#Idrive reviews for mac 2018 plus
Our test car came fitted with BMW’s Active Driving Assistant Plus system (part of the $3400 Driving Assistance Plus package), which adds some active-steering assistance to the adaptive cruise control. The LED cabin lighting is beautiful, and the animation of the display screens is crisply rendered. Yet it also feels as if more effort has been expended on such details than has been on what used to be BMW basics. LOWS: Inert driving experience, unresolved ride, no steering feel. Physics certainly aren’t on its side the 4414-pound curb weight makes it 243 pounds heavier than the 540i xDrive we tested, with the majority of that difference coming from the big V-8 out front. Grip levels are high (the 0.94 g it posted on our skidpad is entirely respectable), but the M550i’s handling balance feels front-heavy, with a surprising amount of understeer in tighter turns and little evidence of the rear-biased xDrive system. The helm is very light in the Comfort mode, with Sport and Sport+ adding weight but no more sensation. It’s accurate and yields prompt responses from the front end, but with none of the feedback that-until recently-came standard on any BMW. The electrically assisted steering is the prime culprit here. The M550i certainly is fast enough to have earned its M badge, but it struggles to deliver the remainder of a sports-sedan experience, with little of the dynamic connection that buyers might legitimately expect to find in even a basic 5-series.
#Idrive reviews for mac 2018 manual
Manual changes are dispatched quickly, although-as in lesser 5-series models-the shift paddles behind the steering wheel are plasticky and their action feels too light. It shifts both quickly and intelligently, helping to zing the engine to life for short-notice passing moves but also holding onto ratios when the engine’s flat torque curve suffices to get the job done. The ZF-sourced transmission has become the go-to gearbox for the world’s premium automakers, and the M550i is one of its best implementations yet. The standard eight-speed automatic operates extremely well.
Along with a 9.2-second zero-to-100-mph time and a 12.3-second quarter-mile at 115 mph, that makes the M550i nearly as quick as the previous-generation M5. We recorded a zero-to-60-mph time of just 3.8 seconds, 0.7 second quicker than the already brisk BMW 540i xDrive.
Acceleration numbers are equally impressive. Peak torque is available from just 1800 rpm, and the engine pulls cleanly all the way to 7000 rpm with only the briefest lag at low revs, accompanied by a soundtrack that builds from a purposeful growl to a full-throated V-8 snarl.
While the less powerful V-8 can’t match the searing pace of the M5’s brawnier unit, it has an entirely satisfying amount of brawn pretty much all of the time. The engine is definitely the M550i’s star attraction. Still, for $74,395 it offers a useful discount to the M5, which we’re expecting will cost close to six figures. And although we’re told that the M550i’s all-wheel-drive system is rear-biased, it lacks the M5’s Active M Differential and ability to act as a pure rear-driver. Peak output is 456 horsepower, some way short of the 600-hp M5 but still more than respectable, especially when considered against the 396 ponies in the V-6–powered Mercedes-AMG E43. Like its punchier sibling, the M550i uses a twin-turbocharged 4.4-liter V-8 engine, an eight-speed automatic gearbox, and all-wheel drive. The latest of these is the M550i xDrive, a very fast 5-series sedan aimed at those who want an M badge without having to wait for, or pay for, the new M5.
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