[matty2244]

Hey all, been a minute here but excuses aside my first baby just turned 2 months old (little girl, Edith).

Anyways, it took a bit but I figured this car out and how to actually drive it. I was in an SRT jeep for several years (just sold it last week - 26k for a 2014 with 115k miles, not bad) so I had to unlearn that beast.

That said I love this BMW. First timer here in the German world. As mentioned it took me a bit to dial this in, but now that I have (you HAVE to disable traction control 1 IMO (the car says TRACTION below your driving mode when you do). Don't fully disable it, just hit it once.

I figured this out when it just didn't really feel right when flooring it while cruising in the midrange. I would hear the engine roaring but never really feel like I was going fast enough, and it was b/c of a lack of traction, even in 3rd gear for god sakes on the freeway. This car is so fast and has so much torque I am simply obsessed and cannot get enough. For what it's worth I am averaging ~13mpg in it, but I am still in the honeymoon phase, so I am sure I'll back off a bit. I do worry about destroying my snow tires (I bought a set of 19s and tires) in only one season but whatever. I didn't buy an M550i because I care about tires or MPG. My last car was not great either in those departments, plus I have the 20's (this car had that option) with BRAND NEW summer tires thanks to BMW Lincoln (they did tires and brakes when the took the lease back) patiently waiting in in my garage

It does need more right off the line, but I am used to much more displacement and no turbo lag. I don't really care that much but you kind of have to brake boost it or use launch control to really get the full acceleration of the mid 3s.

Also I have a bimmertech alpha one amplifier sitting next to me here in my office, I will let you guys know if I think it is worth the $1600 when I install it (the high today is -3, and my house doesn't have a heated garage, so I am in no hurry). People say it actually does make that HK system good!

Oh and I did grab bimmercode and do a few things (disable engine auto stop, disable reminding me to not rely soley on the camera every single day of my life, things like that, etc. Those of you with the HK system that read enabling bowers and wilkings sound profiles (my car now says B+W in the surround area of the GUI) makes it better it does not. Bimmercode is cool though, I did also change my dash GUI to Aphina, its a bit more pleasant and nobody really would ever notice or anything. You can also throw on the 200mph M dash (M5) which is kinda cool. Oh, also the rolls royce tones are more plesant like the back up ding, seat belt reminder, I would recommend that too.

I am having fun with this car. I have a dragy on the way to measure 0-60 times, and when it is SO COLD here these internal combustion engines are so happy. My Jeep would go from 0-60 in 4.7 seconds in the summertime to as fast as 3.9 in THIS cold (below zero) - my jeep had timers built in which was honestly kind of fun the entire time. They say this little dragy GPS box is great for measuring. FUn to try and set personal bests (I would reset it accidently sometimes, etc).

I honestly wonder if I can hit 60 in under 3 in this car in the perfect cold condition. Reviews rate it at 3.6, but reviews rated my Jeep at 4.7, clearly not driving it in the dense bitter cold which I could get easily a half second faster. The 2s is rare company, Plaid world

[Brucelinc]

Originally Posted by matty2244

I figured this out when it just didn't really feel right when flooring it while cruising in the midrange. I would hear the engine roaring but never really feel like I was going fast enough, and it was b/c of a lack of traction, even in 3rd gear for god sakes on the freeway.

You are saying that your M550 breaks traction when cruising in midrange and you floor it? They are pretty quick but no way will it break traction under those conditions unless you are on a wet road or your AWD is not working correctly.

I have drag raced my M550 as well as driven it pretty aggressively on the street. It is a mid-11 second car stock and will knock off mid 3 second 0-60 times. However, the traction of AWD is really what helps it do those things.

[matty2244]

Here's the deal, with traction control fully one if you floor the car at say 50 it will honestly not put all of the power down, it hinders/retards it. If you hit the traction control button one time it says "traction" underneath the drive mode and that same flooring it example is a whole different world. All the power is down. I can reproduce it every single time.

The car with everything enabled in my opinion wants the people inside to not feel any kind of discomfort, jerking, etc, so it will retard the throttle, etc, think flooring it in the snow - 10 it makes a lot of noise but you don't go anywhere. It's amazingly different in my car with that button hit one time, and yes I think it is because there is some spin or something, it's night and day for me and my car. I don't see what else it could be??

