The 2021 BMW M550i is the stepping stone to an M5, and but in some ways, it’s the extra gratifying sports activities sedan to drive. BMW up to date the 5 Sequence lineup for 2021 — we sampled the 540i first — including extra tech and revised exterior styling amongst different refinements. The M550i takes benefit of those modifications and makes a case for itself because the 5 Sequence to get.
The M550i is a protracted and low sedan that’s seemingly designed with restraint and sophistication in thoughts. Not like many different new BMWs, the 5 retains its elegant and subdued basic kidney grille nostril, making it one of many best-looking vehicles within the model’s lineup. The M550i M Sport variant provides a contact of aggression with gray accents, an aero equipment with a refined trunk lid spoiler, modified entrance consumption trim and twin trapezoidal exhaust shops. My tester’s non-obligatory 20-inch wheels (19-inch wheels are commonplace) full the bundle fantastically. I discover it dashing in Aventurin Purple Metallic, a deep purple that verges on purple in sure lighting conditions. This modern BMW is one I’d need to be seen in on the resort valet, not like some others.
Styling isn’t what makes it extra fascinating than an M5, although. No, what makes the M550i so enticing is how balanced and livable it’s whereas nonetheless providing M-like efficiency. The beast below the hood is BMW’s 4.4-liter twin-turbo V8, which is actually a barely de-tuned model of the M5 engine. Output in M550i guise is 523 horsepower and 553 pound-feet of torque, that means it’s down simply 77 horsepower in comparison with the M5, whereas torque is identical. The M5’s model of this engine has the sting on the prime finish, however the huge smack of torque and mid-range hits equally.
The 0-60 mph time of three.6 seconds trails the M5’s 3.2-second run, however that appears principally the fault of a lackluster Launch Management program that likes to softly ease off the road for a break up second earlier than shoving you within the again. Acceleration is relentless and doesn’t have any let-up at street-legal speeds. With the obtainable Michelin Pilot Tremendous summer time tires, prime velocity is proscribed to 155 mph, however is proscribed even decrease to 130 mph with all-seasons.
BMW’s eight-speed computerized transmission is fast and sensible, identical to the identical transmission within the M5. It’s velvety clean once you need it to be, however reveals swift reflexes in Sport Plus mode. Upshifts and downshifts include little or no delay from the paddle shifters — if solely the paddles themselves have been higher than these hard-to-reach, cheap-feeling plasticky issues.
I’ll take factors away from the M550i for its solely all-wheel-drive drivetrain. You’ll be able to disconnect the entrance axle within the M5, however the M550i will at all times be all-wheel drive. That doesn’t stop you from doing huge drifts within the snow with all of the methods turned off, although. It simply makes the automobile really feel extra buttoned-up on the street.
This BMW’s 4,275-pound curb weight (simply 385 kilos greater than the brand new M3 Competitors) is deeply masked once you chuck it down a twisty street. M-tuned electrically-controlled adaptive dampers are commonplace on the M550i, however my check automobile additionally had the $3,600 Dynamic Dealing with Package deal that provides the automobile a decrease trip peak, Lively Roll Stabilization that reduces lean in corners, and Integral Lively Steering that adjusts steering velocity/effort relying on the state of affairs. The steering nonetheless has the detached-from-the-road feeling that almost all BMWs do nowadays, however it’s genuinely correct and exact. I solely want the steering wheel itself have been thinner and may very well be dropped additional down into my lap. As it’s now, I (a male of common peak) have to maneuver the seat method too far as much as be in a pure driving place.
With the automobile in its tautest settings — Sport Plus all the things — it transforms from a boat-like cruiser into an enormous, agile sports activities sedan. Physique motions are quelled properly, with assist from the energetic roll management. BMW’s Lively Differential on the rear axle does a bang-up job of distributing torque throughout the wheels to dig you out of corners with assured grip and a little bit rear motion to remind you of its extreme energy. It’s no hoon-mobile like an M5 will be, however you’ll be able to solely actually train the M5 with smoky slides spherical a racetrack.
Reaching for the boundaries of the M550i is a deal with, they usually really feel inside your grasp. The automobile will nonetheless shoot between bends with relentless thrust, however it’s not supercar-quick just like the M5 and M5 Competitors. There’s a little bit little bit of give within the suspension, not sufficient to make it really feel uncontrolled, however sufficient to allow you to get in a rhythm of the automobile shifting and transitioning by way of consecutive corners. The M5 and different full-M autos are so stiff even of their Consolation settings that this sensation of ebbing and flowing with the street goes away. They’re technically sensible, however they depart me chilly the place this M550i retains me entertained, concerned and in-tune with how the automobile is reacting.
The advantage of dialing in some forgiveness to the chassis is an improved trip over much less nice surfaces, too. Put the M550i in Consolation mode, and it adopts a soft trip. It glides over larger bumps and dispatches lengthy stretches of freeway with ease. The place the relaxed character unusually doesn’t assistance is with smaller street imperfections. Minor disturbances are transmitted in a nagging method over sure street surfaces that aren’t completely clean. It’s a bizarre mixture, because the suspension tunes out huge heaves and potholes, however the dampers do not clean out tough street surfaces. I am instructed this is not unique to the M550i – West Coast Editor James Riswick reviews {that a} 530e with the M Sport bundle exhibited the identical conduct. We like that fixed connection to what’s occurring on the tires for enthusiastic driving, however the poking and prodding from little imperfections within the street will get annoying once you simply need to take it straightforward. Regardless, this automobile rides considerably higher than an M5, and is the one I’d moderately use on a protracted street journey.
BMW did effectively find the correct compromise of engine and exhaust noise. The V8 has a deep rumble below gentle acceleration that ensures you always remember its presence. On the identical time, the sound is quiet to non-existent on the freeway. The monster that’s let free in Sport Plus and full throttle isn’t too monstrous from the cabin. That V8 growl is at the next quantity and rings louder than in common driving, however it’s by no means obnoxious. BMW saves the additional quantity for the M5, whereas the M550i’s theatrics begin and finish with some refined burbling and popping on the overrun.
The M550i’s two German rivals are a pair cylinders down — the Mercedes-AMG E 53 and the Audi S6 each have boosted six-cylinders below hood. The E 53 is the worthiest adversary with its sweet-singing inline-six, although it’s method down on energy and velocity whereas solely being $3,000 cheaper to begin. This hole will be shortly closed with choices — my tester began at $77,795 however ended at $93,735. The $1,700 Driver Help bundle is a should for its wonderful adaptive cruise management with lane-centering, however you’ll be able to skip the $3,400 Bowers & Wilkins audio and $2,150 Government Package deal.
While you add all of it up, the M550i is the better-executed 5 Sequence automobile that wears an M badge, a sneaky choose for greatest mid-size German efficiency sedan. It talks to the motive force the place the M5 doesn’t. The V8’s acceleration is usable outdoors of a drag strip (to a level) with out having to fret in your license within the every day commute. And it’s a terrific deal cheaper than an M5 as well. This BMW is actually top-of-the-line current efforts and fullest executions of a sports activities sedan we’ve seen from the corporate’s efficiency division. That it has a “50i” after “M5” in its title does not actually matter.
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