Today we have Cars that are so much better in the snow then what I learned to drive on. Front Engine rear drive Bias Ply Recap Tires and everyone still traveled to and from work. The difference back then was if we had a major storm cars only traveled the well plowed roads. They waited for the storm to end and roads to be treated. We live up 2 steep roads from the main traveled streets. So we park the car the night before down the 2 roads and walked to it because the car would never make it down 2 very steep roads. No one except Plows and Jeeps and cruisers were on the streets. This was the main reason Subaru knocked it out of the park in the mi 70’s with it’s front drive with snow tires was a exception traction car compared to all the rear drive boats on the road. Awesome Review as always! Wouldn’t mind being the nest owner of this baby. As long as I have the money for when anything is needed. LOL
Mostly tires... 4 good winter tires are much more effective than any awd system. As far as know winter tires are not very common even in northern states, no wonder nobody can move with some snow on the road with summer tires.
E53 AMG is a direct competitor but it is not similar in power output. It's a turbocharged inline 6 producing 429 HP and 384 lb ft torque vs. the M550, which is a turbo charged V8 putting out 523 HP and 553 lb ft of torque. That's a pretty significant difference.
We drove a 2019 E 53 coupe, and recently the GLE 53, both are nice cars but not really deserving of that AMG badge. It's interesting how both companies too completely different approaches to their entry-level performance models, with Mercedes focusing more on daily enjoyment and refinement, and BMW making cars that rival their previous generation M-Cars.
My 2020 M550 should be here in a month or so. Can't wait! Love that the gauges were updated for the 20. Surprised to hear yours had laser headlights. Didn't think it came that way. Is that new for the 20s?
Laser Lights were added for 2020, but I still don’t see a difference over LED alone, and if they’re even on or not. Either way congrats on yours! You won’t be disappointed.
It’s stiffer like other M Performance vehicles but still smoother than a non-luxury sedan around the same size. Whether it’s an M Performance car or one with the M Sport suspension, the ride ends up feeling firmer than their regular cars.
in australia this car costs (bmw m550i x drive pure) 140k au which means that its cheaper (and faster) than a bmw m4 which us great value for money. it also crushes the e53 merc and audi s6 in performance and luxury such a good buy! (being cheaper than both those cars in aus too!)
I bought this car in June BMW suggested I change the wheels as well as the tires for winter. The Tire Rack said I can use the wheels and just buy the winter tires. Do you agree?
You can absolutely use the regular rims if you want, it's recommended to buy a different set only because the winter conditions will eventually wear down the finish of the rims, and there's a higher chance you can damage the nicer rims in the winter. With the BMWs we feature on this show in the winter we receive them with different rims than would normally come on the car, as BMW holds onto older rims from previous model years and reuses them with good winter tires.
I live in Serbia where it does get cold but we have to put on winter tyres from 1 november, smart Serbian politicians... Like the winter vids as always
1st of November makes a lot more sense, I can imagine it's already snowing for you by then. We got our first taste pretty early this year, but some of our press cars haven't made the switch to winter tires yet.
@@PRNTestDrive no no, it's mostly 5-15 C°, and no snow until december or january, even then rarely long lasting, it would make much more sense for dates to be the other way round.
I like it, looks good inside and out, except for me the new BMW gauges don’t work. Big question is how much are Tesla model S hurting sales of performance BMW 5 series and Mercedes E class types? These seem more last century nowadays, How do you wash the car in that type weather? Great review as always.
Paul M Combustion engines is the better technology that electric hippies are killing out. I recommend you to buy a naturally aspirated V12/V10/V8 with more than 450hp so you know what real cars are all about.
@@PRNTestDriveI am not sure if you remember me as I changed my chennel name from "Vladimir Petrov" to "The Keen Mechanic" I have been doing a lot of work on my 740i. I have been uploading videos with my progress daily for the past few weeks. At their age, these cars need a lot of work in order to bring them back to their former glory. I meant to tell you if you ever decide to put yours back on the road, a lot of people are instaling cooler thermostats from 108°c to 90°c from the european e38 740d V8 diesel. A lot kinder on the cooling system. I think I might do the same on my 740i in the near future. I love your channel and I have to say you are one of the most proffessional car channels out there. I would love to pick your brains on some camera tech stuff and what camera you use to record your videos as they look amazing. Thanks for your reply.
