Last May, BMW carmaker introduced the facelifted version of the M550i xDrive for the 2021 model year. The sedan came with a host of improvements and a 523 horsepower twin-turbocharged V8. With such specs, BMW claimed that it could sprint to 60 mph from a standstill in just 3.6 seconds—but unfortunately, that didn’t turn to be the case.
Car and Driver, a well-known American automotive magazine, took the keys to a demo M550i to verify BMW’s numbers. In their test, the 2021 BMW M550i xDrive took 4.1 seconds to reach the 60 mph mark, which’s about half a second more than what BMW promised. But, instead of directly jumping to conclusions, C&D thought there could be plenty of reasons for the car’s underperformance, including human error. So, they decided to roll the dices once again.
In the second stint, C&D’s test driver managed to the time to 3.9 seconds, an improvement of two-tenths of a second, but still not nowhere close to what the Bavarian giants advertised. Thinking there might be some issues with the car itself, C&D requested another M550i xDrive but was denied.
As of June 6, 2021, BMW acknowledged the issue not only persists in the 550i but also affects all 2021 540i xDrive models. The company stated that the standing-start acceleration is hindered by a miscommunication between the PCM and the car’s stability control module, causing the turbocharger boost pressure to drop.
It seems like the sedan has all the power it needs, but it’s somehow unable to reach the wheels. Luckily, BMW started informing buyers and dealers about this issue as it prepares to release a software update for the G30 sedan and the G31 station wagon that will arrive sometime this summer.
This is far from the first time that a car is not functioning as per its spec sheet. For instance, Tesla Model 3’s braking system underperformed initially and was later fixed with an update.
Ain’t it interesting to note that a couple lines of code can have such a significant impact on a vehicle!
