BMW M550i xdrive

The ride of our M Performance 5-series goes under the microscope

THERE IS A TUTORIAL IN THE HMI OF THE M550i, but you don’t need one when you’ve got three teenage boys. We’ve worked through all the interior lighting options (my preference is still orange with the speakers lit up) and turned off volume gesture control because it kept triggering whenever hands got within range. We’ve also been to the far end of many menus and I can now navigate like a pro through the features I use frequently.

I can also report that the car rides better four-up, being more settled, and that the lusty V8 doesn’t seem to notice the additional load. Well, it is an increase in mass of only about 12 per cent and the massive low-end torque of the biturbo 4.4-litre engine – a thumping 553lb ft at just 1800rpm relishes a challenge.

I imagine that BMW’S engineers fretted over what the ride should feel like on the M550i. The brief for the M5 was probably simpler: ‘It needs to handle like this. Once that’s achieved get what ride quality you can.’ The M550i has a wider brief, but although it’s not quite as quick as the M5 it still gets from 0 to 62mph in a phenomenal 3.8sec, and with the same torque as the M5 it can stress the tyres and chassis in the same way. It is always four-wheel drive, though – there’s no option to go rear-drive only.

Thing is, it’s so comfortable and refined at the wheel it feels like the ride is a bit busy on your typical B-road, but it’s easy to forget how much potential there is under your right foot. Sport mode tightens it up usefully but at the expense of big-bump control, which feels a bit clipped. On a smooth road, the sort you get in Germany, it’s as sweet as. But we have a wider variety here, and potholes too. Strike one of those and it can feel like you’ve taken a corner off. Genuinely, the first time it happened I got out to check how much wheel rim I’d lost, and I found a clue on the Pirelli’s sidewall: ‘RFT’. A run-flat tyre has a much stiffer sidewall so that it can run flat, but that means it offers less impact absorption. Maybe the RFTS are the cause of the busy secondary ride too.

It’s far from a deal-breaker for me. I’d only done a couple of hundred miles when I reported last time and have now experienced more conditions and roads, driven it harder and schlepped motorways a bit too. I wasn’t sure about the steering at first, and now, although it’s well weighted and quick enough, I feel what’s amiss is that it lacks feedback.

This is a shame because otherwise I love being in the M550i. It’s even proving economical. Well, more economical than I expected a 523bhp, near two-ton saloon to be. Mooching journeys of 10 or 20 miles see it return 20mpg-plus, and on a 200mile motorway run it got up to 26mpg. Anything around 20mpg seems remarkable when you’ve just nailed it for a bit.

Back to all the features and functions and tech for a moment. One thing I’m still trying to work out is whether the car is being too clever or if there’s a glitch, a ghost in the machine, as sometimes I’ll be a half mile into a journey and notice that the heated seat and steering wheel are on, but I haven’t pressed the buttons. One time, the seat cooling function was on. I need to have a dig to see if the car is noting the ambient temperature and unilaterally activating appropriate functions. Oh, and next time I’ll let you know how the M550i compared to the new M5 Competition we’ve just had in…

John Barker (@evojb)

Date acquired January 2021 Total mileage 4166 Mileage this month 686 Costs this month £0 mpg this month 20.2