The tire specs are listed right at the start of the driving segment, they were Pirelli SottoZero Winters, 245/40R19. As for the cameras, the intro/walkaround and all B-Roll is filmed with a Canon 6D, the in-car driving footage if off a first gen GoPro Hero Session and the POV camera is a Monster 4K action cam, which I really need to replace with something better.
@sulo kapedani Normally the M550i has staggered rims, however the winter rim package BMW sells and equipped on this car don’t use wider rims on the back, it’s the same width on the front and back for this setup.
I'm 6 foot, headroom was alright but I did find getting in/out was a little weird compared to other BMWs, I had an easier time recently with the 8 Series Gran Coupé to get in and out of over this.
AWD actually helps with braking. Since all four wheels are powered, if you're engine braking, all four wheels are also now helping you slow down as well.
Sorry pal, but you're utterly wrong on that one, at least for winter driving. The issue during winter for braking is not braking power, it's traction. The only thing aside from good tire that will help you is maybe a well balanced car to help keep traction or a good ABS system.
@@colinstu On dry pavement or when good traction is available? Yeah, sure, engine braking is a thing. On snow? It's irrelevant. What good is more braking power when even a Toyota Tercel with drum brake in the rear can lock up all 4 wheels because of lack of traction? Short answer, as mentioned in the video, AWD will not help you stop in the snow, good tire will.
@@colinstu I did, and it was amateurish at best. First, it's a 4WD, not an AWD. There's a difference. Second, when reading the comment, they say they braked while clutched in. So technically no engine braking. Third: He did it with a stopwatch, that's hardly accurate. Lastly: most likely his better result in 4WD has to do with reaction time, not actual braking capability. The car start slowing down before he hit the brakes. This added with the fact that his method of measuring this is inconsistent at best. So no, AWD won't save your butt during winter.
PRN_TestDrive Sometimes the temperature conditions are so that the snow landing on the windshield freezes almost instantly but if for example the washer fluid is rated to freeze at -45 celcius / -49 fahrenheit it’s not going to freeze under any conditions until it’s colder than that.
It depends on how the SMG is maintained. We featured a 2006 M3 Competition when I first started doing the car videos and it had the SMG, the owner still has the car and hasn't had any problems with it, and he drives the car really hard.
I mean if you talk to most BMW enthusiasts these days they'll say to avoid any engine post 2006 or so. It's a high performance engine, it will need maintenance, but they're using this M50i engine across the board and I don't see any complaints from owners yet.
In Europe BMW adds that for normal cars with the M Sport Package, here in North America you have to go up to the full M Performance car. It's a little overboard.
This new M550i is insane with 523 horsepower and 553 lbs ft of torque. I can’t afford a brand new one but in about 5 years you’ll be able to pick up a used one with less than 50k miles for probably around $30-$40k and cheaper for higher mileage cars. The one thing that really sucks about cars like this is paying $80-$90k only to have it decrease in value by 60-70% in just a few years.
I know, right! I mean there's still a market for an M5/Competition, but as a daily driver I'd much rather take this, whereas an E39 M5 back when it was new was a good daily.
Winter doctors? I find that this province, Québec, is very bad when it comes to winter readiness. When I lived in Ontario the road maintenance crews would begin to spray an anti-icing liquid before a major snowfall and they'd have plow trucks & de-icers running constantly during and after a storm. Here in Québec it seems like they're always caught off-guard when it snows, and only start clearing the roads once the storm has gotten to the mid-way point. They also don't use salt here, only sand and it doesn't do anything with slippery spots. It's terrible.
PRN_TestDrive ya...winteredienst. It snows in Canada, like it is hot in Australia. You don’t see them Aussies putting sunscreen on only in the hot areas. I think a cost cutting measure. Get onto your local member of parliament. Salt is cheap; just a rock being sprayed back on the ground. Good luck!
PRN_TestDrive Just find a nice store that sells Italian clothes for men! If you want to drive a BMW you should have some basic standards in terms of the value of aesthetics!
