Well f-ck me running, it’s just damn impossible to find something hands down better than this car. Got her back. Everything I said about the 8 is still true. It’s magnificent. It’s sportier. It drives really fun. But Goshdamnit it’s just not as comfortable. I’m back in my M550 and there’s nothing an 8 can do that it can’t… and I can actually be comfortable while I do it. The 8 wasn’t THAT uncomfortable. I’d get used it (though my upper back has been acting up again since driving it for a few days). But the G30 is supremely comfortable. And just as fast. And any difference in handling is pretty minor. The 8 steers heavier, which I like. Otherwise, the 5 is a bit more agile. It feels that way.
That thing about my back… the 8 seat was just too narrow. That’s the problem for me. I’m not big but I’m also not built slender. Wide shoulders and back. Maybe if I were taller it would be better but where I’m positioned, I can’t quite rest my back comfortably flat. I don’t want to admit to my wife that it may have been the car… just in case. But truthfully, deep down I’m afraid I’d regret the switch for just this reason.
So chalk up another scalp for the M550. I’ve now tried to talk myself into an M340,
M440, X5 M50, X6 M50, and M850. No car is perfect but the M550 just beats all those in all around existence. It just exists better.
If you like getting a new car every year or two, don’t get an M550. You’ll be hard pressed to find its replacement.
So… the obvious one that a few have pointed out and I’ve refused to consider… the F90. I may have to do some research. I’d have to get real comfortable and do a lot of homework to daily drive an M5. Or M anything. So now my attention is aimed at researching daily driver ownership of a F90 from 20-30k miles up to maybe 60-80k miles. I imagine what appealed to me in driving dynamics of the 8 would also apply to an M5. And it would be comfortable. And it’s a classic BMW moniker.
This car is too good. Too good looking and too good on the road. Too versatile to let go of. You can tighten the bolsters and go to town in sport mode or flatten the bolsters and lean sideways on the console, left arm on the wheel, and effortlessly cruise at any speed you like. And get to that speed swiftly.
I’m not doing anything anytime soon. I’m under warranty til Feb and then I’ll contemplate a switch or a Route 66 warranty. The F90 research will hold my car problem at bay for a while.
Oh… and now the wife wants her own V8. So I’m also distracted with a X7 M50 search, as she prefers the pre-LCI. Over 1000 hp in a two car garage… sounds lovely! Also another reason to contemplate the F90 in the future… can’t have the wife boasting equal hp, can I???
