A Small review of the 550i M Sport

[Golfer]

Well after 580 Miles I thought I might give some insight to the 550i M Sport from my prospective here in the UK as it is at the moment a rare bird.

I have done mixed runs now, town with traffic jam, open roads and motorways.

I am still running in but allowed to run up to 4.5K RPM and it uses 95 RON fuel it actually “recommends it”.

I ran it on 98 RON for the first tank full, there after 95 RON and got the same economy

which is outstanding.

My runs are as said mixed with 90+MPH bursts thrown in and a bit of hardish take off’s, it’s returned ( brim too brim) a consistent 28.6MPG, now thats fantastic to me.

The car rides poor road surfaces very well in any mode ( Sport being my choice) and is extremely quiet at all speeds, engine noise is very muted and can hardly be heard at all. This will upset many but surprised me, I actually LIKE it quiet.

The car is not in the M3 league when it comes to tight corners but open B roads it loves and in no way is it vague as some have said, the steering is “electric” but I find after a few days you soon become accustomed to it’s characteristics.

The Comfort seats are the best/most comfortable I have had,this along with high quality interior fit and finnish makes for a real pleasurable place to spend time in. The wife actually likes this car very much ( thats saying something!).

The Power is instantaneous from tick over and you have to be light footed as it flies from the off, so much grunt, I have had some good laughs looking in the mirror at so called sports cars coming up behind and then seeing me fly away at rocket like speed, it’s mental.

As an every day driver I think it’s the best all rounder I have ever owned, it’s like a roller from inside, you can’t here the engine at all.

A wolf in sheep’s clothing for sure.

[Maxyboy]

Fantastic, I'm glad you like it.

I honestly though you may struggle with it after the m3 but wafting can be fun.

[NewNiceMrMe]

That MPG is phenomenal. Is it realistic in the long run or are you doing lots of motorway and urban-50mph type driving and not a lot of stop-start stuff?

[Golfer]

Fantastic, I'm glad you like it.

I honestly though you may struggle with it after the m3 but wafting can be fun.

Yep I was thinking the same as NO test drives available, but honestly very satisfied with it.

[Golfer]

That MPG is phenomenal. Is it realistic in the long run or are you doing lots of motorway and urban-50mph type driving and not a lot of stop-start stuff?

I have done 30miles, 50 miles and 80 miles,

and the last one today 140 miles mixed.

Not as you may expect from here to scotland, so varied driving with traffic and town work thrown in.

I am really impressed with it.

[Golfer]

I should explain the Miles I do, the car is not driven round the block, the shortest run it gets is about 15 miles and thats into town ( Norwich) and it gets longer runs when we need to travel.

[CarMad]

Looks great and its nice to see when a 'blind' purchase turns out really well.

I'm only getting 28.5mpg from my motor but thats because the first 15-20 minutes of driving every day is a crawl doing less that 10mpg, in the summer its well over 30mpg with less people in work causing queues.

Lets hope it doesn't lose too many pennies for you, but by the sounds of it you might keep this one for a while.

[Golfer]

Looks great and its nice to see when a 'blind' purchase turns out really well.

I'm only getting 28.5mpg from my motor but thats because the first 15-20 minutes of driving every day is a crawl doing less that 10mpg, in the summer its well over 30mpg with less people in work causing queues.

Lets hope it doesn't lose too many pennies for you, but by the sounds of it you might keep this one for a while.

Yea I think I will be keeping it a while, it should have good RV as it's very rare so far, lets hope so anyway.

[Golfer]

Some more information after a few more miles.

Firstly the car is LESS economical on country back roads (slightly) as the car can not reach 8th gear @ 50 MPH, it needs 54MPH+ so the economy dropped to 27.5MPG which in it's self is still good.

There have been many complaints by our american friends about the lack of steering feel,they also report many minor faults, I on the other hand have had NONE.

The steering is all electric now, and I can feel the difference compared to the M3 obviously, but once you get used to it it's fine, it weights up nicely as speed increases.

I had 100 miles cross country on "B" roads" to explore the steering more, and in "Sport settings" suspension only I found it very surefooted and responsive, yes the car is big but does not feel it on the move.

This is the quietest car I have ever owned, I just can not believe that I can talk in a whisper and give commands to the Nav system at speed without repeating myself.

The tyres are Michelin Primacy Run Flats and surprisingly give very little tyre noise at all.

The electronics are a mile improved on the last car (M3 2010 model ) everything seems to work so much easier without fuss.

Performance

You need to be very "Light footed" on the throttle unless there is clear space in front, it can catch the unwary out with the Instant grunt at all but tick-over.

It just flies from any revs.

The E60 M5 I tested needed some of this bottom end push.

Anyway for now I am very impressed with this "sleeping Monster".