Past Break-In in 2 Weeks
10-29-2007, 03:57 PM
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My Ride: 2008 BMW 550i
2006 BMW X3
I just spent a 4 day weekend in the mountains of NC & TN and have completed break in of the 550i in 2 weeks. I had 400 miles on the car when I left town and put 900 on it during the 4 days. This was for a BMW gathering from www.knightsoftheroundel.com. We did the Tail of the Dragon and Cherahola Skyway on Friday followed by the Blue Ridge Parkway and route 64 (waterfall alley) on Saturday. Instead of waiting until the magic 1200 mile mark to run the car hard, I frequently varied the crusing RPMs and gradually increased max throttle and max shift points until by 1200 miles I was pretty much all out a few times.
The 550i was awesome! Its the ultimate in luxury and performance. Its got plenty of room and comfort yet with performance and handling to hang with M3s on the twistiest of roads. You do have to account for the weight of the 550i, but entering corners at a slightly lower speed and powering through them feels great. I ran in DTC mode a lot and got a great balance to the car and even some power oversteer at corner exit.
The sport automatic is also great. I played with all modes. Here are my thoughts on it.
D mode: necessary for the smoothest shifting in traffic but seemed a little hesitant to downshift when needed in the mountains.
Paddles in D mode: Great for that 1 or 2 gear downshift for added power. That solves the problem above and is quicker than flooring it and waiting for the downshift. It then returns to D mode when you are back to cruising,
DS mode: Almost too high of shift points at lesser throttle but spot on for hard running. It did seem to agressively downshift at times and I ended up in a lower gear than I wanted. I have learned to feather the throttle to get a shift when you want it. IE, Punch it off the line in DS mode, at 3500 rpm, back off and it shifts into 2nd, punch it again and back off when you want a shift to 3rd.
Sport mode: Seems to be the same shift points as DS mode but possibly more agressive shifts.
Sport + DS: Definitely the most aggressive shifts. Sport mode does add quicker throttle response and slightly more firm steering but its not as dramatic as an ///M car sport button. I ran this way a LOT in the mountains.
Paddles in sport mode +DS: As soon as you use them, you are in manual mode until you go back to D. I guess this is good but occasionally I wanted back in DS and had to kick it to D and back like a Steptronic. I used the paddles a lot on the "Dragon". Up and down frequently. They react plenty fast enough for even hard driving and should do fine on track during a hard brake for corner entry. I DID detect a slight throttle blip. Most times it ramps up to the perfect RPM, but other times it overshoots slightly and causes the blip sound. I've yet to try holding a gear at redline in manual mode.
Manual shifter use: For standing starts, especially pulling onto a road, I use the shift lever for the 1-2 and 2-3 shifts. Its got a good shape to use for this.
The electronic shifter: I've gotten used to it for the most part but once it seemed to not want to get out of park. I needed to shut off and restart the car. I think it may have been that I started the car with the door open and that spooked it.
Also a few times, I've just pushed the lever forward when I pull into a parking sport and forgot to push the "Park" button. I end up in reverse. It does put it in park for you though when shutting off the car.
The 550i was awesome! Its the ultimate in luxury and performance. Its got plenty of room and comfort yet with performance and handling to hang with M3s on the twistiest of roads. You do have to account for the weight of the 550i, but entering corners at a slightly lower speed and powering through them feels great. I ran in DTC mode a lot and got a great balance to the car and even some power oversteer at corner exit.
The sport automatic is also great. I played with all modes. Here are my thoughts on it.
D mode: necessary for the smoothest shifting in traffic but seemed a little hesitant to downshift when needed in the mountains.
Paddles in D mode: Great for that 1 or 2 gear downshift for added power. That solves the problem above and is quicker than flooring it and waiting for the downshift. It then returns to D mode when you are back to cruising,
DS mode: Almost too high of shift points at lesser throttle but spot on for hard running. It did seem to agressively downshift at times and I ended up in a lower gear than I wanted. I have learned to feather the throttle to get a shift when you want it. IE, Punch it off the line in DS mode, at 3500 rpm, back off and it shifts into 2nd, punch it again and back off when you want a shift to 3rd.
Sport mode: Seems to be the same shift points as DS mode but possibly more agressive shifts.
Sport + DS: Definitely the most aggressive shifts. Sport mode does add quicker throttle response and slightly more firm steering but its not as dramatic as an ///M car sport button. I ran this way a LOT in the mountains.
Paddles in sport mode +DS: As soon as you use them, you are in manual mode until you go back to D. I guess this is good but occasionally I wanted back in DS and had to kick it to D and back like a Steptronic. I used the paddles a lot on the "Dragon". Up and down frequently. They react plenty fast enough for even hard driving and should do fine on track during a hard brake for corner entry. I DID detect a slight throttle blip. Most times it ramps up to the perfect RPM, but other times it overshoots slightly and causes the blip sound. I've yet to try holding a gear at redline in manual mode.
Manual shifter use: For standing starts, especially pulling onto a road, I use the shift lever for the 1-2 and 2-3 shifts. Its got a good shape to use for this.
The electronic shifter: I've gotten used to it for the most part but once it seemed to not want to get out of park. I needed to shut off and restart the car. I think it may have been that I started the car with the door open and that spooked it.
Also a few times, I've just pushed the lever forward when I pull into a parking sport and forgot to push the "Park" button. I end up in reverse. It does put it in park for you though when shutting off the car.
10-29-2007, 06:32 PM
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My Ride: G30 M550i
Model Year: 2018
Sounds like you're beginning to really experience the thrill of the 550i with the SAT! 
I was where you are a few short months ago (not at TOD, at 1200 miles 
).
Coming from an SMG, I always use the sport mode and manually shift. At this point, I often forget I'm driving an automatic -- if anything, I've pretty much forgotten that it's not an SMG since I've now adapted to the minor differences.
One note for you to add to your playing around -- the car will upshift at redline in manual mode so you can't really hit the rev limiter like you could on an SMG. Basically, if you're trying to do standing starts, there's no need to manually do the 1-2 and 2-3 shifts -- just floor it and let the car do the work!
Enjoy!
I was where you are a few short months ago (not at TOD, at 1200 miles ).Coming from an SMG, I always use the sport mode and manually shift. At this point, I often forget I'm driving an automatic -- if anything, I've pretty much forgotten that it's not an SMG since I've now adapted to the minor differences.
One note for you to add to your playing around -- the car will upshift at redline in manual mode so you can't really hit the rev limiter like you could on an SMG. Basically, if you're trying to do standing starts, there's no need to manually do the 1-2 and 2-3 shifts -- just floor it and let the car do the work!
Enjoy!
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