TEST: BMW 550e xDrive: All in one

A very comfortable, spacious, sophisticated, sophisticated, elegant, powerful, luxurious, sporty and very expensive sedan. The new BMW 550e xDrive it’s all one and – unlike its fierce competitor from Stuttgart, the Mercedes E-Class plug-in hybrid – it also does so with six cylinders. A short report of a week of interesting tests with the most powerful BMW 5 series with combustion engines until the arrival of the M5.

BMW offers its customers a choice. Because along with the electric i5 variants i5 M60 xDriveand i5 eDrive40 and xDrive40, which received more attention at the launch of the new 5 Series, there are also versions with combustion engines. At the moment, this applies to the 520d (also available with four-wheel drive), which we have already tested for you, as well as the petrol 520i and two plug-in hybrids. The “base” plug-in is the 530e, which combines a four-cylinder with an electric motor. The top version is this 550e xDrive, which does the same exercise with the best three liters and six cylinders in the line. This is unique, because Mercedes’ E-Class plug-in only comes with four-cylinder engines and Audi’s A6 is also not available as a six-cylinder plug-in hybrid.

A known recipe

The “new” version of the 550e is the same as that of the X5 50e xDrive that we were able to test in December of last year. This means that the inline six with three liters and now 313 hp and 450 Nm works with an electric motor which, compared to the 545e of the previous generation of the 5-Series, has 197 hp (and 280 Nm) instead of 113 hp. Combined power increases from 394 hp and 600 Nm to 489 hp (380 kW) and 700 Nm.

Combining the power of both engines and flooring the accelerator results in a 0 to 100 sprint in no more than 4.3 seconds. That’s lightning speed and the charge is also intense. The maximum speed is also high, at 250 km / h, but this value is only suitable for statistics.

The battery has a net size of 19.4 kWh and is therefore significantly smaller than the 25.7 kWh net of the X5 50e xDrive, which can officially travel up to 110 km on electricity alone. According to BMW, the 550e would make it possible to drive 83 to 90 kilometers on electricity. In practice, we reached values ​​between 67 and 80 km during our test week. In any case, that’s more than enough for most normal trips and so it’s quite possible not to use a drop of petrol for a whole week.

In the end, we covered a total of 1,406 km in our test car, costing us an average of 2.8 l/100 km of petrol and 17.3 kWh/100 km of electricity. This may be more or less depending on driving and loading habits in both directions, but everyone knows that by now.

Driving the 550e solely on electric power is not a problem, because the 197 hp electric motor has no difficulty driving the 2.25-ton 5-Series. When you floor the accelerator, the beautiful six-cylinder engine comes to life. As usual with BMW plug-ins, the transition between electric and hybrid drive is very smooth and the only way you realize – apart from the indications on the dashboard – that the petrol engine is helping is through its beautiful sound. That is and remains one of the properties of six cylinders: the inspection experience. In terms of comfort, it is also interesting that the noise of the engine disappears immediately at a constant speed. BMW did everything to ensure that the comfort on board this hybrid 5-Series – like the 520d – will be excellent. The 550e adds the benefits of standard suspension.

Absolutely perfect, so hard

The new 5-Series has truly become a mobile computer. The amount of technical equipment, software and tools contained in a state-of-the-art infotainment system, an endless list of possible options and applications, advanced high-tech displays, driver assistance systems…: in a modern car like this 550e, the mechanical aspect has advanced and possibly even exceeded the capabilities of the computer and software.

So it will come as no surprise that this complexity, with an infinite number of options and settings through the infotainment system and dashboard, takes some getting used to. Fortunately, BMW still offers iDrive’s push-button switch on the center console on its larger models. This remains more practical than aiming your finger at the virtual tiles on the touch screen because you have to take your eyes off the road for less time. As far as we’re concerned, this is a fervent plea to put more physical buttons on modern cars, because the whole ‘digital first’the concept that all functions are hidden behind a touch screen with countless sub-menus will lead to accidents and is already causing frustration today.

Once you get used to the driving options – you don’t do that after a half-hour test drive at a BMW dealer – you will discover a car that you can completely configure according to your wishes and it turns out – when you can put your attention back on the road and traffic because you have set everything correctly – that this BMW still has a lot of ‘Fun to drive’ it can offer, of course excellent grip and traction thanks to the xDrive all-wheel drive, but also a lot of dynamics and a sporty driving style with exemplary comfort and suspension when the speed can be more entertaining.

7-Series format

Cars are getting bigger. This is also the case with the 5-Series. With a length of 5.06 meters, the current generation ‘5’ is the same length as the previous 7-Series. That’s not ideal in the city or when parking, but of course it should provide additional space in the interior. However, the space available in the new BMW 5 is not its main asset. Yes, there is more than enough room for adults in the back seat, but for a car of this size, the space is not impressive. The back seat is very comfortable, as are the front seats, and luckily you’re not sitting back with your knees drawn up. The trunk has a useful capacity of 520 liters and therefore is no longer a disadvantage, while it is usually a weak point in compact sedans.

A base price of €85,650, which you can easily increase to more than €100,000 if you choose certain options, makes it clear that this is a car you can only afford if you have it in your hands. In the case of BIV and road tax, you fully benefit from lower emission levels, but for experts it is a shame that the tax deduction will disappear completely by 2028. Fortunately, there is still a column of Benefit in Kind and CO is there₂contribution as for all plugins with less than 51g CO₂production at the lowest level. If you’re not ready for the full 5-series yet, you’ve come to the right place…