RE: BMW M550d: Chris Harris live blog

RE: BMW M550d: Chris Harris live blog

Friday 24th February 2012

BMW M550d update: 1800h

Chris is in Bavaria today to drive the mighty 'M diesel' M550d - home time and conclusions



We were hugely excited at the announcement of the new 'M diesel' BMW M550d. And then promptly disappointed when it appeared BMW wasn't going to sell it in the UK.

No fear, our man Chris Harris is in Bavaria today to drive it and tell us what we'll be missing out on and, if it's any good, initiate a PH campaign to bring the car to the UK.

We're possibly getting ahead of ourselves though.

Chris will be posting updates throughout the day so keep checking back to see how he's getting on. First instalment below...

Dan

1000h - Munich airport


Reporting live from the M550d drive launch in Munich. Just landed. There's a boxed-sausage on the baggage carrousel.

1015h - Press conference building, Munich


Arrived at some BMW building for the press conference. As ever, eyes drawn to an oldie. E12 535i. Want.

1025h - Press conference


So here it is. 381hp, 465lb ft. Looks no more sinister than a 520d. Stealth bomber.


Three turbochargers. Stunning packaging. No wonder BMW says it costs a mint to build each motor.


Press conference. Best stop typing. BMW bloke to my right looking at me the way my headmaster did before asking me not to come back to school for a few weeks.


M135i (top of grainy pic) to launch at Geneva. Over 300hp. Stripes down the side. Hopefully slithery.


First bit of Deutsch-lish for the day! Exterior und interior design, Ja!!

I'll stop cocking-about and listen: this engine is crazy complicated. 2200 bar injectors!

Also being launched is the 640d x drive. Not for UK market (like the M550d, sniff) but shows how serious BMW is about 4WD for high performance.

1240h - A service station in Bavaria, we nick someone else's M550d


Sorry for the delay. Had to spend an hour in a 640d xDrive coupe. Very nice too. Wide. Sounds a bit like a strangled DB5. Now have a mad rush to get a video shot on this! Looks very ordinary. Is is uber-stealthy, or just bland?

Big thanks to Kyle Fortune and Chris Chilton for swapping cars early with us.

1430h - The Autobahn, Garmisch


Just nailed the M550d xDrive for an hour between 200 and indicated 260km/h (the 155mph limiter). It's the new Autobahn king in many ways. Not as fast as an M5, but utterly effortless. Makes good noise. 4WD brings noticeable improvement in stability at high speed.

As a touring, has to be among the best all-event machines. Now off to find a few bends...


20.1mpg?! Er, driven flat-out, it does...

1800h - Munich airport, check-in

Apologies for the sporadic nature of my live blogging today. Driving, filming and patchy network service have made things tricky. Thoughts standing at Munich airport security?

It's kind of two cars in one, but not quite  in the way you'd expect.

As a large, comfortable, stable, breezily-rapid cruiser, the M550d is stunning. Give me a touring and I'd be the happiest man around. But, and it's quite a but, this is a long way from being an oily-M5. It feels much less agile, and even though winter tyres gave unrealistic grip levels, I was quite disappointed at the lack of appetite for fun in the chassis. The steering is fine, the ride is firm and the fuel economy when driven very hard fell to 20mpg. We were in a hurry. Will it do 45mpg? Not in my hands it won't.

What this car does is cleverly fill the gap between fast conventional 5s and the big-dog F10M. What it doesn't do is challenge the latter's appeal as the fastest way to transport a family.

 

Author
Discussion

Aizle

Original Poster:

12,429 posts

174 months

Friday 24th February 2012
quotequote all
An economical, nearly M car......

Interested to see how it stacks up or compares to the M5 which we now know isn't fully exploitable on the road.

jp7152

161 posts

222 months

Friday 24th February 2012
quotequote all
I see...

Be very interested to read his opinion smile

MrTickle

1,825 posts

238 months

Friday 24th February 2012
quotequote all
I would also be interested in a comparison against the Alpina D5

devnull

3,745 posts

156 months

Friday 24th February 2012
quotequote all
I want to know why the hell there's a boxed sausage on the carousel!

Garlick

40,601 posts

239 months

Friday 24th February 2012
quotequote all
Chris, take the sausage.....

V8KSN

4,711 posts

183 months

Friday 24th February 2012
quotequote all
devnull said:
I want to know why the hell there's a boxed sausage on the carousel!
+1 hehe

lgomgf

237 posts

187 months

Friday 24th February 2012
quotequote all
Is the sausage on a belt like the sushi deal?




Please let us know also the fuel consumption...

Vixpy1

42,620 posts

263 months

Friday 24th February 2012
quotequote all
Bit of a sausage fest if you ask me

Truckosaurus

11,183 posts

283 months

Friday 24th February 2012
quotequote all
Aizle said:
Interested to see how it stacks up or compares to the M5
MrTickle said:
I would also be interested in a comparison against the Alpina D5
...and how much better than the other 3-litre diesel 5series (530d, 535d) is it.


Steve Gunnis

2,929 posts

206 months

Friday 24th February 2012
quotequote all
That's just weird. They don't look cooked either. Also want the 535i, gorgeous in that colour.

Stuart

11,635 posts

250 months

Friday 24th February 2012
quotequote all


Right now, there's not much in the world I want more than this.

infernal

50 posts

161 months

Friday 24th February 2012
quotequote all
people looking at me in the office thinking im insane because im lauging at a boxed sausage



...actually that does sound a bit mad

smellypoo

45 posts

158 months

Friday 24th February 2012
quotequote all
Oooh, the 535i is a stunner.

This line made me laugh though

"As ever, eyes drawn to an oldie." - I know what you mean (and feel very much the same) but taken in a different context I once knew a lad at Uni who had lived by that mantra on most nights out...

OJ80

54 posts

157 months

Friday 24th February 2012
quotequote all
So what did the sign on the sausage say? These things are important...

Davey S2

13,075 posts

253 months

Friday 24th February 2012
quotequote all
The picture is atrocious.


You cant tell if its tomato or brown sauce on the plate.

German

203 posts

146 months

Friday 24th February 2012
quotequote all
Ive been excitedly F5'ing this in the background of my pc for a while, looking forward to opinions. Also, if you wander past the FIZ give us a wave smile

lgomgf

237 posts

187 months

Friday 24th February 2012
quotequote all
Stuart said:


Right now, there's not much in the world I want more than this.
+1 nice car...

German

203 posts

146 months

Friday 24th February 2012
quotequote all
Davey S2 said:
The picture is atrocious.


You cant tell if its tomato or brown sauce on the plate.
Its Sußensenf, sweet mustard wink

Numeric

1,393 posts

150 months

Friday 24th February 2012
quotequote all
They look like Weisse Wurst so the sauce would be a sweat mustard. They are cooked as the are basically veal sausage so are very pale and very delicious but you have to peal them before eating as the skin isn't really part of the experience.

I hope we get more info - were they good, did they peel easily (a sign of quality)?

Davey S2

13,075 posts

253 months

Friday 24th February 2012
quotequote all
German said:
Davey S2 said:
The picture is atrocious.


You cant tell if its tomato or brown sauce on the plate.
Its Sußensenf, sweet mustard wink
Ooohhh an insider!

What's the note say?