2018 BMW M550i xDrive: Is It Any Good On a Race Track?
Final thoughts?
The BMW M550i, despite the tongue lashing I gave it, is a good car. Under no circumstances should you take it to a race track, but BMW was a good sport for trying. It would seem that the BMW X3 SUV is a better track day vehicle, which is odd. Oh well.
In the real world, where handling tests are limited to the occasional freeway on, or off ramp taken at speed, and livability is more important, the M550i will do right by a lot of people. It’s reasonably comfortable, moderately fuel efficient, delightfully fast, and, in my eyes at least, quite handsome to look at. If you have about $80,000 to drop on a fast, luxurious sedan, the twin-turbo V8-powered M550i certainly seems like a sweet choice against it’s Germanic rivals at Mercedes-Benz and Audi. The comparable Mercedes, the AMG E43 sedan, is down two cylinders and a lot of horsepower. The Audi S6 has the twin-turbocharged V8 and horsepower to match, but is massively down on torque, compared to the Bimmer. Yes, there’s more to a car than just the numbers, but let’s be honest: you buy the M550i for it’s animal of an engine.
Cars like the M550i, with it’s brutal engine, put the ‘M’ back into BMW. Perhaps that’s actually what the ‘M’ in M550i stands for. The M550i does the Bayerische Motoren Werke proud. It really is 75% of the M5 for 75% of the money. Go test drive one, just don’t be surprised if BMW hands you a bill for a new set of brake pads once your test drive is over. It’s probably worth it.
