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Comparative test: BMW 550i against Infiniti M56

When it comes to respectability in the segment of medium-sized sports sedans, everything, one way or another, rotates around the 5th BMW series. These machines have been ruleing here for several decades, and, quite deserved. They have inexplicable ability to satisfy both demanding enthusiasts and buyers who just need a good sedan with German stigma.

Now that a completely new BMW 550i with two turbines has appeared, it is time to compare it with the most powerful competitors. But instead of traditional rivals from Europe, we decided to take some of the Japanese brotherhood, which, in our opinion, is no less interesting. Our choice fell on the new Infiniti M56, a carefully redesigned sedan, which is a direct competitor to the best of the Germans. On paper, this is a really worthy opponent, but what will happen on the road?

Compare
The BMW 550i and Infiniti M56 turned out to be much in common, which, in principle, is not surprising. Both sedans have a drive to the rear axle, both under the hood are rather big V8. In our case, both cars are equipped with automatic transmissions: in Infiniti, it has seven speeds, BMW has eight.

So that no one has doubted the honesty of our test, both cars were taken in Sport. Options package for Infiniti will cost $ 3,650, it includes a tougher suspension based on advanced springs and shock absorbers, large, compared with standard, brakes, summer sports tires Bridgestone Potenza RE050A on 20-inch alloy discs, active steering of all four wheels, petal speed switches on the steering column, sports seats and a unique steering wheel in tandem with a speed of speed switching.

The BMW 550i turned out to be equipped with a Dynamic Handling package for $ 2,700, which includes electronic control of the rigidity of shock absorbers, active transverse stability stabilizers and the ADAPTIVE DRIVE system (allows additionally configure the suspension and transmission parameters), as well as the Sport Package Options cost $ 2,200, consisting of $ 2,200, consisting From a leather braid of a more sports steering wheel, sitting with active support, a special exterior finish, an increased maximum speed (the limiter is installed at a mark of 240 km/h) and, which surprised us a lot, 19-inch all-season Goodyear Excellence tires with Ranflat technology.

These cars are the personification of technological and luxury, they provide you with maximum safety when moving (for example, BMW is equipped with a system of adaptive anterior optics) and comfort (Infiniti offers heating and cooling the front seats). The difference is that it is precisely the manufacturers who offer in standard configuration, and for what you have to pay extra, for example, your Infiniti can also boast of an adaptive front optics, but this will cost you $ 3,000 as part of the Technology Package options; And, on the contrary, in the BMW standard it has neither heating nor cooling of the seats: heating will cost you $ 500 (or may be part of an additional option of options), and cooling from $ 1,950 to $ 2,950, depending, again, from the selected package options. As you probably already guessed, these are expensive sedans. Prices for the M56 start at $ 58,765 (the cost of the test is $ 67 130), but Bavaret was more expensive by several thousand. The BMW 550i starts with $ 60 575, in the tested configuration it will cost the owner $ 70,000.

What is the motivation?
Turbated engines have long become the norm for the BMW, and 550i was no exception. Its V-shaped eight-cylinder engine with a volume of 4.4 liters with a direct injection system and two turbines develops 400 hp. for 5,500 revolutions per minute and 610 nm of torque in the range of 1,7504 500 rpm. Yes, the impressive capacity curve, however, had to sacrifice the rumble of the former V8. The current one publishes only a quiet growl through which even a whistle of turbines can be clearly heard.

Infiniti M56 achieves high power using a large operating volume and high engine speeds. Its 5.6-liter V8 produces 420 hp. At 6,000 revolutions and 565 nm of torque at 4,000. It uses modern technologies, such as direct fuel injection and a change in the phases of gas distribution and the height of valves to achieve smoothness and maximum efficiency.

To squeeze everything from the M56 that he is capable of, some perseverance from the driver will be required, since the maximum power is achieved exclusively at high engine speeds. Infiniti sounds like a sports sedan, unlike BMW, especially in the region of 6,700 revolutions, approaching cutting off.

Numbers
At the M56 test training ground, when accelerating from 0 to 60 miles/hour (96 km/h), it turned out to be a little faster than 550i, 5.0 and 5.2 seconds, respectively. So BMW is slower, despite the fact that it is able to almost perfectly dose the torque supplied to the wheels, when starting from the place thanks to the brake amplifier, which cannot be said about Infiniti.

How then it turned out that BMW was slower? Maybe 130 extra kilograms are to blame for 550i, if we compare the masses of cars? Does the new five joke almost 2 tons (1986 kg). What did BMW engineers think about? Do they call this effective dynamics?

If you close your eyes to the mass of 550i, at the mark of 402 meters it is ahead of Infiniti by 0.1 seconds (13.2 versus 13.3 s). And the speed at the finish of Bavarz is much higher than 174 and 171 km/h, respectively.

Speed \u200b\u200band transmission
The BMW 550i standard is equipped with a six -speed manual gearbox, but the car that came to the test was an eight -speed automatic, this is a free option. BMW engineers claim that two additional programs (in comparison with the previous six -speed automatic) did not affect either the size of the transmission or its weight.

In the fully automatic switching mode, it is very smooth, and if you decide to take control of the situation in your hands, then everything will not be disappointed very simple and understandable. The lever replaces the programs in a direction convenient for us (from itself to go down to itself), and the computer, when switching to a lower gear, closes the throttle for a moment so that the motor switches to the speeds necessary for the selected speed. This mode cannot be called completely manual, because with a sharp press on the gas, the car itself will switch in several gears down. Also, the computer does not allow to hold the selected gear if the tachometer rests on the cutting, switching to the next speed, regardless of your desire.

