BMW M550i xDrive gets an EXTRA 67bhp in 2019 BMW range upgrades

The BMW M550i – the 5 Series that’s not quite an M5 – gets a 67bhp boost as BMW reveal a raft of upgrades across their range for 2019.

When BMW do a raft of upgrades across their extensive range, you sometimes have to dig through the nips and tucks promised to find a little jewel of a change. And the changes to the BMW M550i xDrive for 2019 are a bit of a jewel.

When the M550i xDrive arrived in 2016 it was before the new M5 arrived, but it offered a very healthy 465bhp and 479lb/ft of torque and got to 62mph in just 4.0 seconds. Which, in previous incarnations of the 5 Series, would have been very healthy M5 figures.

But now the M5 is here with over 600bhp in the M5 Competition (and the new 35 Years Edition) so there’s a bit of headroom to offer a bit of a boost to the M550i.

So BMW has borrowed the V8 from the new M850i, which gives the M550i a much more impressive 523bhp and 553lb/ft of torque which, we assume, will endow the M550i with even more impressive performance (BMW aren’t saying yet). The BMW M550i xDrive gets the new engine from July.

Other upgrades for the 2019 BMW range include more range for the 530e plug-in hybrid, and an xDrive option, new six-cylinder petrol engine option for the 8 Series, LED headlights and optional M Sport braking for the X2, and M Sport Individual equipment line for the X3 and X4.

There’s also a four-pot 2.0 litre for the X5 xDrive25d and the arrival of the X5 xDrive45e, the 2.0 litre option for the Z4 sDrive20i and M Competition pack for the M4 Coupe and Convertible.