RE: BMW 550i (E60): Spotted
Discussion
njw1 said:
Budleigh said:
Someone will always say "better off in a 530d", or some such thing, but you simply cannot compare the dynamics of a 362bhp 4.8 litre V8 with those of a diesel 6-pot. The V8 is part of what makes the car feel luxurious and sporty, not simply quick.
^^^Exactly this.
|https://thumbsnap.com/LrEOFt9j[/url]cerb4.5lee said:
I'm another one that agrees with this, l loved my 640d but I always felt that the engine prevented it from feeling like a premium car(the engine was crude at idle and moving away at low revs). The engine in my X5 4.8iS always felt special whether you were going fast or slow, and it just added to the sense of occasion for me.
Totally agree. The refinement and character of the engine is one of the defining characteristics of a "premium" car for me; even in an absolutely knackered old shed a good 6+ cylinder engine still feels great. Jerry Can said:
back in the day I used to work for the Bavarians. There were very few manual 550i's, indeed the only person that requested therm as their daily driver was none other than Tiff Needell. Looking at the reg plate, I would say that there is a strong possibility that this is one of Tiff's old press loaner (I think he still has a deal with BMW even to this day), they get replaced every 9k miles, although back then it was every 6k miles, and also a possibility that I pressed the buttons on the ordering computer to build the car at Dingolfing.
If it isn't Tiff's it'll almost certainly be an ex BMW fleet car, probably a presser, maybe from the corporate fleet.
A customer of mine has a 550i manual M sport touring, even less of those sold than saloons.If it isn't Tiff's it'll almost certainly be an ex BMW fleet car, probably a presser, maybe from the corporate fleet.
I have a facelift E39 540i Sport touring manual which is an ex BMW fleet car which which makes a great daily.
s m said:
article said:
“......Indeed, find another interesting four-door saloon with a manual that isn't simply an E39 M5. Which is a pretty compelling alternative, granted. Otherwise there's the odd MG ZT 260 and, er, well, that's about it......”
Vauxhall VXR8Manual box
Vauxhall VXR8 V8 430BHP | 61000 MILES | FULL | Full Service History https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https%3A%2...
Edited by s m on Sunday 13th January 09:17
Matt Bird said:
s m said:
article said:
“......Indeed, find another interesting four-door saloon with a manual that isn't simply an E39 M5. Which is a pretty compelling alternative, granted. Otherwise there's the odd MG ZT 260 and, er, well, that's about it......”
Vauxhall VXR8Manual box
Vauxhall VXR8 V8 430BHP | 61000 MILES | FULL | Full Service History https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https%3A%2...
Edited by s m on Sunday 13th January 09:17
This one below was a little closer to the 550i asking price - same age and mileage
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...
Not sure what the lowest the VXR8s get down to
njw1 said:
Not sure where you're coming from there?
A 5 litre V8 in a 1750 (ish) kg limo needs more than 360 bhp. Worse, it consistently dyno'd at 340 bhp and some reckoned that translated to about 280 rwp.
njw1 said:
it has 360-odd bhp, cars with more oomph than that are going to be few and far between on the road.
There's a lot of cars with in excess of 360bhp on the road. As an aside, you need to take into account the weight of a car and its torque (very little) before you calculate oomph!popeyewhite said:
njw1 said:
Not sure where you're coming from there?
A 5 litre V8 in a 1750 (ish) kg limo needs more than 360 bhp. Worse, it consistently dyno'd at 340 bhp and some reckoned that translated to about 280 rwp.
njw1 said:
it has 360-odd bhp, cars with more oomph than that are going to be few and far between on the road.
There's a lot of cars with in excess of 360bhp on the road. As an aside, you need to take into account the weight of a car and its torque (very little) before you calculate oomph!Even if it does only produce 340 bhp, with a weight of 1750kg that's a power to weight ratio of nearly 200 bhp per tonne, couple that with probably at least 350 lb/ft of torque (not exactly 'very little'!) and it's going to be far from a slow car. I've got an e39 540i (auto) and it certainly feels heavy and a bit lazy at low speeds but once your up and running the in gear acceleration is rapid to say the least.
And yes, there are plenty of cars about with more than 360 bhp but it's going to be a very small percentage of the total number of all cars on the road. I would say 95% of cars on the road have less than 200 bhp.
njw1 said:
Even if it does only produce 340 bhp, with a weight of 1750kg that's a power to weight ratio of nearly 200 bhp per tonne, couple that with probably at least 350 lb/ft of torque (not exactly 'very little'!) and it's going to be far from a slow car.
njw1 said:
I've got an e39 540i (auto) and it certainly feels heavy and a bit lazy at low speeds but once your up and running the in gear acceleration is rapid to say the least.
I drove one for a few weeks, it was ok, but never really got going.njw1 said:
And yes, there are plenty of cars about with more than 360 bhp
Yup.popeyewhite said:
Still not enough bhp for a 5.5 V8 nearly 2 tonne car. The whole point of a 5 series is reasonable handling, and in a 5.5 V8 decent thrust and waft. 360bhp is nowhere near enough. Torque is small, and will be too high up the rev range just like a lot of other BMWs.
Where are you getting 5.5 V8, the BMW is 4.8l?I have one in my 650i, weighs nearly 2 tonnes, does low 5s to 60mph and pulls well to 155mph, high 13 1/4 mile. Not exactly slow.
popeyewhite said:
Still not enough bhp for a 5.5 V8 nearly 2 tonne car. The whole point of a 5 series is reasonable handling, and in a 5.5 V8 decent thrust and waft. 360bhp is nowhere near enough. Torque is small, and will be too high up the rev range just like a lot of other BMWs.
The 550i is a 4.8 litre engine and 369lbft @ 3500 rpm isnt exactly small torque at high rpm.Incidentally the V10 from the E60 M5 has 384lbft at a heady 6100rpm but only 200cc more.
Only on PH do you find someone moaning about how undepowered a 550i is. It has more than twice the power of 80%+ of the 5 series sold (520d), and while there are more powerful cars on the road I don't think one car in 300 that I see on the motorway would have a cats chance in hell of keeping up with a 550i. While the driver drinks coffee and listens to Radio 4.
popeyewhite said:
BSSBMW said:
Incidentally the V10 from the E60 M5 has 384lbft at a heady 6100rpm but only 200cc more.
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