Roger Gibson

Hi guys,

I have a 2013 550i M-sport and I'm trying to clarify what HP/Torque numbers it has. I read that in 2013 BMW added their valvetronic setup to the N63 motor and should be at 445 hp and 480 lb-ft of torque. It certainly feels like it is, damn thing is a beast! Can anyone point me in the right direction to confirm that?

I also keep seeing how unreliable the N63 is. Is it hit or miss or almost guaranteed to be a problem at some point? My rig was a leased vehicle (one owner) and appears to have been serviced completely by BMW until I bought it from a dealership that snatched it from auction. I did, however, buy an extended warranty for the car as I know how expensive repairs can already be on a BMW. Now I am even more glad I got the extra warranty if I can expect serious problems with the motor...

Eddie P

I don't know if this works on US cars but it does on EU ones....
Google for BMW VIN decoder. Choose one of them, enter the last 7 characters of your VIN and you will get the original build spec of the car. In there you will find a line stating the power of the engine. This will be in kW, To convert to hp, multiply by 1.341. You can't get at the torque this way but usually the torque is specific to the power output.
I thought pre-2013 they were 407hp & 442lbft, after that they were 445hp & 480lbft as you quote.

Roger Gibson

Cool, thanks for that. It appears my car is at 407/442. I'm surprised because it feels faster than those numbers suggest! I had a 2012 Chrysler 300 SRT8 with 485hp/485lb-ft and this 550i feels just as fast.

Eddie P

I don't know much about the SRT8 as we don't see many of them over here but the twin turbo 550i delivers all its torque from 2,000 rpm.
I'd also note that BMW to tend to over-deliver on their power and torque numbers. I run an EU-spec 535d, unmodified. Supposed to have 308hp & 465lbft. Actually has 332 and 490, and all the torque is there from 1,500 rpm. Makes it feel quite rapid.

five4life

From what I can surmise I think they were going to put the 450HP engine on 2013 models and changed there mind. I say that because I have read, as have you, in multiple road test that the 450 was going to be in the '13. But I just shopped a bunch of them looking for the right one and everytime I run the VIN it comes up as 407 HP
But yes, it is a beast. In sport + with the tranny in sport I scare myself. In a great way !!