Quote:
Originally Posted by Bch53211
I currently have a 18 M3 comp, lease is up in 6 months. I'm considering the M550i. I like the idea of a softer ride, a little more room and all wheel drive. Not to mention I really like the sound of a V8 with 528hp  Am I right to assume the ride is more comfortable than my M3? Even in comfort mode the M3 is still pretty hard. I'm also wondering about the color Bluestone. It looks like a silver , does it have blue components? Last, how long has this current generation been out? Is there a new model coming in the next couple years? |
Caveat: I've never driven a 3-series...at 6'5" I've never really fit into "compact" cars.
I have an '18 M550i and I really enjoy it. It definitely does the "luxury sedan" thing well. And when put into the sporty settings it does a good job at the "sporty sedan" thing. Is it a "true" M car? Not to my senses. Not even close. But I don't think it's supposed to be, either.
Some amusing anecdotes...
At one point my M550 was in for service and they gave me a 540i sDrive as a loaner. The 540 is much more tilted toward the "luxury sedan" side of things. So if that's what you're looking for you might consider that direction. For me, after about a day, I was missing the sportiness of my M550...in particular, the 540 felt a bit floaty at freeway speeds whereas the 550 feels like it's ready for action...nothing a huge spoiler on the 540 couldn't help!
Also, every time I mash on the accelerator in my 550 it brings this ridiculous smile to my face. Not so much in the 540. There really is nothing like a V8! (Perhaps a V12, but I'll probably never know).
As part of an M Town Tour I had the chance to drive an M5 Comp. After the first 10 minutes of "M5, woah" wore off I noticed a few things. (i) The M5 is way louder in the cabin than the M550. (ii) The M5 felt harder to see out of because the bonnet seemed to sit higher (those big turbos have to go somewhere!). (iii) You "feel" the road a lot more in the M5. Basically, the M5 felt like a lot of car that would have to be "managed" and "looked after" on a daily driver basis. So after about 10 minutes driving the M5C around I became 100% certain that the M550 was the correct choice for me. For my preferences, BMW did a fantastic job balancing luxury and sportiness with the M550. And several car reviewers echo that sentiment with words to the effect of "if I could afford it, this would be the car I would buy as a daily driver."
So while I can't address the M3 vs. M550 comparison directly, I think the M550 is worth a serious look in the sporty sedan segment if you're looking to tilt the balance more toward luxury. Something else I've noticed is that people on the forums around here who are used to "true" M-cars have been keeping an open mind toward the M Performance cars like the M550 and M340. These are not "true" single-digit M-cars. And for a meaningful segment of the car-buying public who don't want to drive what feels like a race car on a daily basis (I am included in this segment), that's a good thing. And that means it's a good thing for BMW the company because then they can still make "true" M-cars.*
* To see what I mean here consider the case of Porsche. If all Porsche made were "true" Porsche cars, such as the 911 variants, they'd have been shuttered years ago by their VW overlords.