The E38 still looks better.... Edit: not a 5 series - I know - just amazes me how I still gravitate towards cars that were designed more than 2 decades ago. I work for a BMW dealership in their service department, and get the opportunity to drive every new BMW - yet I still can't bare to get rid of my e36 for anything newer....
There's an E36 M3 convertible sitting in the service staging bay at the dealership we pick these press cars up from, I'm always looking at it over the new ones rolling in.
@@PRNTestDrive a mechanic at the dealership I work at drives an e38 shorty sport - I'm always drooling over it, when all my "younger" coworkers are like... "why?"
Great point. This specific winter tire setup doesn't stagger the rims, so the rear wheels are the same width. I believe they'd normally be an extra 20mm wider on the rear.
Never said it had similar performance, but it’s similar in price and marketed as the entry-level AMG just like this is the M Performance vehicle for this segment.
@@PRNTestDrive go to 10:10-10:15 in your video where you clearly said “same type of power output around the same level of performance” after clearly mentioning the E53.
It’s really embarrassing when you call yourself a good driver considering you use one hand like a taxi driver and you have absolutely no idea what is happening with the car when going sideways. Be humble
@@PRNTestDrive It's so embarrassing when they don't appreciate your video...Btw, I myself am a careful and well experienced driver, I also drive with one hand.. thank you for the video sir
Outstanding overview - just took delivery of our M550i and my wife and I are very impressed.
Congrats on the purchase! I really enjoyed this one, solid update and probably the best bang for your buck if you want a daily performance car.
Today we have Cars that are so much better in the snow then what I learned to drive on. Front Engine rear drive Bias Ply Recap Tires and everyone still traveled to and from work. The difference back then was if we had a major storm cars only traveled the well plowed roads. They waited for the storm to end and roads to be treated. We live up 2 steep roads from the main traveled streets. So we park the car the night before down the 2 roads and walked to it because the car would never make it down 2 very steep roads. No one except Plows and Jeeps and cruisers were on the streets. This was the main reason Subaru knocked it out of the park in the mi 70’s with it’s front drive with snow tires was a exception traction car compared to all the rear drive boats on the road. Awesome Review as always! Wouldn’t mind being the nest owner of this baby. As long as I have the money for when anything is needed. LOL
Mostly tires... 4 good winter tires are much more effective than any awd system.
As far as know winter tires are not very common even in northern states, no wonder nobody can move with some snow on the road with summer tires.
Very true!
E53 AMG is a direct competitor but it is not similar in power output. It's a turbocharged inline 6 producing 429 HP and 384 lb ft torque vs. the M550, which is a turbo charged V8 putting out 523 HP and 553 lb ft of torque. That's a pretty significant difference.
We drove a 2019 E 53 coupe, and recently the GLE 53, both are nice cars but not really deserving of that AMG badge. It's interesting how both companies too completely different approaches to their entry-level performance models, with Mercedes focusing more on daily enjoyment and refinement, and BMW making cars that rival their previous generation M-Cars.
Very informative and spectacular BMW 550i interior/exterior
Thanks!
I love this car BMW
I certainly had a lot of fun with it!
My 2020 M550 should be here in a month or so. Can't wait! Love that the gauges were updated for the 20. Surprised to hear yours had laser headlights. Didn't think it came that way. Is that new for the 20s?
Laser Lights were added for 2020, but I still don’t see a difference over LED alone, and if they’re even on or not. Either way congrats on yours! You won’t be disappointed.
Great car mate
This one was a lot of fun, but will it make our 2019 Awards? 🧐
How is the ride? My X3 M40i is uncomfortably stiff and bounces along when there is any undulation in the road.
It’s stiffer like other M Performance vehicles but still smoother than a non-luxury sedan around the same size. Whether it’s an M Performance car or one with the M Sport suspension, the ride ends up feeling firmer than their regular cars.
in australia this car costs (bmw m550i x drive pure) 140k au which means that its cheaper (and faster) than a bmw m4 which us great value for money. it also crushes the e53 merc and audi s6 in performance and luxury such a good buy! (being cheaper than both those cars in aus too!)
The M550i is a seriously good car especially when you consider what it's direct competition is.
are the laser lights standard for 2020? i couldn't find them on their website. great video. Thanks for the info.
