque is so smooth and quiet when hooked to the new ZF eight-speed automatic (a no-cost option) that you’ll need to have the radio off and your lead foot on to hear so much as a growl from the exhaust. The manual-equipped car, on the other hand, is not afraid to speak up, growing louder as you near redline.

At the test track, the autobox edged out the manual by 0.3 second in the sprint to 60 mph, at a mere 4.8 seconds—the manual’s wider gearing and trickiness at launch account for the difference—but it was a draw by the time they passed a quarter-mile, with both cars arriving in 13.1 seconds at a swift 109 mph. For comparison, the 2011 automatic trumped the significantly lighter last-gen 550i by 0.4 second to 60 mph, and it bests the current rear-drive 750i by the same amount.

Adaptive Drive, or HAL for Short

There’s no way to describe the driving experience in this car without addressing the network of supercomputers, which are mostly part of options packages, and its implications. What this new 550i does differently from the old is allow the driver to adjust suspension settings, rather than be forced to accept a near-flawlessly calibrated balance of luxury and sport out of the box. When kitted as both our cars were, with the $2700 Dynamic Handling package and $2200 Sport package, the 550i experience can be tailored using the capo di tutti capi—or boss of all bosses, as the Italian mobsters used to say—a system called Adaptive Drive. It’s a set of preferences, controlled with center-console buttons or through the iDrive interface, for most of the car’s driving characteristics, from ride to throttle response to handling. While the discerning driver (or hopeless tinkerer) can fine-tune these through iDrive, it’s easiest to leave the system in one of its four main settings: Comfort, Normal, Sport, and Sport+.

While the differences between the settings are mostly linear, with each setting sportier than the last, they all do a fine job of managing the 550i. Thanks to active roll stabilization, the 550i remains more or less flat during vigorous cornering, but its weight gain of more than 300 pounds from the last 550i is undoubtedly felt. Yes, the new dynamic suspension does a good job of managing road scars—BMW touts that it can appropriately adjust rear-wheel damping in time to handle a pothole the front wheel has just hit—but it doesn’t deliver the wafty ride you might expect in a Lexus. And it’s not super at being sporty either, being less surefooted as the 3-series and exhibiting a little wheel shudder at the limit when road surfaces aren’t glass-like.

The steering in the 550i is by far its greatest downfall. The electrically assisted system is linear, but it feels artificially heavy and is devoid of feedback, even when it’s supposedly been livened in the Sport or Sport+ settings. Coming from BMW, this is a huge disappointment, and the steering of the 550i can’t hold a candle to the fine feel provided by the tiller in the Audi A6. At legal speeds, the steering in the 550i isn’t so lifeless as to be unforgivable, but it takes a little time to get used to. When pushing the car, though, the lack of feedback leaves you guessing at the precise amount of input needed to control the vehicle.

Between the dull steering and the easy-as-pie computerized handling, the 550i offers a fast journey but a driving experience that lacks the drama, involvement, and excitement we expect from BMW. We walked away from the manual 550i with a slightly better impression of the new 5-series, but it simply boiled down to feeling more connected to the car through the gearbox, something the automatic can’t deliver.

Business-Class Accommodations, Business-Class Pricing

Inside the 550i’s cockpit, coddled by outstanding fit and finish, you’ll find creature comforts that would shame a luxury spa. The 18-way power seats included in the Sport Package make a Herman Miller chair feel like a pile of cinder blocks, and save you the shame of the standard 10-way thrones. We also enjoyed the head-up display ($1300) on both cars when we weren’t wearing polarized sunglasses, which cause it to nearly disappear, and also dug the spy-like side- and top-view cameras ($800) fixed to our automatic test car.

The key to avoiding these cars’ sky-scraping as-tested prices of $75,100 and $69,575 is to choose your alphabet-soup options sparingly. Clearly, we’d opt for the manual transmission but would equip the cars identically otherwise, including the Sport pack. But skip the Driver Assistance Package (DAP), which runs $1750 and adds computers that detect cars in your blind spot, look for stuff you could hit to the rear, and tell you when you’ve departed from your lane. The $1050 Cold Weather Package (CWP), which heats the rear seats, steering wheel, and headlight washers is unnecessary for most. And given our disdain for extra algorithms between us and the road, the $2700 Dynamic Handling Package (DHP), which includes Dynamic Driving Control (DDC) and Active Roll Stabilization (ASR), would be out, too. For those who might worry about a resultant lack of abbreviations, LED headlights, Dynamic Brake Control (DBC), Dynamic Stability Control (DSC), and Dynamic Traction Control (DTC) all are standard on the 550i.

Option a 550i judiciously and you’ll have a very fast, comfortable, luxurious sedan with some cachet. But all its associated abbreviations only serve to emphasize the stark difference between now—when BMW fits a bunch of computers that drive for you—and the days when a 400-horse 5-series needed only one letter to make its point: M. The 550i is a fine luxury car indeed, but the old BMW spirit isn’t on the options list.

