550 options and market differences

Hi. I should be putting in an order for an Alpine White 550i M-Sport early next year. Hate to move away from the E39 but after 12 years it's time to move on.

So, have been reading up as much as I can and visiting my dealer who I've used many years. I'm in Tokyo so the market might be a little different.

First thing I'm trying to work out is if anyone (perhaps UK based) has ordered a 550 with the M-Sport suspension - I think it was option 704. Not Active Drive with DDC - old school M-Sport struts with lowered springs. Appears this option is not available for the 550 in Japan as it comes standard with Active Drive but can be had with a 535 and below.

My main motivation to go standard suspension is that I won't be using 'comfort' much and to reduce wheel gap in an OEM way.


Second, more for information purposes, the M-Sport Alcantara interior is available in this market and I'm keen to go that route - it complements the car nicely and its a change from leather.



All previous BMW's have been leather (dakota) and personally would like to change (won't have to leatherique twice a year!). I found out today at the dealer that it would be difficult to put this interior into the 550 as it comes standard with leather.


The dealer is checking if they can do a special order for both the M-Sport suspension and the Alcantara interior - we will see in a few weeks. I'd hate to compromise on the exact options I want.


Would be great if anyone with a 550 straight M-Sport suspension could chime in - assuming I'm not the only one crazy to consider this.

An alcantara interior would sound nice, but unfortunately there aren't many UK-based F10 owners here at the Fest. I would suggest asking your question over at 5post.com. Good Luck.

ok, perhaps I wasn't clear. In the US (or other markets if you so happen to know) for 2013 is it possible to opt out of Active Drive and DDC if it comes standard on a 550.

If Active Drive and DDC are additional options in your area, do you have an option to go with the M-Sport suspension instead? I also presume this will prevent you from having Active Roll Stabilization.

sorry guys, just trying to get my head around the maze of suspension offerings on the F series and in different parts of the world

In the US, you can get standard, MSport, dynamic dampers or Dynamic handling (dynamic dampers and ARS).

Definitely don't want to thread-jack here, but i've been looking at this interior for a while as well and I don't see a way of ordering it for the US market. I'm considering ordering a 550 M-Sport and really want this interior for seats. Does anyone know of a way to order this?

Originally Posted by demas

Second, more for information purposes, the M-Sport Alcantara interior is available in this market and I'm keen to go that route - it complements the car nicely and its a change from leather.



All previous BMW's have been leather (dakota) and personally would like to change (won't have to leatherique twice a year!). I found out today at the dealer that it would be difficult to put this interior into the 550 as it comes standard with leather.

Originally Posted by Anonimac

Definitely don't want to thread-jack here, but i've been looking at this interior for a while as well and I don't see a way of ordering it for the US market. I'm considering ordering a 550 M-Sport and really want this interior for seats. Does anyone know of a way to order this?

not thread jacking at all - post your findings here to see how you get on.

So, US markets can get the M-Sport suspension but not Alcantara - outside the mainland, we can go Alcantara but stuck with the "didn't I not buy a 4x4?"' suspension defect.


Last Sunday sat in a 523 M-Sport with alcantara - that was nice. The only thing that unimpressed me was the thigh support on the sport seat. It wasn't electronically controlled but had the tab lever at the bottom which you had to depress to manually slide in and out. Jeez - I had that setup in my E36 two decades ago.


Tokyo BMW are discussing whether they can 'pull the car out of the assembly line' just for me - awaiting response.

The white stitching on the center console won me over - leather is soo outdated, time to get modern.

So are you saying that the dynamic handling package springs lift the car higher so that there is more of a wheel gap? I'm shopping for a 550 and looking to drive a car with the dynamic handling package to see hot it drives, but certainly don't want a car that looks lifted. Thanks.

Originally Posted by TGray5

So are you saying that the dynamic handling package springs lift the car higher so that there is more of a wheel gap? I'm shopping for a 550 and looking to drive a car with the dynamic handling package to see hot it drives, but certainly don't want a car that looks lifted. Thanks.

Ride height with DHP would be identical to a standard F10 (non-sport/non-Xdrive) and sit higher than an M Sport suspension. The shorter springs in the M Sports suspension and mechanical dampers 'locks' you in a sport only ride. In order to have the full spectrum of comfort and sport, the trick is to use electronic damping to convert towards sport characteristics and it leverages the longer (or standard) springs to deliver comfort mode. The M Sport suspension will never give you the same level of comfort as what the dynamic handling package could.

Personally, the M Sport suspension looks to be a win-win. I don't expect to use comfort mode and on top of that, a nice 10mm drop.

I would think the dynamic handling package and ARS would perform better in sport mode than a standard M Sport suspension - its newer technology and since it is 'active' it adjusts to the road conditions instantaneously. But comfort mode and wheel gap is the compromise which I'm struggling with.