twin snail 4.4L

To sum it up, our best friends picked us up in an 09 manual M5 we drove 100 interstate 70W miles to StL and another 50 mile of W County stop light to stop light and clover leaf miles with the M-button ON. Once we arrived in StL our friends idiot light came on and told them the M5 was in need of oil. We went to Autohaus and had it added (1/2 qt). Autohaus' new state of the art facility on S Hanley is a sight to behold. Cobble stone (or stencilled) floor in the immaculate service area. Glass front show room. Place is 1 year old, and owned by the same lady for 30 or 40 years. Rock solid dealership and not going anywhere soon. Anyway, the service dealer get oil in my friends car very quickly and in the mean time we find out that the 550xi I bought for my wife last weekend has arrived. SA says he can have the car ready in 2 hours. We tell him to take his time and that we will see him Sat at 9:00 am.
We show up at 8:45 and he is there and lets us in early. Good start. The car had like 20 miles on it. SA spent 60 to 90 minutes getting the car set up and synced our smart phones. Looked easy. Very thorough and professional orientation. No rush job.
The car is a Jet Black 550xi with black dakota and dark wood. Package I and II. No door sill lights (they look cool). USB port the only other option. Cockpit is bad ass at night. Put on 250 miles in the last couple days. Half 70E and half city.
My history is an 86 T-type, 86 GN (still own), 92 VW Corrado SLC 2.8L DOHC,96 Mustang Cobra hand-assembled 4.6L DOHC, 99 Pulley Moded 99 Riviera, 2000 Stage 2 H/C C5 (still own), 06 CTS-V 90,XXX and still going strong. I like fast cars and know a thing or two about various types of forced induction muscle cars, and I can drive straights and twisties (multiple Dragons Tail runs in multiple cars and a 4.3 L manaul S-10). Thank God for the Valentine 1 (ten years plus seat time).
The M5 is a beast with the M-button on and above 4 grand. It is most happy when you drive it like you hate it. Sticks like a slot car (thanks PS2s). Sounds like a sports car should (the Cobra sounded better stock for stock). This car is also black metallic, blk leather, tinted windows. Looks the part!
The 550xi would give it a run to 40, till the M5 hooked up in second or most likely third, or in the rain (snow is out of the question for the M5 at least). The 550 is very torquey at 1500 and starts to wake up at 2500. I have had the car to 4000 rpms for a split second due to a mistake shifting in manual mode. I do not have sport auto. The 550 definitely has more low end grunt and handles pretty well for a 4400 lbs car. Its like a grizzly bear or a buffalo, it looks like it would be slow until it takes chase, then get out of its way!!!!
Observations: Driving 73 mph in 29F and humid air with a tail wind we averaged 25.6 mpg for a 70 mile stretch on interstate 70E. During a 40 or 50 mile mixed interstate, and city driving we averaged 22 mpg. I expect this to increase 1 to 2 mpg with break-in.

Ran 210 to 215'F at 29'F on the highway. This seems hot when compared to the turbo Buicks and the supercharged Riv I drove in the past. This could possibly shorten engine life and cause the knock sensors to pull the timing, and increase heat soak issues. Wonder what the midwest heat and humidity will do to performance. I am sure the air to air intercooler was loving the dense air charge.

The car absolutely idled at 500 rpms early on but was at 750 for the most part today. I have never seen an engine vary in this regard. My M5 friend agreed on the idle after I pointed it out.

I drive is easy to operate while driving.

No pull to the right.

Engine has a nice subtle growl at 4000, sounds gurly to H/C C5 sans cats, or Magnaflowed V. Or one could call it more refined.

I plan on a legal tint, my buddies wifes M5 has an agressive tint. The car will be my wifes daily driver. She is coming from an 03 4.7L V8 four runner with 3.73 and a 5 speed auto, it runs 14s I would guess. Will post pics in the near future, and keep you guys posted as I learn teh nuances of this sophisticated car. I am very impressed by the guys at Autohaus, and with BMW. Both the M5 and 550xi are fantastic cars, both do the job they were designed to do with an A+ rating.

My only complaint is that the trany searches for gears at light throttle. Very smooth shifts. Nice breaks, avoiding hard stops though.

Does this car have forged internals, flat or dished pistons, air to air intercooler? Its my wifes daily driver and wont be modded any time soon,,,,,
Greg

twin snail 4.4L

One other difference is that the M5 falsed my V1, the 550 does not.

aretardedorange

Congrats! I am curious what interior color did you get? And hardwire that V1. Impressed with the MPG results you are getting. If you had a normal i not XI I would suggest the Dinan S1 tune which boosts the hp to 496 and increases the torque...that would have helped you most certainly keep up with your buddies M5 and maybe even beat him .

Sadly its not for your XI which I don't understand why....but plenty of tunes should be ready soon for your N55 engine by aftermarket tuners .

twin snail 4.4L

The car has black dakota leather and dark wook interior.
I spoke to a fellow at Dinan (Steve L if I remember correctly) and was told they were working on a tune for the xi. I dont think my wife even wants that much HP. Maybe once it gets some miles on it.