Full Article:
2011 BMW 550i Automatic and Manual - Short Take Road Test

[bm323]

Quote "The steering in the 550i is by far its greatest downfall. The electrically assisted system is linear, but it feels artificially heavy and is devoid of feedback, even when it’s supposedly been livened in the Sport or Sport+ settings. Coming from BMW, this is a huge disappointment, and the steering of the 550i can’t hold a candle to the fine feel provided by the tiller in the Audi A6. At legal speeds, the steering in the 550i isn’t so lifeless as to be unforgivable, but it takes a little time to get used to. When pushing the car, though, the lack of feedback leaves you guessing at the precise amount of input needed to control the vehicle...

But skip the Driver Assistance Package (DAP), which runs $1750 and adds computers that detect cars in your blind spot, look for stuff you could hit to the rear, and tell you when you’ve departed from your lane. The $1050 Cold Weather Package (CWP), which heats the rear seats, steering wheel, and headlight washers is unnecessary for most. And given our disdain for extra algorithms between us and the road, the $2700 Dynamic Handling Package (DHP), which includes Dynamic Driving Control (DDC) and Active Roll Stabilization (ASR), would be out, too. For those who might worry about a resultant lack of abbreviations, LED headlights, Dynamic Brake Control (DBC), Dynamic Stability Control (DSC), and Dynamic Traction Control (DTC) all are standard on the 550i."

Looks like the F10's steering is crap compared to A6's, according to C & D.

ps and tick options real sparsely, go for the standard suspension.

[datbimmerdoe]

[Rudegar]

Well, not very flattering. Nevertheless I ordered all the goodies and in many test drives I found the steering much more to my liking than Car & Driver (you can take that as you wish).

[tadtaggert]

Originally Posted by Rudegar

Well, not very flattering. Nevertheless I ordered all the goodies and in many test drives I found the steering much more to my liking than Car & Driver (you can take that as you wish).

Not flattering?

Wasn't bad, bigger and heavier, yet faster (considerably) than the E60, corners as well as better, gives you the option of comfort as well as sporty....

For the first time we hear a reviewer talking about getting used to the steering also. Time will tell.

[stickypaws]

This is why I'm sitting the F10 out. They've removed what a BMW is all about to me. No reason not to look at other options now. If I wanted just luxury I'd get something else.

"The steering in the 550i is by far its greatest downfall. The electrically assisted system is linear, but it feels artificially heavy and is devoid of feedback, even when it’s supposedly been livened in the Sport or Sport+ settings. Coming from BMW, this is a huge disappointment, and the steering of the 550i can’t hold a candle to the fine feel provided by the tiller in the Audi A6. At legal speeds, the steering in the 550i isn’t so lifeless as to be unforgivable, but it takes a little time to get used to. When pushing the car, though, the lack of feedback leaves you guessing at the precise amount of input needed to control the vehicle.

Between the dull steering and the easy-as-pie computerized handling, the 550i offers a fast journey but a driving experience that lacks the drama, involvement, and excitement we expect from BMW."

[pharding]

It is still a great car. Clearly the best car in its class. However like the rest of the cars in its class it is not perfect. I am confident that the steering issue will be fixed. The E60 had steering issues when it first came out and though a software upgrade it was improved dramatically.

[BimmerGuyFL]

LOL BMW really screwed up the steering. They should have kept the same set up as in the E39 and E60. Even the new Z4 is getting bad reviews because of its Electric Steering setup. Even the heavier bigger F01 7-series still uses hydraulic steering and has much better feel and seems to get better reviews for fun to drive.

[pharding]

Last night I did a back to back comparison of my 08 550i with the M-Sport package and my new new 2011 550i. I could be wrong, but I believe that BMW did a software modification that changed the steering feel slightly since I did European Delivery in July. Last night the steering difference was extremely negligible. It was close to tie with the 08, a smaller car possibly being ever so slightly better. The sloppiness that I felt when driving straight with the 11 550i was gone. All things considered the 550i is a great car.

[bm323]

Originally Posted by pharding

Last night I did a back to back comparison of my 08 550i with the M-Sport package and my new new 2011 550i. I could be wrong, but I believe that BMW did a software modification that changed the steering feel slightly since I did European Delivery in July. Last night the steering difference was extremely negligible. It was close to tie with the 08, a smaller car possibly being ever so slightly better. The sloppiness that I felt when driving straight with the 11 550i was gone. All things considered the 550i is a great car.

Hi pharding, I'm trying to understand. You previously drove your F10 550i in Europe and it is different now after shipment back to the States, ie after software modification to your F10 550i?

[pharding]

It may be due to the variable feel of Interactive steering at different speeds. Plus when I dropped off the car in Bremerhaven, Germany, I noted a potential alignment issue on the condition report and I asked that the alignment be checked at the VPC when it hit stateside.

[bm323]

Originally Posted by pharding

It may be due to the variable feel of Interactive steering at different speeds. Plus when I dropped off the car in Bremerhaven, Germany, I noted a potential alignment issue on the condition report and I asked that the alignment be checked at the VPC when it hit stateside.

This is great

[srt8/bmw]

I am leaning towards getting this car. Drove it and loved it..butthe steering feel was a little numb compared to any BMW I have owned.

I am used to perfromance cars, including the CTS-V I have now.

question: any xdrive 550 owners out there? I had read that the 550xdrive would still come tih hydraulic steering? True?