We have been reading these things for the past few days, BMW let some of the press drive the newly released M550d xDrive right down the road in Munich. City driving and unlimited autobahn jaunts were the order of business, mind you on the legally required snow tires here in Germany. While we will refrain from setting forth our opinion until we drive this M Performance offering we trust Chris’ opinion.
Chris Harris throws no punches and has an understanding of what the not so mainstream consumer (that’s us enthusiasts) wants in a car. He expresses some good points about this new diesel beast over at Piston Heads and it is worth the click over.
Is it fast like the M5? Nothing like. Its 4.7sec 0-62mph time is a corollary of stacked gearing and 4WD traction. Above 100mph the new M5 would have to use all of its firepower – but that’s always the case for the valiant petrol machine versus the fast diesel, no? Even so, it would then teach the M550d a lesson or two. And that’s before we even discuss the subjectives, throttle response being the big one. What happens when the taps open is very impressive. The sensation of doing so is one of complete detachment. Personally, in this kind of car that doesn’t worry me one bit, but some will find it irksome.
That sums it up pretty quickly, its no M5 but it is a fast diesel that he feels would get mid-30s mpg (UK) under normal sporty driving which is not that bad at all – sure beats single digits to teens!
Author: Michael
Source: http://www.bimmerfile.com/2012/02/28/ch ... 0d-xdrive/