For Infiniti M56, only one transmission option is offered a seven -speed machine with four operating modes (to choose a driver) that change the fuel cards and the transmission reaction time. As in the case of BMW, the gear selector in position D provides exceptional smoothness of driving in automatic mode. But if you move the lever towards the driver, the manual mode is activated, which introduces optional, located on the steering column and leather -covered speeds of speed switching. In this situation, control completely goes to the driver, since the computer will not forcibly switch up or down without the consent of the driver. With simultaneous pressing on the brake and switching down, automatic coordination of engine revolutions under the selected gear occurs.

These are sports sedans!
Given the level of technical equipment of the BMW 550i, it is quite reasonable to assume that it will easily furnish Infiniti as soon as the road becomes winding. But in fact, everything is not so, at least, judging by the results of our tests. The M56 on slalom was 2 km/h faster than the BMW 550i (107 and 105 km/h, respectively), and in the test for lateral acceleration showed 0.89G against the very average results of the BMW 0.84G.

It is hardly worth the blame for more than the mediocre results obtained by the BMW 550i, only on its all -season tires: they provide sufficiently clutch (in the test to the full stop and with 96 km/h, and with 50 km/h m56 ahead of BMW only half a meter. ). On the track, the BMW brake pedal gives more confidence, although when compared with the optional Infiniti brakes ($ 370) on a winding road, then, again, the Japanese is more stable.

Most likely, 550i is just too heavy and soft driving on secondary roads. Even when his suspension is configured for the hard work, 550i still manages to demonstrate surprisingly a lot of insufficient rotation, and his electric steering wheel is some kind of unnecessary. The five can still be tamed, but we could not feel this connection with the machine.

Infiniti cannot be called perfect. The steering wheel amplifier system in combination with the active steering system (the rear wheels turn slightly after the front, the rotation angle varies depending on the speed of the car and the angle of rotation of the front wheels) provide very accurate entry into the turn at low speeds.

It is undoubtedly that on a winding road you would definitely prefer to be driving Infiniti. As the speed grows, the M56 steering wheel becomes more natural, and the hard suspension literally swallows one turn after another. Infiniti behavior on such a road, with its responsive steering wheel and a hard suspension, may seem frantic to someone, but we liked it much more than the imposing BMW.

In terms of fun, BMW managed to surpass Infiniti in only one controlled skid. Of course, not every of the lovers to ride with the breeze considers it a fairly significant argument in favor of the German, but in the right hands the electronic differential of limited friction gives a skilled driver the opportunity to use a stunning torque on the bottom of the inflated V8 to a full coil. Perhaps this is all that we can say about this.

Comfort
Infiniti began our delight from Infiniti as soon as the road ceased to be perfectly even, in other words, this happens every time you go from point A to point B. The hard unregulated M56 suspension makes any trip extremely tiring. Also for the luxury sedan into the Infiniti salon, too much road noise and a rumble of tires penetrate. In other words, this car simply does not allow you to forget that you have chosen a sports package of sports sedan. BMW, on the contrary, is always exclusively soft and unshakable. The sedan, which at the request of the driver can fiercely burn the rubber in a controlled skid at the exit from the turn, can dutifully and smoothly take you along the city streets. Despite this, I still want to get a little more information from him about what is happening around. This is a sports sedan, which at the same time provides you with comfort with a calm ride.

Salon
When you buy a luxury sedan for $ 70,000, you expect to get unsurpassed comfort in the cabin, and in this regard, none of the cars disappointed us. Both participants in our test offer everything that can be desired: we liked the front seats of BMW with their width and convenience, and Infiniti with lateral support.

The rear sofa Infiniti is very soft, and BMW has more space above the heads of the rear passengers. There are also a lot of quality skin and wood around, there are also such pleasant little things as an electric drive of sunscreens on the rear windows and magnificent BMW navigation systems boast a chic 10.2-inch translucent LCD monitor, which is convenient to use even when direct sunlight falls on it .

In general, BMW controls are more ergonomic, and Infiniti are more understandable at first glance. True, the 4th generation of the Idrive system, like previous versions, is not entirely intuitive.

If we talk about the style of the interior design, the Infiniti interior is more interesting in this regard. The combination of materials used in the decoration is more modern and stylish, but at the same time, the designers managed to avoid oversaturation. BMW is also beautiful and luxurious, but in our opinion, some kind of faceless.

So, wins ...
Despite the excellent Infiniti behavior on high -speed tracks, BMW stepped forward 2.2 points. Why?

It turned out that in general the BMW sedan is better. Infiniti managed to make its sedan sports, and BMW made 550i the most suitable for everyday life. We like lean and swift cars, but at the same time I do not want to get constant reminders of the abilities of the car every time on the road to the office or store. Infiniti M56 is undoubtedly good, but it is still worth working on it.

BMW 550i offers you comfort and sports without any sacrifice and compromises. Should he lose weight? Yes, definitely. Does he need a more accurate and informative steering wheel? Yes again, yes. The new representative of the 5th series is undeniably magnificent, in it all pieces of puzzle are formed in such a way that in the end the perfect sports sedan of the luxury class is obtained. Infiniti got up to the clue very close, but BMW has long been there.

Source: Insideline