Not standard, though regular LED are. The Premium Excellence Package is where you get the laser lights, at least here in Canada.
I bought this car in June BMW suggested I change the wheels as well as the tires for winter. The Tire Rack said I can use the wheels and just buy the winter tires. Do you agree?
You can absolutely use the regular rims if you want, it's recommended to buy a different set only because the winter conditions will eventually wear down the finish of the rims, and there's a higher chance you can damage the nicer rims in the winter. With the BMWs we feature on this show in the winter we receive them with different rims than would normally come on the car, as BMW holds onto older rims from previous model years and reuses them with good winter tires.
The Best All-Around!
Tremendous value for what you get in the luxury-performance world.
No the best all around is Audi a6
William Liu lol ok will
I live in Serbia where it does get cold but we have to put on winter tyres from 1 november, smart Serbian politicians...
Like the winter vids as always
1st of November makes a lot more sense, I can imagine it's already snowing for you by then. We got our first taste pretty early this year, but some of our press cars haven't made the switch to winter tires yet.
@@PRNTestDrive no no, it's mostly 5-15 C°, and no snow until december or january, even then rarely long lasting, it would make much more sense for dates to be the other way round.
I wish the 2020 m550 had more of an aggressive sound mire pops and growls
I agree, but BMW likes to hold off on the crazy exhausts for their M Competition cars now.
I like it, looks good inside and out, except for me the new BMW gauges don’t work. Big question is how much are Tesla model S hurting sales of performance BMW 5 series and Mercedes E class types? These seem more last century nowadays,
How do you wash the car in that type weather? Great review as always.
Paul M Tesla isn’t hurting sales much. Combustion engines are a million times cooler than electric cars.
Paul M Combustion engines is the better technology that electric hippies are killing out. I recommend you to buy a naturally aspirated V12/V10/V8 with more than 450hp so you know what real cars are all about.
@@epicon6 been ebay watching Aston DB7s, with v12s and 6-speeds ;)
4 years on I believe this is becoming a future classic, there's high demand for this generation/model.
*Groan* Another 6 months of winter. I did get winter tires this year tho-Michelin X-Ices.
Groan indeed 😔Summer went by too quickly. Good buy on the tires though!
How is the E38 mate. Did you manage to fix it?
Haven't physically done anything to it unfortunately, we're planning a quick update video in December though!
@@PRNTestDriveI am not sure if you remember me as I changed my chennel name from "Vladimir Petrov" to "The Keen Mechanic" I have been doing a lot of work on my 740i. I have been uploading videos with my progress daily for the past few weeks. At their age, these cars need a lot of work in order to bring them back to their former glory. I meant to tell you if you ever decide to put yours back on the road, a lot of people are instaling cooler thermostats from 108°c to 90°c from the european e38 740d V8 diesel. A lot kinder on the cooling system. I think I might do the same on my 740i in the near future. I love your channel and I have to say you are one of the most proffessional car channels out there. I would love to pick your brains on some camera tech stuff and what camera you use to record your videos as they look amazing. Thanks for your reply.
Great video. Thank you. Question one, what tires did you put on your m550? Question two, what cameras were used to record the footage while driving.
The tire specs are listed right at the start of the driving segment, they were Pirelli SottoZero Winters, 245/40R19. As for the cameras, the intro/walkaround and all B-Roll is filmed with a Canon 6D, the in-car driving footage if off a first gen GoPro Hero Session and the POV camera is a Monster 4K action cam, which I really need to replace with something better.
@@PRNTestDrive why it has so small tires looks like regular car.
@@PRNTestDrive the width i mean
@sulo kapedani Normally the M550i has staggered rims, however the winter rim package BMW sells and equipped on this car don’t use wider rims on the back, it’s the same width on the front and back for this setup.
That is a nice car. How tall are you
I'm 6 foot, headroom was alright but I did find getting in/out was a little weird compared to other BMWs, I had an easier time recently with the 8 Series Gran Coupé to get in and out of over this.
Hello!Nice channel!Does 2017 model has Laser Lights or LED?Thanks!
It doesn’t, only LED on the earlier models like the 2017. Laser Lights are new for 2020.
@@PRNTestDrive Thank you!!!
