The 2018 BMW M550i xDrive: Can It Daily?
Is the M550i xDrive too much for the daily drive?
Of course, the real question here is how does all that power and traction transfer over to the daily commute. If you keep it out of sport mode, the car is quick but not aggressive. Likewise, the exhaust note is kept in check, and you have more than enough grunt to handle any overtaking or on-ramp shenanigans with a quiet, but very determined, grace. It’s like a bodyguard in a tailored suit. You know it is capable of destroying you if it wished, but if you remain civil everything will be just fine.
If you do decide to use the M550i as your standard commuter, make sure you employ judicious use of the car’s various safety and car control features. That motor, coupled with the quiet interior, means you are quite frequently well over the posted limits. With the radar cruise activated and the steering assist turned on, you can just relax and let the pre-programmed Bavarian brains handle the heavy lifting. You have to keep your hands on the wheel and your eyes forward, but the BMW can sort out the rest.
That means you have plenty of time to enjoy the beautiful interior.
The Cognac Dakota leather looks stunning with the contrasting black dash and lower console. Meanwhile, the silver and matte wood trim keep things classier than a Duke’s study. We just wish BMW and everyone else would stop using piano black on the control areas. The rest of the interior looks amazing, and it’s ruined by the greasy, fingerprint covered black trim. Look, BMW, we don’t want to clean our dash every time we adjust the radio volume or touch the shift knob.
Thanks to its ‘hot-V’ turbo arrangement that puts the turbos on top of the engine between the cylinder banks, the motor has near-instant response.
The seats are adjustable in about 900 different directions, and that’s probably a good thing. For reasons we can’t understand, this is the only BMW we ever had difficulty getting comfortable in. The seat was oddly stiff in places, and it took more than a day’s worth of minor fiddling to get things set just right. Once we got it figured out though, the thrones were mighty supportive. It’s a good thing too, as even in its softest setting the M550i’s suspension could be too harsh for some. While we found it perfectly acceptable, we had multiple passengers remark on the stiffness and jarring over imperfect pavement.
A bit of a shame considering your friends will always want you to drive. The cabin of the M550i is more than spacious enough for four adults, regardless of how far you are going, and the trunk is big enough to swallow all the luggage you would need for those four people. You want to road trip out to Vegas? The M550i would be more than capable.
