2011 BMW F10 550i M-Sport

rootrider

Mr. TDI SportWagen
Joined
Mar 31, 2005
Messages
1,565
Location
Tacoma, WA (USA)
Car(s)
'14 Panamera Turbo S
place holder for the moment.. I have few photos and I've owned the car for two days.

2011 F10 550i M-Sport
Carbon Black Metallic / Black Dakota Leather
4.4L twin-scroll twin-turbo v8 (N63B44O0)
402 hp (300kW) @5500-6400rpm / 443 ft-lb (600kW) @1750-4500rpm
~4300 lb (~2000 kg)
8spd ZF
Purchased with about 80250 miles (129149 km)

M-Sport package includes sport and handling packages
Other packages include the Premium Package 2 (Premium Package 1 is included with the 550i)

Ambient Lighting
Sunroof
Automatic Air Conditioning
Style 351 M 19" wheels
Sport Automatic Transmission
Adaptive Drive
Dynamic Damper Control
Dynamic Drive
Backup Camera
Comfort Access
M Sport Package
Anthracite wood trim
Sunblinds
Through-Load rear seats
Comfort Seats
front heated seats
Surround View
Park Distance Control
Adaptive Xenon Headlights
Additional 12v Sockets
USB/Audio Interface
Mobile Phone External Music Connection
BMW Apps
Traffic Information
Navigation System Professional
Hifi System Professional
Head Up Display
Instrument Cluster w/Extended Black-Out Display
Voice Input System
M Leather Steering Wheel
M Aerodynamics Package
Shadow Line Window Trim
Anthracite Roof Lining
Selectible Daytime Running Lights
Increased High Speed Limiter


The color is actually a dark blue.. but it shows up as black in most photos and outside of direct sunlight.
Here's a decent photo of a Carbon Black car that shows the blue..
http://f15.bimmerpost.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=1400888&stc=1&d=1460558435


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As already stated on FB, sweet ride. Often underrated in terms of capability, while also being very comfy cruisers. Plus I think the F10 in M trim is among the best looking BMWs of the last decade.
 
Very nice! Good to see another V8+ZF 8spd owner on FG. I bet it goes like stink! Great color choice as well!
 
I'd still highly prefer a manual.. it'd feel so awesome to control this thing with a clutch and a stick. It's hard to get a feel of the engine's power curve with 8 speeds and automatic shifting.

It's still a pretty sweet car though. I've put almost a thousand miles on it so far. It's comfortable, and sporty.. and just plain fast. I drove my M3 for the first time since buying the 550 today. The M3 is a very different car.. and is awesome, sounds amazing, etc. But it's slower, not comfortable (by choice), doesn't handle as well (yet).. etc.

I actually raced a newer Charger r/t the first week I had the F10. It was rolling from about 50mph.. I was in comfort so the first downshift was slow, but I still caught up and moved ahead. I was surprised at how well the Charger did, but I didn't know the R/T has such a large engine.
 
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Nice car. Had several of them as rentals and I always liked them.
 
I'd still highly prefer a manual.. it'd feel so awesome to control this thing with a clutch and a stick. It's hard to get a feel of the engine's power curve with 8 speeds and automatic shifting.

It's still a pretty sweet car though. I've put almost a thousand miles on it so far. It's comfortable, and sporty.. and just plain fast. I drove my M3 for the first time since buying the 550 today. The M3 is a very different car.. and is awesome, sounds amazing, etc. But it's slower, not comfortable (by choice), doesn't handle as well (yet).. etc.

I actually raced a newer Charger r/t the first week I had the F10. It was rolling from about 50mph.. I was in comfort so the first downshift was slow, but I still caught up and moved ahead. I was surprised at how well the Charger did, but I didn't know the R/T has such a large engine.

They are really comfortable indeed, that's probably the second best thing I like about your generation 5-series behind the twin turbo V8. Oh by the way, at ~50mph there is a dead zone of power when stomping on it for us 2015+ Charger R/T's. We need to be going at least 60-65mph or higher or 40-45mph to get the most out of the 8spd. At 73~75mph is the ultimate sweet spot. It gets to well over 100 in a blink of an eye. Found your sweet spots yet? :D I'm sure your F10 is faster rolling at speed just looking at the specs with your power advantage, but, from a stop we'd hang for a while before your turbos pulled you away. :) Our 0-60's are about the same.

I'd love to hear that thing in person. Are you planning any mods?
 
the engine is pretty quiet.. only really hear it at the upper-half of the rev range, and it's still not very loud. I haven't had a chance to feel out the engine through the rev range yet. :(

No performance mods planned. I just replaced the headlight switch with one that has a rear fog button. That was the easiest rear fog enable for any car I've owned.

I want to switch out to the Euro tail lights.. the only difference being the turn signals are amber instead of red.. but I'm not currently up for spending $450 - $600 on just the outer tail lights. We'll see.

I will add tint at some point.

I'm not sure about anything else.. might switch out the front grilles, but probably not. I might switch the front fogs to use yellow bulbs (we get heavy rain spray.. yellow light makes it much easier to distinguish things on the road). I'll do a little "programming" as well.. change some of the default behaviours of the car's computers. I'll add better brake pads and tires at some point as well.

I drive 20+ thousand miles a year.. I just need a comfortable and reliable car that can fit my family's stuff and I can still have fun with it. My M3 is the car I get to modify and play with more.
 
I drive 20+ thousand miles a year.. I just need a comfortable and reliable car that can fit my family's stuff and I can still have fun with it. My M3 is the car I get to modify and play with more.

If that's the case leave it unmodified! Easier to live with and less possible issues later on. :)
 
exactly. I don't need this car to cost me more money or to leave me off the road any more than it will already. If I could have more fun with a daily... I wouldn't have bought this car. I'd have a Porsche, or a 3 series, or a GTI, or an e34 M5.. etc.
 
I like this angle..
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I found another Carbon Black 550i M-Sport to park next to at work.. e60 :)
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my two cars.. the m3 hasn't been washed in a while, and some of the paint's clear coat is peeling, but it's still fun :D
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so I enabled the rear fog. Of all of the cars I've owned, this was by far the easiest car to enable or install rear fogs. I will change codes to have only the driver's rear fog light on, but I'm glad I'll be able to have a more visible car in the crazy rain spray we get in the PNW.

The "enable" for the rear fog was... pop out the trim panel with the headlight switch, unplug the switch, unscrew the switch from the panel, screw new switch into the panel, plug the switch in, pop the trim panel back in. The wiring and tail lights are already there.

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- - - Updated - - -

one big concern I had when buying the car was the shiny leather steering wheel. I started looking into how to fix this, and realized that the shinyness is largely is largely from dirt. So I bought a leather cleaning brush that I saw recommended by many online and used Griot's Interior Cleaner. Here's some before and after..

before..
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in the middle of cleaning..
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after..
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It only took about a half hour.. I'm very happy with it. It feels like what I want from a nice steering wheel again.. and it feels like dirt won't stick to it as easily again.



Afterward I peeled off the efficient dynamics and bmw roadside assistance stickers. One sticker is now on my garage door..
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402 hp (300kW) @5500-6400rpm / 443 ft-lb (600kW) @1750-4500rpm

600nm probably?

Very cool car anyway, congrats! Twin-turbo V8 sounds awesome :) And that E36 M3 you have is one veeerry nice car too.
 
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