AWD actually helps with braking. Since all four wheels are powered, if you're engine braking, all four wheels are also now helping you slow down as well.
Sorry pal, but you're utterly wrong on that one, at least for winter driving. The issue during winter for braking is not braking power, it's traction.
The only thing aside from good tire that will help you is maybe a well balanced car to help keep traction or a good ABS system.
@@fredbrochu8322 Go watch team o'neil's video about it, how many tires are driven definitely makes a difference in ability to stop as well.
@@colinstu On dry pavement or when good traction is available? Yeah, sure, engine braking is a thing. On snow? It's irrelevant.
What good is more braking power when even a Toyota Tercel with drum brake in the rear can lock up all 4 wheels because of lack of traction?
Short answer, as mentioned in the video, AWD will not help you stop in the snow, good tire will.
@@fredbrochu8322 Did you even watch it? There were tests done in the snow too.
@@colinstu I did, and it was amateurish at best.
First, it's a 4WD, not an AWD. There's a difference.
Second, when reading the comment, they say they braked while clutched in. So technically no engine braking.
Third: He did it with a stopwatch, that's hardly accurate.
Lastly: most likely his better result in 4WD has to do with reaction time, not actual braking capability. The car start slowing down before he hit the brakes. This added with the fact that his method of measuring this is inconsistent at best.
So no, AWD won't save your butt during winter.
If the washer fluid freezes on the window it means you don’t have the washer fluid for the right temperature. No heating necessary.
Good point.
I mean the vehicle is prepared every week by a BMW dealership, you'd think they'd be using the correct washer fluid if that's the case.
PRN_TestDrive Sometimes the temperature conditions are so that the snow landing on the windshield freezes almost instantly but if for example the washer fluid is rated to freeze at -45 celcius / -49 fahrenheit it’s not going to freeze under any conditions until it’s colder than that.
I purchased a 2020 Volvo V60 Cross country back in October, it has heated fluid and wipers. It's awesome. Bowers&Wilkins audio is exceptional as well.
Sweet car but I like blue exterior better, good choice on winters btw.
Great thing about BMW is they give you plenty of paint colours to choose from!
How 0-100 can be better than m5 since current M5 has awd too and the same trasmission.
The F90 (current) M5 is faster. We mentioned this M550i is faster than every previous generation.
@@PRNTestDrive ah ok, right
My favourite M5 is the E60 with his screaming v10
That’s one I really want to feature. I’ve spotted a couple on the road this year, it’s a seriously cool car!
@@PRNTestDrive yeah, e60 design aged better than expected, unluckly smg transmission and engine have bad reliability...
It depends on how the SMG is maintained. We featured a 2006 M3 Competition when I first started doing the car videos and it had the SMG, the owner still has the car and hasn't had any problems with it, and he drives the car really hard.
Isn't N63 the engine to be avoided?
I mean if you talk to most BMW enthusiasts these days they'll say to avoid any engine post 2006 or so. It's a high performance engine, it will need maintenance, but they're using this M50i engine across the board and I don't see any complaints from owners yet.
Yeah. If you are buying or leasing it new under warranty won't be a big deal.
But buying a used one out of warranty is a completely different story.
That side M badge on the front fender is nasty..
In Europe BMW adds that for normal cars with the M Sport Package, here in North America you have to go up to the full M Performance car. It's a little overboard.
@@PRNTestDrive it's a useless ad on that makes it look like an eBay badge. It's dumb. Good review however
This new M550i is insane with 523 horsepower and 553 lbs ft of torque. I can’t afford a brand new one but in about 5 years you’ll be able to pick up a used one with less than 50k miles for probably around $30-$40k and cheaper for higher mileage cars. The one thing that really sucks about cars like this is paying $80-$90k only to have it decrease in value by 60-70% in just a few years.
These are going to be insane in the used market, I don’t expect people who lease/buy new will hold onto them much longer than that.
No revs/ startup????????
The exhaust honestly doesn't have much sound to it, even in my garage on a cold start it was pretty meh.
No this car is rated at 456 hp from BMW however I believe it is the same engine as the m850 but slightly tuned down.
2019 was less power, engine was boosted for 2020. Trust me, I know what I’m doing here.