[ab1752]

Looking forward to your update with that HK amp upgrade. My 2018 had B&W but no go for my 2022 m550i...it's very under powered, the amp that is.

[matty2244]

Will let you know ab1752, I was going to do it today but it is incredibly cold here and I do not have a heated garage in this house unfortunately.

I am having a shop install it next Sunday, I asked if I could follow him around and he's cool with it, so I'll have plenty of info from install onto review. Figured when I move on from this car I should probably put the factory Amp back in and get this thing into somebody else's hands, so if I see it done I can do it in reverse at that time.

[NGT2]

Originally Posted by matty2244

Here's the deal, with traction control fully one if you floor the car at say 50 it will honestly not put all of the power down, it hinders/retards it. If you hit the traction control button one time it says "traction" underneath the drive mode and that same flooring it example is a whole different world. All the power is down. I can reproduce it every single time.

The car with everything enabled in my opinion wants the people inside to not feel any kind of discomfort, jerking, etc, so it will retard the throttle, etc, think flooring it in the snow - 10 it makes a lot of noise but you don't go anywhere. It's amazingly different in my car with that button hit one time, and yes I think it is because there is some spin or something, it's night and day for me and my car. I don't see what else it could be??

I haven’t played with this at all. I’ll give it a try when it dries up. We just got 4 inches of snow in a part of the country where we have no plows and that’s ALOT of snow.

[matty2244]

Sounds good, thanks!

I'm honestly shocked that there is a resounding "yep, that's what you gotta do to get the power down" reply or replies on this topic for m550i people.

According to the car it's called "Dynamic Traction", suggesting (to me) that it is going to put more traction down. It honestly does that in my personal experience. Using that dragy a couple time last night the best I saw was 3.54 0-60 and it sure has hell wasn't without "dynamic traction" being enabled.

The roads are not perfect yet for this cold ass rip, but when they are I am going to see if I can get it down to low 3s or high 2s.

My car has 30k miles and has been serviced recently. Everything is perfect imo, I only imply doubt based on what Bruce said suggesting there was potentially an issue with the awd system. I have an extended friend with a 2020 M5 with 6k miles on it that said I can take it for a rip, I bet I have the same feedback. I'll keep the group posted.

[ab1752]

Originally Posted by matty2244

Will let you know ab1752, I was going to do it today but it is incredibly cold here and I do not have a heated garage in this house unfortunately.

I am having a shop install it next Sunday, I asked if I could follow him around and he's cool with it, so I'll have plenty of info from install onto review. Figured when I move on from this car I should probably put the factory Amp back in and get this thing into somebody else's hands, so if I see it done I can do it in reverse at that time.

Sweet. I actually have a spare B&W amp in the garage from my last m550i. They thought it was blown and replaced it however there was a separate issue. Anyway, myself and another buddy with an X5M also with HK are keen to hear how this goes for ya. B&W wasn't available in 2022 thanks to everyone's favorite plague.

[Brucelinc]

In street driving, after the initial launch, I do not find any difference at all in acceleration whether the traction control is on or off. It should only come into play when the car loses traction. No way in hell it will break traction on dry pavement at 50 MPH or whatever.

I have drag raced my car at Brainerd and Rock falls and typically use sport plus and traction off. On one run, I accidently had it in sport individual and forgot to turn off TC. It made no difference. The car is consistently an 11.6 car. I do not use the launch control when drag racing. It might help some but the one time I used it, the car seemed to shudder while waiting for the green light. From then on, I just brake torque it to around 1700 and let it go. ZERO wheel spin on a prepped dragstrip starting line. Only the slightest bark of the tires on a dry concrete street.

My car is a 2022. I know that some 2021 models did have an issue with the traction control system that hurt acceleration. BMW fixed that with an update. Anyone with a 2021 should make sure that update was done.

[BMW012]

the one reason i can think of is, its because he has summer tires in the middle of winter. hence, the loss of traction lol. MN is 7 degrees today...

[Brucelinc]

Originally Posted by BMW012

the one reason i can think of is, its because he has summer tires in the middle of winter. hence, the loss of traction lol. MN is 7 degrees today...

Summer tires should never be driven in temps like that!

