Diesel350

Saw a brand new one up close the other day and came away intrigued. Was never a 5 series guy as they look bland but the entire package seemed interesting compared to the GS-F. They say it is faster than the previous generation M5. With the all wheel drive it hooks easily at launch compared to 2 wheel drive. Obviously I'd rather have the M5 but $100k+ is just not in the cards for me at the moment. Thoughts on this as a daily?

SolidG1

Here's a good honest review:

Basically the conclusion is it's a quiet luxury vehicle with emphasis on creature comforts, and not a performance oriented vehicle. Of course it's still going to be quick with a twin turbo v8, but it might not be emotional enough.

TrevorR

iTrader: (2)

Its quick because of its all wheel drive as well, I believe it accelerates from 0-60 in low 3 seconds. But like you said, it has a heavy emphasis on luxury and not track performance.

OUGrad05

Those are great looking cars, I had a 540i M sport a couple weeks ago as a loaner. Surprisingly fun car, good steering response, good turn-in, overall a composed and well built package. The 550i probably lacks some of the steering feel/turn in with more weight over the front wheels, compounded by AWD.

I'm looking at the GSF for myself it drives more sporty than the competitors by a pretty good margin (CTS V Sport being the lone exception)

AWD4Mo

BMW have introduced some philosophical corporate changes in the past 5 years - they have decided to create more of a differentiation between their regular and M lineups, not just in pricing. The regular lineups are focusing more on luxury and creature comfort, and a bit less on performance and handling; the M lineups are focusing more on performance and handling. Their regular lineup cars have become much larger, as a result of this differentiation. The 3 series is now more like the older 5 series, and the 1 series is now more like the older 3 series. [I wonder if their next introduction will be a 0 series!]. Good looking cars, especially the M's in my opinion. Very recently I have heard two reviews in which the reviewer said ".....back when BMW was the ultimate driving machine...."

Autobacs

iTrader: (1)

BMW has always focused on performance on their M cars before. The sense I get always from all the reviews I've read for the 10 years or so is when auto writer talk about BMW moving away from their handling heritage, they are talking about their M cars so I digress. Their shift from handling to creature/luxury includes their M cars. This is exactly the reason why Jeremy Clarkson said he prefers the GSF over the M5 (and why I bought one).

In regards to the OP here. I am sure the M550i will be faster than a GSF. I am also positive it won't handle as well due to its weight and AWD system.

finny76

If you are looking for Performance & Numbers, this is NOT the car. Almost every vehicle in its class has way more power than the GSF, e.g Mercedes (AMG series C,S or E Class) all BMWs (M3/4/5/550i), and several of the new Camaros/Mustangs.

If you are looking for luxury, reliability and a tad of performance, then you will appreciate the GSF

OUGrad05

Wow I disagree with this whole heartedly based on my two test drives and extensive experience with the germans. The GSF is the better performance car, its more analog, has more feel despite it not putting up great numbers, the GSF feels like a sports sedan, it feels like the E60 M5.

Autobacs

iTrader: (1)

Totally agree. The GSF outhandles most sports sedans. Performance is not equated to HP alone. I will say this my GSF is, at the very least, equal to my R35 GTR fun wise when it comes to handling. So easy to toss and is a point and shoot car.

OUGrad05

The horsepower wars have kind of desensitized us to the other aspects of performance. When you drop the hammer in an M5 or RS7 it's quite overwhelming the first time on a street vehicle. They make big power but suspension, steering, chassis feel, etc have all gone by the wayside. The newest 5 series is better in this regard than the F10 but not even close to E60. The Lexus seems to find the right balance between straight-line power and all around dynamics. When in Normal or ECO it's quite the lux cruiser as well. Do I wish for more power in the GSF? Sure...the worst thing Lexus did was overprice the GSF, it's MSRP is creeping into the bottom end of M5 and E AMG territory and CTSV territory. It really needs a price cut to 70k MSRP and that totally changes the dynamic and puts its numbers more inline with its actual competitive set, M550i, v-sport, E43...etc

In terms of dynamics it bests them all except the caddy. I've read the Alfa is excellent but haven't driven it and a 25 year old junkyard BMW is more reliable.

finny76

+1
That is the same point I was trying to make but you put it in much better perspective & summed it up pretty well!