[MongoTom]

On Wednesday we finally got to meet our 550e at the Performance Center (ordered in June). The experience was as amazing as everyone said it would be and it would take a thousand words to describe it all.
This is our first BMW, so I can’t compare it with others we’ve owned. This will be our trip car, our highway cruiser and replaces a C6 Corvette that filled that role through 44 states. Compared to that, the BMW is as fast in a straight line, has a bigger trunk, seats four and is way more comfortable. While we routinely got 30 mpg in the C6, the 550e delivered nearly 35 mpg on the nearly 900 mile trip home with no recharging. Not bad for a four door that weighs 50% more. The standard transmission C6 gets the nod for fun, however.
A couple of things to say about this car so far. On the negative side, this car is insanely complex, perhaps needlessly so. To do almost anything requires wandering through several menus. Even stupid stuff like the current odometer reading. We were in IT for many years and it’s still going to take several days to get used to this.
On the positive side, I love the assisted driving. I get why some feel it’s sacrilege to let a car with this much performance drive itself. But this is our trip car and 90% of most trips are on really boring roads. I don’t do completely hands free (yet), but assisted drive will keep the car in the middle of the lane and it does it very, very well even on curves. Gently holding the wheel while it maintains the lane without drama, knowing you can intervene if necessary is stress relieving.
So far, I’m pleased with the purchase and the experience and would do it again (even though the wait was maddening).