[mobilegun]

Originally Posted by Brucelinc

In street driving, after the initial launch, I do not find any difference at all in acceleration whether the traction control is on or off. It should only come into play when the car loses traction. No way in hell it will break traction on dry pavement at 50 MPH or whatever.

I have drag raced my car at Brainerd and Rock falls and typically use sport plus and traction off. On one run, I accidently had it in sport individual and forgot to turn off TC. It made no difference. The car is consistently an 11.6 car. I do not use the launch control when drag racing. It might help some but the one time I used it, the car seemed to shudder while waiting for the green light. From then on, I just brake torque it to around 1700 and let it go. ZERO wheel spin on a prepped dragstrip starting line. Only the slightest bark of the tires on a dry concrete street.

My car is a 2022. I know that some 2021 models did have an issue with the traction control system that hurt acceleration. BMW fixed that with an update. Anyone with a 2021 should make sure that update was done.

Is there an easy way to confirm the update was applied? From the car etc

I think the initial service code was something like b120421, but not sure if that explicitly needs to be applied or if it's just been included in any other updates after that?

[iamcc88]

The first thing I do every time I get in my car is I hit the traction button because of exactly the same reason.

I don’t notice a traction difference at highway speeds but the car feels more planted.

If you read the description of the traction mode it says something like “reduced chassis stabilization” which to me means it’s a more raw feeling in terms of being connected to the road, and that’s what I feel when I use it.

What I do notice is at any lower speeds <50mph if I am going to punch it to merge in to traffic etc there is a noticeable difference in this setting.

[NGT2]

Originally Posted by iamcc88

The first thing I do every time I get in my car is I hit the traction button because of exactly the same reason.

I don’t notice a traction difference at highway speeds but the car feels more planted.

If you read the description of the traction mode it says something like “reduced chassis stabilization” which to me means it’s a more raw feeling in terms of being connected to the road, and that’s what I feel when I use it.

What I do notice is at any lower speeds <50mph if I am going to punch it to merge in to traffic etc there is a noticeable difference in this setting.

So basically just hit the button one time?

[iamcc88]

Originally Posted by NGT2

So basically just hit the button one time?

Correct. Press it one time and I think it says “sport traction” or something like that. You have to hold the button for 2-3 to turn it off completely.

[NGT2]

Originally Posted by iamcc88

Correct. Press it one time and I think it says “sport traction” or something like that. You have to hold the button for 2-3 to turn it off completely.

I’m excited to try it and see if I can tell a difference. Just need this ice and snow to melt first.

[BrocksM550i]

My car is equipped with DHP. I’ll have to try this out to see if there is a difference

[NGT2]

Originally Posted by BrocksM550i

My car is equipped with DHP. I’ll have to try this out to see if there is a difference

Same here. We can see if we have the same reaction.

[arkhi]

Originally Posted by iamcc88

If you read the description of the traction mode it says something like “reduced chassis stabilization” which to me means it’s a more raw feeling in terms of being connected to the road, and that’s what I feel when I use it.

What that means is DSC is crippled. On TRACTION mode, it's more forgiving when the vehicle/tires slip, so you feel more power because it's allowing more power. On normal mode, it throttles the engine or uses the brakes when the sensors feel the wheels are slipping to avoid tire screeching on launch, or to avoid loss of vehicle control on speed.

[NGT2]

Originally Posted by arkhi

What that means is DSC is crippled. On TRACTION mode, it's more forgiving when the vehicle/tires slip, so you feel more power because it's allowing more power. On normal mode, it throttles the engine or uses the brakes when the sensors feel the wheels are slipping to avoid tire screeching on launch, or to avoid loss of vehicle control on speed.

So what are you saying? More power when it’s on or off?

[iamcc88]

Originally Posted by NGT2

So what are you saying? More power when it’s on or off?

He is saying more power with less traction control.

Normal mode: least power
Sport traction: medium power
Traction off: most power

[Chappers 71]

Hmm…my understanding has always been that pressing it once enables better traction on slushy/slippery surfaces, it restricts traction control because on those surfaces the tc would detect the wheel spin cut the power & you’d go nowhere, not sure that it would make the car accelerate any faster but tbf have never tried using it that way, I just turn it all the way off if I wanna drive like my hairs on fire