PRN_TestDrive you’re right I stand corrected!
I have this vehicle, and used the serial number on the BMW website, and it says this car has 523 HP
Mohsen yeah we sort of figured that out already :)
congrats BMW, you played yourself. nobody needs an M5 anymore!
I know, right! I mean there's still a market for an M5/Competition, but as a daily driver I'd much rather take this, whereas an E39 M5 back when it was new was a good daily.
I wanna make donuts too!!!
So do I, I'd love to find a better spot to do some fun snow driving.
I cannot believe your country doesn’t have winter doctors for the roads to plough and salt the surface when it is going to snow.
Winter doctors? I find that this province, Québec, is very bad when it comes to winter readiness. When I lived in Ontario the road maintenance crews would begin to spray an anti-icing liquid before a major snowfall and they'd have plow trucks & de-icers running constantly during and after a storm. Here in Québec it seems like they're always caught off-guard when it snows, and only start clearing the roads once the storm has gotten to the mid-way point. They also don't use salt here, only sand and it doesn't do anything with slippery spots. It's terrible.
PRN_TestDrive ya...winteredienst. It snows in Canada, like it is hot in Australia. You don’t see them Aussies putting sunscreen on only in the hot areas. I think a cost cutting measure. Get onto your local member of parliament. Salt is cheap; just a rock being sprayed back on the ground. Good luck!
How these rims 19 inch or 20 inch??
These are 19" rims. We discuss how the tires perform during our driving segment along with the full tire specifications right at the start of that.
BMW needs to adopt a minimum dress code for anyone who buys a new car! Even in Canada there must be shops that sell nice designer clothes!
Fashion police right here 👮🚓👮♀️🚨🚔
PRN_TestDrive
Just find a nice store that sells Italian clothes for men! If you want to drive a BMW you should have some basic standards in terms of the value of aesthetics!
The E38 still looks better....
Edit: not a 5 series - I know - just amazes me how I still gravitate towards cars that were designed more than 2 decades ago. I work for a BMW dealership in their service department, and get the opportunity to drive every new BMW - yet I still can't bare to get rid of my e36 for anything newer....
There's an E36 M3 convertible sitting in the service staging bay at the dealership we pick these press cars up from, I'm always looking at it over the new ones rolling in.
@@PRNTestDrive a mechanic at the dealership I work at drives an e38 shorty sport - I'm always drooling over it, when all my "younger" coworkers are like... "why?"
I don’t trust that 4.4 I like the b58 engine
Fair enough! These seem to be pretty good options in the used market right now though, we'll see!
@@PRNTestDrive good luck maybe these new ones better 🙏😊
11:40 why do the tires look so small
Great point. This specific winter tire setup doesn't stagger the rims, so the rear wheels are the same width. I believe they'd normally be an extra 20mm wider on the rear.
Low pro winters
$98k?! Might as well buy an M5
$98k Canadian if that makes a difference.
@@PRNTestDrive m5 is 50-60k cad more also this care is much more comfy ;)
@@TasimanaOG no it’s not its 20-30k extra caf
@@TasimanaOG cad
@@lucarossi9453 this comment was made 2 years ago lol. have you heard on inflation
When are you expecting?
The same time you grow up, dip shit
Brother.. i love your car it is sexy
I wish it were mine!
I swear i thought this guy was tuna from the movie blow.
Hds818 Did you think that lame comment was gonna get a lot of likes? You can’t even afford this car.
zero thumbs up 4 years on
If you think the E53 has similar performance to the M550i you're drunk, go home.
Never said it had similar performance, but it’s similar in price and marketed as the entry-level AMG just like this is the M Performance vehicle for this segment.
@@PRNTestDrive go to 10:10-10:15 in your video where you clearly said “same type of power output around the same level of performance” after clearly mentioning the E53.
It’s really embarrassing when you call yourself a good driver considering you use one hand like a taxi driver and you have absolutely no idea what is happening with the car when going sideways. Be humble
It’s embarrassing to whine about things on a free video.
@@PRNTestDrive It's so embarrassing when they don't appreciate your video...Btw, I myself am a careful and well experienced driver, I also drive with one hand.. thank you for the video sir