Quote:
Originally Posted by hinckley
Precisely. Everyone gets hung up on zero to 60. I'm much more interested in handling characteristics and as Porsche says, there's no amount of power than can make up for excess weight. The 540ix starts at just over 4000 pounds. That's not too bad in today's world, but the 550 is 350 pounds heavier. That's a lot of additional weight.
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The M550i is 350 pounds heavier, but better equipped. The difference is less if you look at a similarly equipped 540ix.
There isn't much of a difference in handling between the current 550i and 535i. The 3 and 4 series handle better than the 5 series by a larger margin. Regardless, I find it meaningless. All these cars handle extremely well for any real-world driving, and none of them handle as well as, say, a Porsche Cayman.
How often do you speed around corners so fast that this makes a difference? The answer is pretty much never in my case. Even on mountain roads (where I rarely drive), it doesn't happen. It's just not safe - there could easily be a slower car, a cyclist, an animal, or some other nasty surprise waiting for you beyond the corner. I get more chances to enjoy the power than the handling. Anyway, there are certain thresholds of power and handling beyond which things become irrelevant overkill in real-world driving on public roads. Basically, unless you track the car, who cares...